J'avais une Vieille Grand-Mere (Grandmother Complains)

DESCRIPTION: "I had a very old grandmother, jig-a-don-dain', jig-a-don-de." The grandmother weeps all the time; asked why, she replies that she's weeping for her husband, who has been eaten by wolves
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (Berry-FolkSongsOfOldVincennes)
KEYWORDS: age grief death mourning animal husband
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Que)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Berry-FolkSongsOfOldVincennes, p. 34, "J'avais une vieille grand'mere (Grandmother Complains)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
NOTES [80 words]: Berry-FolkSongsOfOldVincennes says this is a torn-away fragment of a longer ballad about "a shepherdess whom her suitor found weeping because her sheep had wandered away from her. The young swain played on his pipe and at the strains of his music the sheep came back and began to make merry, except for an old ewe who was disconsolate. When asked by a lamb why she was grieving, she replied, 'I am weeping over the death of your grandfather wo has been eaten by the wolves.'" - PJS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BerV034

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