Track 19 Research notes

• (trans. as Once a Canadian Lad) p. 26-27
• 1837 – serious dissatisfaction with the ruling cliques in both Upper and Lower Canada led to revolts under the leadership of William Lyon Mackenzie and Louis Papineau
• when the abortive revolts had been suppressed, many who had taken part in the fighting had to flee from their homes to escape punishment
• five years later a young student, M.A. Gérin-Lajoie wrote a song about these unfortunate lads, setting it to a familiar folk tune “Si tu te mets anguille”
• soon it was being sung wherever French-Canadians were to be found, from Nova Scotia to the far northern wilds of Athabaska
• though the troubles of 1837 are now far in the past, this song is still well-beloved in French Canada
• From: Fowke, Edith Fulton and Richard Johnston, eds. Folk Songs of Canada. Waterloo, Ontario: Waterloo Music Company Limited, 1954.