C'est mon ami Pierre
    Qu' avec moi s'est brouillé;
    C'est pour une rose
    Que je lui refusai.
    Je voudrais que la rose
    Fût encore au rosier,
    Et qu' mon ami Pierre
    Fût encore à m'aimer.

[Coming home from the wedding, weary and tired,
I rested myself by the clear water-spring. In the
clear water-spring my hands I washed; on an oak-
leaf I dried them; on the highest branch a nightingale
sang. Sing, nightingale, sing! Thy heart is
merry, mine is not so; alas! mine is heavy thinking
of my sweetheart Pierre, who has quarrelled with
me. It was about a rose I would not give him. I
wish that the rose grew again on the rose-tree, and
that my sweetheart Pierre would love me once
more.]

There are also popular songs which are sung
at country weddings, all over France; but more
especially in Brittany, of which mention is made
in Madame de Sévigné's letters. There are
certain traditional ways of singing this bridal song
with action almost amounting to pantomime.
The following song was sung at a wedding
among the vintagers, the bride sitting on a seat
apart, and a young girl advancing before the
other guests, and addressing her in these
couplets:

Rossignolet des bois, rossignolet sauvage,
Rossignolet d'amour, qui chante nuit et jour.
II dit dans son jargon, dans son joli langage,
"Filles, mariez-vous, le mariage est doux.
Nous sommes v'nus ce soir du fond de nos bocages
Vous faire compliment de votre mariage,
A monsieur votre époux aussi bien comme à vous.
Vous voilà donc, madame la mariée,
Avec un lien d'or qui ne délie qu'à la mort.
Avez-vous bien compris c' qu'a dit le prêtre?
A dit la vérité ce qu'il vous fallait être:
Fidèle à votre époux et l'aimer comme vous.
Quand on dit son époux, souvent on dit son maître;
Ils ne sont pas toujours doux comme ils ont promis
     d'être,
Car doux ils ont promis d'être toute leur vie.
Vous n'irez plus au bal, madame la mariée,
Vous n'irez plus au bal, à nos jeux d'assemblée,
Vous gard'rez la maison tandis que nous irons.
Quand vous aurez chez vous des bœufs, aussi des
      vaches,
Des brebis, des moutons, du lait et du fromage,
II faut soir et matin veiller à tout ce train;
Quand vous aurez chez vous des enfans à conduire,
II faut bien leur montrer, et bien souvent leur dire,
Car vous seriez tous deux coupables devant Dieu
Si vous avez chez vous des gens à conduire.
Vous veillerez surtout qu'ils aillent à confesse,
Car un jour devant Dieu vous répondrez pour eux.
Recevez ce gâteau que ma main vous présente,
II est fait de façon à vous faire comprendre
Qu'il faut, pour se nourrir, travailler et souffrir.
Recevez ce bouquet que ma main vous présente,
II est fait de façon à vous faire comprendre
Que tous les vains honneurs passent comme les
     fleurs."

[Nightingale of the woods, wild nightingale,
nightingale, thou bird of love, that singest night and day!
He says in his warbling, in his pretty jargon:
"Maidens, get married, for marriage is sweet. We have
come this evening all across the thickets to pay you
compliments on your marriage, and to your husband
as well as to you. You are now bound, my lady the
bride, with a golden bond which nothing but death
can undo. Have yon fully understood what the
priest said to you? He told the truth, that you must
be faithful to your husband, and love him like
yourself. When we say your husband, we often say
your master. For they are not always what they
have promised to be; for they promise to be gentle
all their lives. You will no longer go to balls, my
lady the bride; you will no longer go to balls nor
to merry-makings; you will keep the house while
we go. When you have oxen and cows, sheep and
ewes, milk and cheese, every morning, every evening,
you must look after all these things. When
you have children in the house you must set a good
example, and often chide them well; for you will
both be guilty before God if you neglect them. If
you have at home serving-men and maids you must
take good care that they go to confession, for one
day you will have to answer for their souls before
God. Take this cake which is offered by my hand.
It is made in such a fashion that from it you may
learn that in order to eat you must toil and suffer.
Take this nosegay which is offered by my hand. It
is made in such a fashion that from it you may learn
that vain earthly honours pass away like flowers."]

It would almost seem fitter if this poetical
address on the duties and sacrifices of married
life were made to the bride before she had
assumed her golden bond, which can only be
undone by death; and it certainly gives a new
signification to the wedding-cake and bridal
bouquet. One would like to know of what
articles the French peasant's cake is composed,
or how it is made, thus to be interpreted into so
grave a lesson.

In the south of France, and also in Corsica,
extempore songs in honour of the dead are
composed and addressed to the corpse by the nearest
relation. This custom is always prevalent
among the Irish under the name of Keene; in
Scotland, where it is termed a Coronach; and
in Greece, where they are called Myriologues,
The following is a Corsican vocero, addressed by
a mother to her dead daughter

     Or voici ma fille,
      Jeune fille de seize ans,
      La voici sur la tala,
      Après tant de souffrance,
      La voici vêtue,
      De ses plus beaux habits;
      Avec ses plus beaux habits,
      Elle veut partir à présent,
      Parce que le Seigneur
      Ne veut plus la laisser ici.

     Oh! combien à present le paradis,
           Sera plus beau!
      Mais aussi, pour moi, comme
      Le monde sera plein de tourments.
      Un jour sera mille ans
      En pensant à toi,
      Demandant toujours à tous,
      "Où est ma fille?
      O mort! pourquoi arracher
      Ma filie de mon sein,
      Et pourquoi me laisser
      Ici-bas pour pleurer toute seule?
      Que veux-tu que je fasse ici