Camp on de Cheval Gris, De

DESCRIPTION: French-Canadian dialect song. Singer visits his abandoned lumber camp and reminisces. He recalls his friend Johnnie reading a letter over and over, and discovers it's a love-letter. He tells Johnnie he's never revealed the letter's secret.
AUTHOR: William Henry Drummond
EARLIEST DATE: 1897 (Drummond, The Habitant)
LONG DESCRIPTION: French-Canadian dialect song. Singer visits his old lumber camp, now abandoned, and addresses this song to his old friend, Johnnie, reminiscing about the crew and the times they had. He recalls Johnnie reading a letter over and over, and one day finding the letter himself, reading it, and realizing it's a love-letter. He dreams they are back together, but awakens to find himself back in the old camp with his grandson. He tells Johnnie he's never revealed the letter's secret.
KEYWORDS: love return lumbering work logger moniker friend dream
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Beck-SongsOfTheMichiganLumberjacks 73, "De Camp on de Cheval Gris" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: William Henry Drummond, M.D., _The Habitant and other French Canadian Poems_, Putnam, 1897, pp. 112-117, "De Camp on de 'Cheval Gris''" (1 text)
ST Be073 (Partial)
Roud #8847
NOTES [48 words]: Note that this is a composed piece, and I find no evidence of a tune; I'm not sure that it justifies its inclusion in Beck. William Henry Drummond also wrote "The Wreck of the Julie Plante," which is probably traditional, and "'Poleon Doré," which is in the Index but probably isn't. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.0
File: Be073

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