no ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



variants are made simply '^y llu' freakish misunderstandini;- of the 

 traditional ^yords : for instance the old round — 



is pervcrteil into 



C'est la ])lus belle de céans, 



C'est par la main je vous la prends, 



C'est la plus belle de Sion, 



C'est par la main nous la tenons. 'S5 



Other variants oV a minor k'ind have more to justify their existenc-e. It 

 is more natural for a St. Ijawrence rislu-rman to sini;- 



Dans les prisons de Londres 

 than 



Dans les prisons de Nantes,'*' 



and ilie mixed geoi^-raphy of 



11 est dans la Hollande, 

 Les Irlandais l'ont pris,'^' 



is not Avithont sufficient reasons of its own. Variant refrains abound ; 

 Mr. Gagnon gives us six for En roulaitt alone. ^^^^ Po])ular humorous 

 8ongs. which so easily lend themselves to improvisation, are peculiarly 

 subject to variations: the inevitable Maibrouvke^^''^ has two Canadian 

 variants ^'^ touched with Indian local colour, one beginning 



C'était un vieux sauvage, 



Tout noir, tout barbouilla, 



Avec sa vieilF couverte 



Et son sac à tabac, 



and both ending in much the same way : 



Quatre vieux sauvages 

 Portaient les coins du drap, 

 Et deux vieilles sauvagesses 

 Chantaient le libéra. 



There are plenty of variations of all kinds, besides these, many made up 



on the spur of the moment and as quickly forgotten, and others flitting 



about in oral tradition with more or le.ss hxit}^ of form. The voyageurs 



have their variants like the rest of the world ; a good instance being the 



purely Canadian Death-song of Cadieiix,^'^^ which begins in the original 



version — 



Petit rocher de la haute montagne, 

 Je viens finir ici cette campagne,'"- 



and in that of the Eed Eiver Settlement — 



Petits oiseaux, dedans vos charmants nids. 

 Vous ciui chantez ])endant que je gémis. 

 Si j'avais des ailes comme vous, 

 Je vivrais content avant qu'il fut jour.'"' 



It is easy enough to sec that nearly all Canadian folksongs are 

 variants from the French, somewhat remote in a few instances, but very 



