Cape Breton's Magazine

And the other dances, the ones that are les rondes, or the song dances--whatever you want to call them. Because there was a song, of course there was no call. Because they'd have certain movements that would be done at a specific moment in a song. So again, it would be from memory, the move? ments. It's a bit like when you see chil? dren doing a game. You know, they do move? ments in their singing.... (Yes, but sometimes in those games a song has a call within the song. "Ring around the Rosy," and then "All fall down"--it's part of the song, and it's also what you do.) Yes. (The songs that you're talking about, are they dance instructions or are they a song...?) It's more the second type. Because if you think of "Les Mou? tons," you could say perhaps it's an in? struction because it says at a certain point that the sheep are coming behind, the sheep are coming in front. And what the sheep are actually doing is, there's a leader dance,r who's leading them in a kind of a farandole movement, and they're going in and out of the dancers, who have formed arches with their hands and arms. And so they're passing in and out. It's a bit like "Go in and out the window." And so that they're actually in a sense doing what the song's saying. But it's not real? ly a direction, it's just, you know, the sheep are going behind and in front. (And predominantly the songs are songs that accompany a dance, rather than in? struct.) Exactly. Exactly. And definitely "La Boulangfere" is really an old French song. It's from the Middle Ages: it's really old. I would assume that if that's in their repertoire, that those are things that came with them from France. (Does that then imply that the dance came with the song, or not necessarily?) Well, I would think it did. But I mean, again, this is all supposition. And, with "La Boulang're" it's easier, because I've found versions from France. And according to Lisa Ornstein, whom we spoke about earlier, she says that when you find, say, a piece of music or a song or some? thing, and you find it in all the differ? ent areas where French people are, that it's more than likely--more chances than not--that it's really an old one, because it's been retained in so many isolated areas, (areas) that are isolated one from the other. (So it's old in the sense that it probably came from Europe.) Yes. But something like "La Boulang're," it was found in Louisia? na. It exists in Quebec. And Pfere Anselme also has a version in his songbooks. So, something like that one would be real? ly quite an old one. And more than likely, all those rondes would have come with them when they came over. (Parallel to your looking at dances, my understanding is that you also were deal? ing with something that was--what would you call?--contra-dance. Something that was against the dance.) The prohibition of the dance by the church authorities? Yes, that's true. My whole AIRATLANnCt CANADIAN AIRUNES SERVE ATLANTICCANAIIABESr. badisn HAUFWtNONSlOP 6:45am;9:20am;12:40pm;3:00pm;4:00pm;5:30pm AirA/kntt'Cansidina The Number One Network in Atlantic Canada Weekend schedule may vary. 39