“C'est L'Aviron (Pull on the Oars)”

Description

French: "C'est l'aviron, qui nous mene, qui nous mene, c'est l'aviron qui nous mene en haut." A young man goes riding, picks up a pretty girl, and takes her home to get a drink. Once home, "turning to me, she toasted her own lover"

Supplemental text

C'est L'Aviron (Pull on the Oars)
  Partial text(s)

          *** A ***

From Edith Fulton Fowke, editor, and Richard Johnston, music editor,
Folk Songs of Canada (first edition), pp. 58-59. Source not listed;
widely known.

M'en revenant de la jolie Rochelle,
M'en revenant de la jolie Rochelle,
J'ai rencontre trois jolies demoiselles.

Refrain:
  C'est l'aviron qui nous mene, qui nous mene,
  C'est l'aviron qui nous mene en haut.

(11 additional stanzas)

          *** B ***

English translation as sung by Gene Bluestein -- though I suspect
he had it from Fowke/Johnston; it's effectively identical.

Riding along the road to Rochelle city,
Riding along the road to Rochelle city,
I met three girls, and all of them were pretty.
  Pull on the oars as we glide along together;
  Pull on the oars as we glide along.

(6 additional stanzas)

Notes

"Over the years, more than ninety variants of this song have been written down or recorded on cylinders, discs, or tapes in French Canada. A few variants have also been found in the northeastern United States and France." [from] "'M'en, revenant de la Joli'Rochelle'::A song from c/ 1500 in the current French-Canadian repertoire" by Jay Rahn in _Canadian Journal for Traditional Music_, vol 16, 1988. See archives of the site for the Canadian Journal for Traditional Music. - BS

References

1. Fowke/Johnston, pp. 58-59, "C'est L'aviron (Pull on the Oars)" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. Fowke/MacMillan 49, "C'est L'Aviron" (1 English and 1 French text, 1 tune)
3. Peacock, p. 517, "En Revenant de la Jolie Rochelle" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. ST FJ058 (Partial)
5. BI, FJ058