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Tag Archives: Sir George Back

The Singing Voyageurs

31 Saturday Mar 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Canadian History, Voyageurs

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Bois-Brûlés, Edward Ermatinger, explorers, folksongs, Marius Barbeau, Simon Fraser, Sir George Back, Voyageur explorers, W. F. Wentzel

Expedition Doubling Cape Barrow, July 25, 1821, by Sir George Back

Expedition Doubling Cape Barrow by Sir George Back, 25 July 1821, (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

More on the voyageur’s personality

The explorers left testimonials about the voyageur’s personality. According to Sir John Franklin, they were “creatures of the moment.” Sir George Simpson writes that they loved to eat and that, if a piece of equipment was good, they said that it came from France or “la vieille France de Londres,” London’s old France, and were “witty.” [i]

Sir George Back (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As for the explorers, they knew the name of every single one of their voyageurs. Most of these explorers came from Scotland. Obviously the Scots and the voyageurs got along very well. By the way, the gentleman who lost so many of his voyageurs was Admiral Sir George Back, FRS [Fellow of the Royal Society] (6 November 1796 – 23 June 1878). I have therefore edited my last post accordingly and, in doing so, I discovered that Sir George Back was an excellent artist.

When they were working for explorers, the voyageurs may have transported pelts. However, when employed by explorers such as Simon Fraser and Sir Alexander MacKenzie, they did not. They were simply finding their way, dangerously, to the Pacific. At that time, they also worked for travellers who were gathering information on Canada.

HMS Terror Thrown up by Ice by Sir George Back

The Singing Voyageur

The voyageurs did sing. We know for certain that they sang mostly old French songs and that their favourite song was “À la claire fontaine.” During the ten years he was in the employ of the Hudson’s Bay Company (1819-1829), Edward Ermatinger (1797-1876) collected eleven voyageur songs. They are traditional folksongs.

As for songs composed by the voyageurs, we know of three:

  • Épouser le voyage (To Wed the Voyage),
  • Les Bois-Brûlés (The Brullis), (Pierre Falcon),
  • Le Six mai de l’année dernière (Last Year on the Sixth of May).

The Bois-Brûlés were Dakota Amerindians.  As for the Sixth of May, that was the date on which the voyageurs left for “les pays d’en-haut,”  the north or, literally, the countries above.

These were published in the Beaver, a Canadian journal, by Marius Barbeau, the “founder of Canadian anthropology.” There can be no doubt that these songs are authentic voyageur songs.

Moreover, Grace Lee Nute lists voyageur songs. For the most part, the songs she discusses are well-known traditional folksongs. There are two exceptions:

  • C’est dans la ville de Bytown [Ottawa] (It’s in the town of Ottawa)
  • Parmi les voyageurs (Among the Voyageurs)

Parmi les voyageurs is unquestionably a voyageur song. However, loggers also left from Ottawa. They too had to find a living and left for the winter to work as lumberjacks.  As a result, C’est dans la ville de Bytown could be a forestier song or both a voyageur and forestier song. Forestiers worked in the lumber industry. They were lumberjacks or river drivers, riding the wood down riverways.

Sadly, W. F. Wentzel’s collection of voyageur songs has been lost. W. F. Wentzel, a  Norwegian trader of the far North West, was also a fine musician. He therefore transcribed voyageur songs that could have been an extremely valuable source to later generations of collectors and ethnologists.

Let us read Grace Lee Nute:

“It is a great pity nevertheless, that Wentzel’s large collection of these songs has not survived. His musical gifts added to his unusual command of languages would surely have made the collection invaluable. Moreover, he collected the songs of the voyageurs, and “mentions the indecorous quality of some of their [the voyageurs’] songs.” [ii]

Also lost are the songs of Pierre Falcon, except Les Bois Brûlés, an account of the Battle of Seven Oaks. Falcon wrote canoe songs that have probably been destroyed due to their ‘smutty’ character. Métis called themselves Bois Brûlés. They were not as dark as Amerindians.

Fortunately, we still have the eleven songs that Edward Ermatinger collected.

____________________

[i] Quoted by Nute in The Voyageur (St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1987 [1931]), pp. 244 and 255.

[ii] “Mr W. F. Wentzel, Letters to the Hon. Roderic McKenzie, 1807-1824,” in Masson, Les Bourgeois, 1:71. Quoted in Nute’s The Voyageur, p. 155.

I am including, below, Blanche comme la neige, a folksong. Sir Ernest MacMillan composed a choral setting of this song. I do not have Sir Ernest’s setting, but we have the song. Blanche comme la neige is featured as a Christmas song, but it could be a song about winter and purity. It tells the story of a young woman who feigned death not to be raped. She is placed in a coffin and discovered, three days later, by her father. She tells him she has preserved her virginity: “pour mon honneur garder,” (to keep my honour).

One of the McGarrigle sisters died in 2010. It saddens me to know that they are now forever separated. Besides, it is difficult to find good renditions of folksongs.  I do not know the origin of Ce matin.

Portage

  • Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Blanche comme la neige (folklore)
  • Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Ce matin 

expedition_doubling_cape_barrow_july_25_18212

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18 January 2012
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The Singing Voyageurs

18 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Canadian History, Voyageurs

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Bois-Brûlés, Edward Ermatinger, explorers, folksongs, Marius Barbeau, Simon Fraser, Sir George Back, Voyageur explorers, W. F. Wentzel

Expedition Doubling Cape Barrow, July 25, 1821, by Sir George Back

Expedition Doubling Cape Barrow, 25 July 1821, by Sir George Back (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

More on the voyageur’s personality

The explorers left testimonials about the voyageur’s personality. According to Sir John Franklin, they were “creatures of the moment.” Sir George Simpson writes that they loved to eat and that, if a piece of equipment was good, they said that it came from France or “la vieille France de Londres,” London’s old France, and were “witty.” [i]

Sir George Back (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As for the explorers, they knew the name of every single one of their voyageurs. Most of these explorers came from Scotland. Obviously the Scots and the voyageurs got along very well. By the way, the gentleman who lost so many of his voyageurs was Admiral Sir George Back, FRS [Fellow of the Royal Society] (6 November 1796 – 23 June 1878). I have therefore edited my last post accordingly and, in doing so, I discovered that Sir George Back was an excellent artist.

When they were working for explorers, the voyageurs may have transported pelts. However, when employed by explorers as Simon Fraser and Sir Alexander MacKenzie, they did not. They were simply and dangerously finding their way to the Pacific.  At that time, they also worked for travellers who were gathering information on Canada.

HMS Terror Thrown up by Ice, by Sir George Back

The Singing Voyageur

The voyageurs did sing. We know for certain that they sang mostly old French songs and that their favourite song was “À la claire fontaine.” During the ten years he was in the employ of the Hudson’s Bay Company (1819-1829), Edward Ermatinger (1797-1876) collected eleven voyageur songs. They are traditional folksongs.

As for songs composed by the voyageurs, we know of three:

  • Épouser le voyage (To Wed the Voyage),
  • Les Bois-Brûlés (The Brullis),
  • Le Six mai de l’année dernière (Last Year on the Sixth of May).

The Bois-Brûlés were Dakota Amerindians.  As for the Sixth of May, that was the date on which the voyageurs left for “les pays d’en-haut,”  the north or, literally, the countries above.

These were published in the Beaver, a Canadian journal, by Marius Barbeau, the “founder of Canadian anthropology.” There can be no doubt that these songs are authentic voyageur songs.

Moreover, Grace Lee Nute lists voyageur songs. For the most part, the songs she discusses are well-known traditional folksongs. There are two exceptions:

  • C’est dans la ville de Bytown [Ottawa] (It’s in the town of Ottawa)
  • Parmi les voyageurs (Among the Voyageurs)

Parmi les voyageurs is unquestionably a voyageur song. However, loggers also left from Ottawa. They too had to find a living and left for the winter to work as lumberjacks.  As a result, C’est dans la ville de Bytown could be a forestier song or both a voyageur and forestier song.

Sadly, W. F. Wentzel’s collection of voyageur songs has been lost. W. F. Wentzel, a Norwegian trader of the far North West, was also a fine musician. He therefore transcribed voyageur songs that could have been an extremely valuable source to later generations of collectors and ethnologists.

Let us read Grace Lee Nute:

“It is a great pity nevertheless, that Wentzel’s large collection of these songs has not survived. His musical gifts added to his unusual command of languages would surely have made the collection invaluable. Moreover, he collected the songs of the voyageurs, and “mentions the indecorous quality of some of their [the voyageurs’] songs.” [ii]

Also lost are the songs of Pierre Falcon, a Métis who wrote canoe songs that have probably been destroyed due to their ‘smutty’ character.

Fortunately, we still have the eleven songs that Edward Ermatinger collected.

____________________

[i] Quoted by Nute in The Voyageur (St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1987 [1931]), p 244 and p. 255.

[ii] “Mr W. F. Wentzel, Letters to the Hon. Roderic McKenzie, 1807-1824,” in Masson, Les Bourgeois, 1:71. Quoted in Nute’s The Voyageur, p. 155.

I am including, below, Blanche comme la neige, a folksong. Sir Ernest MacMillan composed a choral setting of this song. I do not have Sir Ernest’s setting, but we have the song. Blanche comme la neige is featured as a Christmas song, but it could be a song about winter and purity. It tells the story of a young woman who feigned death not to be raped. She is placed in a coffin and discovered, three days later, by her father. She tells him she has preserved her virginity: “pour mon honneur garder,” (to keep my honour).

One of the McGarrigle sisters died in 2010. It saddens me to know that they are now forever separated.  Besides, it is difficult to find good renditions of folksongs.  I do not know the origin of Ce matin.

Portage

  • Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Blanche comme la neige (folklore)
  • Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Ce matin 

(please click on title to hear the songs)

expedition_doubling_cape_barrow_july_25_18212

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18 January 2012
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The Voyageurs: from Sea to Sea

16 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canadian History, Folksongs, Métis, United States, Voyageurs

≈ 99 Comments

Tags

Alexander Henry, Athabasca men, disobedience, from coast to coast, hivernants, pemmican, Simon Fraser, Sir Alexander MacKenzie, Sir George Back, voyageurs

fort_george

Fort Astoria (also called Fort George) (Photo credit: Fort Astoria, Wikipedia)

Grace Lee Nute writes that “[t]hey [the voyageurs] named the lakes and Rivers, prepared the Indians for the incursion of the white, and made it possible for missionaries to go among the tribes and convert and civilize them. They were humble, unassuming men, but this fact should not obscure their services and importance in American and Canadian history.” [i]

They may indeed have been “humble, unassuming men.” Ramsay Crooks, John Jacob Astor’s employee and then his successor, was also of this opinion, to the point that an exception was made to the Embargo Act of 1807. John Jacob Astor was allowed to hire British subjects.Truth be told, John Jacob Astor would have trusted Gabriel Franchère with his life. He had so much confidence in him that he asked him to take voyageurs around Cape Horn and back up to the west coast of the current United States. So there had to be more to men who jumped the rapids recklessly than mere recklessness.

Trapper’s Bride, Marriage Between an Amerindian and a Voyageur by Alfred Jacob Miller (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Voyageur and the Amerindians

If we were to draw a portrait of the voyageur, his relationship with the Amerindians would be an important factor. The hivernants or winterers, sometimes Métis, who signed a three-year contract and manned, first, the one fort and, later, the many forts as fur traders and explorers moved further and further into the interior learned the language of Amerindians and married Amerindians. Others would have killed them or exploited them. 

The voyageurs were indeed very capable men. They woke at three in the morning, washed, shaved, loaded the canoes and put them in the water in less than forty-five minutes. They travelled a reassuring distance before having breakfast. However, they depended on the Amerindians for guidance and they also depended on Amerindians and Métis for food. That kept the voyageurs humble.

Pemmican: food

The mangeurs de lard or ‘pork-eaters,’ the voyageurs who went back and forth between Montreal and a trading post ate “dried peas or beans, sea biscuit salt pork” and maize. (Wikipedia).  But the hommes du Nord, or North men, and the élite among them, the Athabasca men (North West Company), who went further and further west, did not have time to prepare food. They therefore ate pemmican. It was brought to the forts first by Amerindians and, later, by Amerindians and Métis. The pemmican trade grew in importance as forts were built that soon reached what is now northeast Alberta.

Jumping or “shooting” the Rapids: disobedience

Besides, they so wanted to avoid portages that they were not as docile as portrayed by Ramsay Crooks. In his diary, Nicholas Garry reports that his crew disobeyed orders. “A few minutes paddling brought us to the Portage de Petite Roche which is a dangerous Rapid but the Water being high we run it, which was great Folly…” Garry goes on to speak about Portage de l’Isle. “This is a very dangerous Rapid, and so many fatal Accidents have attended the Sauting [sic] of it that it has been interdicted [forbidden] to the Servants of both Companies [the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company  before the merger in 1821]. Our Men forgetting Orders and wishing to avoid the Trouble of carrying the Canoe run it and we escaped, though an Absolution of Sin in a severe Ducking would not have justified this Rashness. . . . In half an Hour we arrived at a Décharge* but our Steerman preferred running it and we had a narrow escape having just touched. A harder Knock would have broken our Canoe.”[iii]  

*at a décharge, the cargo could be left in the canoe and the men pulled the canoe with ropes, walking on each side of a river or channel.

Garry then speaks about an accident. A huge hole was made in the canoe. “It became necessary to consider how we should get on but the Canadian Voyageur soon find a Remedy and our Men were immediately occupied in repairing the Hole. The Wood furnished the material. Bark from the Birch Tree Wattape from the Root of the Pine, Splints made from the Cedar Tree and the Crossbars. In the Evening all was ready to start in the morning.”[iv]

I had imagined that the Canadians who accompanied me were the most expert canoe-men in the world. (Alexander MacKenzie)

From Coast to Coast

Were they disobedient or simply stretching their ability in preparation for travelling the River, the afore-mentioned Fraser River. They knew that they would face the worst possible conditions for canoeing. Before the trains, there had to be voyageurs to trace the path to the Pacific coast. Sir Alexander MacKenzie (1764 [Scotland] – 12 March 1820 [Scotland]), his voyageurs and Amerindians did reach the Pacific: “Here two canoes and seven natives took them down the river. In a few days the mouth of the stream and the sea came into sight. The great feat had been accomplished: North America had been crossed in northern latitudes from coast to coast for the first time.”[v] (See South Pass (Wyoming), Wikipedia.)

Simon Fraser travels down the River: the Fraser River  

The River is named the Fraser River, after Simon Fraser (20 May 1776 – 18 August 1862) a fur trader and an explorer. However, when reading and account of their descent, one is amazed at the feats of the voyageurs.  

“His [Fraser’s] name still attaches to the river he explored in 1808 at the greatest hazard to himself, his nineteen voyageurs, and four other companions.” Fraser writes that at one point “The nature of our situation . . . left us no choice, we were under the necessity, either of running down the Canoes, or of abandoning them: we therefore unloaded and provided each of them with five men.”[vi] 

Fraser also writes that they “were obliged to pass on a declivity which formed the border of a huge precipice, on loose stones and gravel which constantly gave way under their feet.”[vii]

According to Nute, one voyageur lost his way and got stuck among the rocks because of the material he was carrying on his back. Fraser writes that he “got so engaged among the rocks that he could neither move forward nor backward, nor yet unload himself, without imminent danger.” He was saved by the “leader of the party himself who crawled to the poor wretch’s assistance and by cutting the load loose and allowing it to be lost over the precipice saved his canoeman’s life.”[viii]

An Incident: the gun taken away

A little later, they met Amerindians who had never seen white men. One took a gun away from a voyageur and was about to shoot another Amerindian, not knowing the consequences, when a voyageur rushed to push the gun up so no one would be killed. “Once, when a curious Indian took the interpreter’s gun, one of the voyageurs saved the situation by knocking up the muzzle, which was aimed directly at some of the Indians, when the would-be investigator pulled the trigger.” Nute writes that “[t]he men had to be eternally vigilant standing guard at night, keeping the natives from the luggage, and yet convincing them of the friendliness of the whites.”[ix]

—ooo—

Making sense of the voyageurs is rather difficult. Yes, they were docile but, at times, they did not pay attention to orders. They were the canoemen and probably measured the risks, terrible risks. Most of the men who accompanied Admiral Sir George Back, FRS (6 November 1796 – 23 June 1878) died of exposure, scurvy or hunger. However, from the very beginning of New France, they relied on North-American Indians, as they would not otherwise have survived. They were attacked by Amerindians, Iroquois in particular, and eight Jesuit missionaries, the Canadian martyrs, were the victims of Iroquois, also called Mohawks.   

Moreover, the habitants’ thirty acres started to shrink before Nouvelle-France was ceded to Britain. Families were large and the farms were divided among sons and could not be divided anymore. Voyageurs had a job, so families were proud when a boy did not grow too tall for the canoes. There had to be room for supplies and pelts under their seat.  As for the singing, it was better than feeling pity for oneself. These men found their happiness where they could. They were proud, so they turned obstacles into challenges and their singing entertained those who travelled with them. I like to compare them with the sailors who sang shanties while they toiled.

Canoe by Frances Anne Hopkins (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Frances Anne Hopkins

Among explorers, we can name: Radisson, La Vérendrye, Lahontan, Pierre Le Sueur, Du Lhut, Perrot, La Salle, Nicolet; Alexander Henry, Jonathan Carver, Peter Pond, Sir Alexander MacKenzie, Simon Fraser, Sir John Franklin, Sir George Back and, to a lesser extent, Sir George Simpson and Norwegian W. F. Wentzel. Yet, we could also name the voyageur.

Love to everyone ♥

_________________________

[i] Grace Lee Nute, The Voyageur (St. Paul, Minneapolis: Minnesota Historical Society, 1987 [1931]), p.10.

[ii] Nute, Op. Cit., p. 236.

[iii] Nute, Op. Cit., p. 69, quoting the “Diary of Nicholas Garry,” p. 129, p.133.

[iv] Nute, Op. Cit., pp. 70-71, quoting Garry, pp. 149-150.

[v] Nute, Op. Cit., p. 236, quoting “Mr. Simon Fraser, Journal of a Voyage from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast 1808,” in L. R. Masson, Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest, vol. 1 (London, 1824), pp. 157-221. 

[vi] Ibid. 

[vii] Ibid.

[viii] Nute, Op. Cit., p. 239.

[ix] Nute, Op. Cit., p. 240.

[x] Wikipedia, Sir Alexander MacKenzie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mackenzie_(explorer)

—ooo—

Johannes Brahms: Händel Variations, op. 24 -01
Grigory Sokolov  (born 1950)
 
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