Le petit sauvage (AU1998-1074-008)

Dublin Core

Title

Le petit sauvage (AU1998-1074-008)

Description

Excerpt from interview of Alberta Gagné (TC1998-1074-008) by Martha Pellerin. Part of a project (VFC1998-0007) on Franco-American song in New England funded by the Vermont Folklife Center and undertaken by Pellerin. Interview is one in a series of six conducted between 1995-01-09 and 1995-12-06 as an effort to document the French language song repertoire of Gagné.

“Le p’tit sauvage” (The little savage”) is a song which appears to have originated in Quebec. Versions have been documented in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Maine, but no European versions have been documented. “Sauvage” is a derogatory French term meaning a wild or uncouth person and was commonly used in France and Quebec up through the first half of the 20th century to refer to First Nations people. Alberta Gagné learned this song from her mother.

Abstract

It was a little savage, all black, all grimy; he went to the river to wash himself; he got in his canoe, it capsized; the river was deep and he drowned; Who will mourn him? It will be the priest; with his big black robe and little square cap; at the four corners of the grave, four bottles of brandy; in the middle of the grave, a nightingale was singing.

Source

VFC1998-0007 Martha Pellerin Collection. TC1998-1074 interview with Alberta Gagné. Vermont Folklife Center Archive, Vermont Folklife Center, Middlebury, Vermont, United States of America.

Date

1995-11-10

Rights

Copyright (c) Vermont Folklife Center

Relation

Full Interview: vfc1998-0005_tc1998-1074

Language

fra

Identifier

vfc1998-0007_tc1998-1074-001a-008

Song Item Type Metadata

Supplied Title

Le p’tit sauvage

Standard Title Reference

Le petit sauvage I, C-26

First Line

C'était un p'tit sauvage

Transcription

(BEGIN SINGING)

 

C'était un p'tit sauvage, tous noir tous barbouillé, ouichetai,

S'en va t-à la rivière, c'était pour se laver, ouichté,

[Refrain]:

Touman’ agatte ouita, ouichta, maninguett’,

Ouaté, ouaté, maninguett’, ouichté.

 

S'en va t-à la rivière, c'était pour se laver, ouichté,

Embarque dans son canot, son canot a viré, ouichté,

            Refrain

 

Embarque dans son canot, son canot a viré, ouichté,

A la rivière si profonde, ce sauvage s’est noyé, ouichté,

            Refrain

 

La rivière si profonde, p'tit sauvage s’est noyé, ouichté,

Qui portera le deuil ? Ce s'ra monsieur l'curé, ouichté,

            Refrain

 

Qui portera le deuil ? Ce s'ra Monsieur l'curé, ouichté,

Avec sa grande robe noire, son p'tit bonnet carré, ouichté,

            Refrain

 

Avec sa grande robe noire, son p'tit bonnet carre, ouichté,

Aux quatr' coins de la tombe, quatr' bouteill’s de brandy, ouichté,

            Refrain

 

Aux quatr' coins de la tombe, quatr' bouteill’s de brandy, ouichté,

Au milieu de la tombe, un rossignol chantait, ouichta,

            Refrain


 

(END SINGING)

Translation

[imitation of First Nations language]

laisse, 12-syllable lines; 8 lines, one refrain
Refrain [imitation of First Nations language]

Interviewer

Pellerin, Martha

Original Format

sound cassette (analog)

Files

vfc1998-0007_tc1998-1074-001a_008.mp3

Citation

“Le petit sauvage (AU1998-1074-008),” Vermont Folklife Center Digital Collections, accessed October 17, 2024, https://vtfolklifearchive.org/collections/items/show/338.

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