C'était une bergère (AU1998-1075-005)
Dublin Core
Title
C'était une bergère (AU1998-1075-005)
Subject
Description
Excerpt from interview of Alberta Gagné (TC1998-1075-005) 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.
“C'était une bergère” (“It Was a Shepherdess”) is a traditional French song with medieval roots and a tangled history. At first glance, Alberta Gagné’s song relates an innocent, if slightly peculiar, tale of a shepherdess who makes cheese from the milk of her sheep under the watchful eyes of her cat, who tells her that it looks tasty. She warns the cat that if it so much as puts its paw into the cheese, it will also get a taste of her shepherdess staff. The cat sticks in its chin, and the angered shepherdess kills the cat. She goes to the confessional where she accuses herself of “catricide,” receiving a penance which she finds both severe and, quite literally, distasteful: the priest orders her to eat her cat. Versions of this song have been sung by generations of children in France and Canada as a children’s nursery song and ronde (singing game), usually with the refrain featured in Alberta Gagne’s version.
If, however, we back up to the 16th century, a quite different reading emerges. The attempted seduction of young maidens was a popular trope in songs of the period, and a “bergère” was often used to represent the female in these songs. Moreover, a popular expression of the day for young maidens who succumbed to the entreaties of their seducers was “laisser le chat aller au fromage” (“to let the cat get at the cheese”). There are a multitude of narrative variations: the woman is sometimes an old lady rather than young maid; the confession is completely absent; the priest is amorous and his advances are either rejected or welcomed by the confessing young woman. Versions of this song have been documented in Belgium, Switzerland, France, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Indiana.
“C'était une bergère” (“It Was a Shepherdess”) is a traditional French song with medieval roots and a tangled history. At first glance, Alberta Gagné’s song relates an innocent, if slightly peculiar, tale of a shepherdess who makes cheese from the milk of her sheep under the watchful eyes of her cat, who tells her that it looks tasty. She warns the cat that if it so much as puts its paw into the cheese, it will also get a taste of her shepherdess staff. The cat sticks in its chin, and the angered shepherdess kills the cat. She goes to the confessional where she accuses herself of “catricide,” receiving a penance which she finds both severe and, quite literally, distasteful: the priest orders her to eat her cat. Versions of this song have been sung by generations of children in France and Canada as a children’s nursery song and ronde (singing game), usually with the refrain featured in Alberta Gagne’s version.
If, however, we back up to the 16th century, a quite different reading emerges. The attempted seduction of young maidens was a popular trope in songs of the period, and a “bergère” was often used to represent the female in these songs. Moreover, a popular expression of the day for young maidens who succumbed to the entreaties of their seducers was “laisser le chat aller au fromage” (“to let the cat get at the cheese”). There are a multitude of narrative variations: the woman is sometimes an old lady rather than young maid; the confession is completely absent; the priest is amorous and his advances are either rejected or welcomed by the confessing young woman. Versions of this song have been documented in Belgium, Switzerland, France, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Indiana.
Abstract
It was a shepherdess who looked after her sheep; she made a cheese from her sheep’s milk, the cat, who was watching her, said it looks very good; If you so much as put your paw on it, you’ll taste my shepherdess staff; the cat doesn’t put her paw in I; she sticks in her chin; the angered shepherdess kills the pussycat; she goes to confession to obtain pardon; My father, I accuse myself of killing pussycat; for your penitence, you will eat the pussycat; my penitence is severe; pussycat doesn’t taste good.
Source
VFC1998-0007 Martha Pellerin Collection. TC1998-1075 interview with Alberta Gagné. Vermont Folklife Center Archive, Vermont Folklife Center, Middlebury, Vermont, United States of America.
Date
Rights
Copyright (c) Vermont Folklife Center
Relation
Full Interview: vfc1998-0005_tc1998-1075
Language
fra
Identifier
vfc1998-0007_tc1998-1075-001a-005
Song Item Type Metadata
Supplied Title
C'était une bergere
Standard Title Reference
Il était une bergère, I, J-04
La bonne femme qui a tué son chaton, 11325
First Line
C'était une bergère, Ron Ron Ron Petit Patapon
Transcription
AG: C'était une bergere...
[BEGIN SINGING]
[NOTE: the verse division and repeating structure as well as the refrain structure continue throughout the song as modeled in the first verse]
C'était une bergère,
Ron, ron, ron petit peu tapon,
C'était une bergère qui gardait des moutons,
Ron, ron.
Qui gardait des moutons.
Elle s’est fait un fromage / du lait de ses moutons.
La chatt’ qui la regarde, / ell’ dit que c'est bien bon.
“ Si tu y mets la patte / tu gouteras du bâton.”
Elle se mit pas la patte / ell’ se mit le menton.
La bergère en colère, / elle a tué l’chaton.
Elle s'en va t- à confesse / pour obtenir pardon.
“ Mon père, je m'accuse / d'avoir tué chaton.”
“ Pour votre pénitence, / vous mangerez chaton.”
“ Ma pénitence est forte, / chaton n'est pas trop bon.”
[END SINGING]
Translation
laisse, 13-syllable lines, (“on” end-rhyme)
Interviewer
Location
Original Format
sound cassette (analog)
Files
Citation
“C'était une bergère (AU1998-1075-005),” Vermont Folklife Center Digital Collections, accessed December 27, 2024, https://vtfolklifearchive.org/collections/items/show/352.
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