Roi du Bal, Le (King of the Ball)

DESCRIPTION: French. Twelfth Night ritual song. Singers toast the "rights" of the King of the Ball, paying him honor. The king demands champagne, saying he can't sing without it.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (Berry-FolkSongsOfOldVincennes)
KEYWORDS: foreignlanguage nonballad request ritual drink wassail
FOUND IN: US(MW)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Berry-FolkSongsOfOldVincennes, p. 92, "Le Roi du Bal (King of the Ball)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Somerset Wassail" (subject) and references there
NOTES [91 words]: According to Berry-FolkSongsOfOldVincennes, in the old Northwest (Indiana) territory, on Twelfth Night single people would gather at the home of the oldest lady of the community, who had baked a cake with four beans hidden in it. The four young men whose pieces of cake contained the beans would be acclaimed as kings, and would each put on a King's Ball, beginning the next day and continuing at weekly intervals. Each king would select a queen, presumably his sweetheart; the ladies furnished the refreshments while the men paid the fiddler. - PJS
Last updated in version 2.5
File: BerV092

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