19 
closer than the Italian records to the ancient story of Rosmonde 
which seems to have crossed the mountains northwards and taken 
root in all of France at an early date. Otherwise it would not 
have crossed the seas, as it did with the colonists from 
Normandy and the Loire nearly three hundred years ago. 
RENAUD (Page 60) 
The complainte of Roi Renaud is perhaps the most famous 
of all the French folk-songs. Its history, like that of Dame 
Lombarde , is remarkable, if not unique. After its obscure birth 
in Scandinavia, at the end of the Middle Ages, it spread to the 
northern coasts, landed in Brittany and Germany, and then passed 
to all of France. From there, it leaped the frontiers into Italy 
and Spain. It crossed the ocean westward with the settlers of 
New France, in the seventeenth century. It is deeply rooted on 
the lower St. Lawrence and in Acadia. 
Lost sight of in the lore of several countries, it might have 
disappeared forever like many others, but it was discovered and 
revived at the end of the last century among savants and artists, 
and then for the benefit of the public in general. Fascinated by 
its unusual features, folk-lorists studied it quite thoroughly, and 
a great artist, Yvette Guilbert, conferred fame upon it on more 
than one continent. It is a masterpiece that has won universal 
recognition, particularly in its French form. 
The song of Renaud already had a long past behind it when 
it embarked for Quebec and Louisburg with the ancient settlers. 
Since then it has been preserved in obscurity, by many genera- 
tions of uneducated folk-singers. It is one of the best known 
of the traditional repertory, but only on the lower St. Lawrence; 
it does not seem to have ascended the river far beyond the old 
town of Quebec. 
As late as 1917 it had not been discovered in Canada, where 
the study of traditions until then had been much neglected. Yet 
the song had survived, if only among country folk whose recollec- 
tions are anchored deep in the past. It is still sung in the winter 
evenings in the semi-Norman districts of L’ Islet, Kamouraska, 
and Temiscouata; more frequently still in Gaspe and around 
Chaleur bay. Its features have been faithfully preserved, in 
spite of long peregrinations. The variations in themselves often 
