The second of February is the Chandeleur, Candlemas, or The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Traditionally people would gather at a house, bringing lots of food. They sang, danced, and distributed the extra food they had brought to the poor.

Marie Deveaux sings a more extended version of the song which is a collage of bits and pieces, unrelated colourful scenes which, when set to lively music, are meant to evoke excitement. (Pat Aucoin sings just the first verse.) Through the lyrics, we are introduced to a “just married” couple who have not had supper yet.

This recording of Mrs. Marie Deveaux, age 75, was collected by Dr. Elizabeth Beaton in Belle Marche, August 1978.

Please refer to the Acadian song En Vous R’Merciant for another Le Chandeleur piece.

Listen to an interview with Joe Delaney about La Chandeleur.

L’Escaouette, 1979. Marie Deveaux. T-1166. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

This selection features a La Chandeleur exit song. In the text, the people are thanked for having brought food for the party and for the poor – God will return the favour. The melody for En Vous R’Merciant is based on an Eastertide chant from the 13th century, words by Jean Tisserand (d. 1494).

This interview with Pat Aucoin was recorded in Chèticamp, August 1978. He was 83 years old at the time. Another version of this song, performed by Joe Delaney, is available. Both recordings were collected by Dr. Elizabeth Beaton in 1978.

Please refer to the commentary for the other Acadian Chandeleur song, L’Escaouette for which we also provide recorded two versions.

Listen to an interview with Joe Delaney about La Chandeleur.

En Vous R’Merciant, 1978. Pat Aucoin. T-239. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

This selection features a La Chandeleur exit song. In the text, the people are thanked for having brought food for the party and for the poor – God will return the favour. The melody for En Vous R’Merciant is based on an Eastertide chant from the 13th century, words by Jean Tisserand (d. 1494).

This interview with Joe Delaney was recorded in St. Joseph Du Moine in August, 1978. Another version of this song, performed by Pat Aucoin, is also available. Both recordings were collected by Dr. Elizabeth Beaton.

Please refer to the commentary for the other Acadian Chandeleur song, L’Escaouette, for which we also provide recorded two versions.

Listen to a longer version of this interview with Joe Delaney about La Chandeleur.

En Vous R’Merciant, 1978. Joe Delaney. T-239. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

The king’s son, riding through the countryside, carelessly shoots the singer’s white duck. The song goes into detail about the duck’s death, to the ultimate end where women gather the feathers to make a bed.

The story of the “trois beaux canards” is considered by some to be one of the most popular traditional French songs in the country. Over ninety different Canadian versions have been identified. Though all variants tell a similar tale, they tend to differ widely in melody and refrain. En Roulant Ma Boule is the best-known form, with V’la L’Bon Vent being the next most popular.

Research has shown that original was a French jongleur song dating to the 15th century but, in the New World, it was adapted as a voyageur paddling song.

In our presentation, we hear it as music to accompany the foulerie process.

This performance was filmed during the book launch for AJB Johnston’s Storied Shores: St. Peter’s, Isle Madame, and Chapel Island in the 17th and 18th Centuries and Conference on History Based Tourism (Saint-Joseph-Du-Moine: les vielles chansons acadiennes, une foulerie et des danses carrées). This 2004 recording was a co-production of The Tompkins Institute (Cape Breton University) and Telile Community Television. Participants at this event took part in une foulerie or a french milling frolic.

En Roulant Ma Boule, 2004. Saint-Joseph-Du-Moine: les vielles chansons acadiennes, une foulerie et des danses carrées. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

A song of unrequited love. A young man, wandering through lovely woods, comes upon a shepherdess pasturing her flock of sheep under the shade of oak trees. He courts her but she rejects him in favour of a religious life. The suitor sadly leaves and goes off to war.

The singer, Reverend Charles Aucoin, recorded this song fragment in 1977 as part of an extended interview with freelance radio producer, Bill Doyle.

Dessus La Fougere, 1977. Rev. Charles Aucoin. T-892, Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

A young man, on his way from Paris to La Rochelle, meets three girls, and takes the prettiest one on his horse with him. Eventually they end up at her father’s house, by which time she is warming up to him.

Songs like this tell a story that has been transplanted from medieval France.

The melody of De Paris À Rochelle appears to be related to a popular Canadian folk song entitled C’est L’Aviron.

It is presented here in a video recording by the well-known Acadian singer, Leo à Pat Aucoin. The performance was a part of the book launch for AJB Johnston’s Storied Shores: St. Peter’s, Isle Madame, and Chapel Island in the 17th and 18th Centuries and Conference on History Based Tourism (Saint-Joseph-Du-Moine: les vielles chansons acadiennes, une foulerie et des danses carrées). This 2004 recording was a co-production of The Tompkins Institute (Cape Breton University) and Telile Community Television.

De Paris À Rochelle, 2004. Saint-Joseph-Du-Moine: les vielles chansons acadiennes, une foulerie et des danses carrées. Léo à Pat Aucoin. Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.

A young man steals a knife from his uncle, beginning a life of crime which leads to his death. He ends with a proposed letter of warning for others.

The singer and fiddler is Joseph Larade.

Le Couteau Volé. Joseph A. Larade. T-1355, Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University.