5 
was as much as a hundred years old, when it was more nearly 
a thousand. The singers’ notions of origin were not worth 
serious consideration. 
If the melody in these songs of the land is usually superior 
to the words, it is because these melodies are derived from good 
prototypes, and the rustic bards to whom we owe them were 
better versed in melody than in lyrics. Talent and the familiar 
knowledge of many tunes were fair musical guides. Rhythm 
and tune are more elemental than grammar and verse; they are 
nearer nature. A good instance is La Plaintc du coureur des bois. 
Musicians are likely to respond to its moving appeal. But the 
lines, stripped of their melody, will not be mistaken for good 
poetry. 
LA PLAINTE DU COUREUR DES BOIS (Page 28) 
Tunes are more fluid than song texts. They can easily be 
altered without an irreparable loss. Several variants of a melody 
may be equally good; it is not usually possible to tell which is 
closer to the original. But a poetic word cluster once lost is 
irretrievable. A scar takes its place, with words casually thrown 
in by the singers to hold up the tune. Such lacunae-^some of 
them quite old — disfigure many of our best records. 
In the past three hundred years, the ancient French tunes 
in Canada have undergone marked changes. They do not 
always resemble closely their French equivalents. Parallels, in- 
deed, are the rare exception, particularly in the old songs; this 
is partly due to the paucity of French records for comparison. 
The same words may be sung to several tunes, according to their 
use. Few of these tunes, on both sides of the Atlantic, corre- 
spond, though the poems are much alike, despite variations. 
Because of this melodic fluidity, the tunes in our repertory 
are more Canadian than the words; their local colour is pro- 
nounced, yet they retain a mediaeval flavour. Whatever gradual 
changes happened, the character and technique remained largely 
the same as at the beginning. Singing in the remote districts 
of Quebec, like Charlevoix and Gaspe, is more archaic than else- 
where, as a result of prolonged isolation and ingrained con- 
servatism. 
