15 
the country folk of French Canada. The melodies were recorded 
on the phonograph, and transcribed; and the words written 
down from dictation, in many versions, at scattered points 
from Ottawa river down to the Acadian settlements of Nova 
Scotia. 
DAME LOMBARDE (Page 56) 
This complaintc is unique in the folk-song repertory of 
French Canada. It came to the St. Lawrence, through France, 
from the south, from Italy, upstream as it were, not down, as 
is usual for narrative songs; the complaintes belong to the north, 
and they travel southwards, whereas the reverse is true of 
lyric songs. 
This song is also one of the most ancient in our repertory, 
in historic contents at least. It tells the story of Dame Lomharde , 
the tragic Rosmonde, who tried to poison her husband at 
Ravenna in the year 573, but was forced to drink death from 
the cup she herself had filled with wine and with the fluid from 
the crushed head of a serpent. 
The discovery of Dame Lombarde’s identity as the principal 
character in the song is to be credited to Nigra, the Italian 
traditionist. For several centuries after the event, this ancient 
story of poisoning was the object of chronicles. George Doncieux 
( Romancero , 1 74-204) recently linked it up with the only French 
record so far discovered, near the Italian frontier, in the 
French Alps. 
Alboin, the king of the Lombard invaders of northern Italy, 
incurred the hatred of Rosmonde, his wife, when he forced her 
to drink from her father's empty skull. Bent upon revenge, 
she seduced Helmichis, an officer, and compelled him to yield 
to her will. He killed Alboin, his king, and became her second 
husband. She tried to govern the country, but the Lombards 
rebelled and forced her to flee at night with Helmichis. At 
Ravenna she was well received by Longin, a prefect of the town. 
To regain the crown she had lost, Rosmonde decided to rid 
herself of Helmichis, who now stood in her way. Once more 
she used her charms and won Longin to her ambition. He 
begged her to regain her freedom and marry him, so as to reign 
over the Lombards again. 
