Isabeau S'y Promène (Isabel)

DESCRIPTION: French: Isabel goes walking by the sea side. She meets a sailor who sings sweetly to her. She joins him on his boat, but then grieves because she has lost her gold ring. He dives three times to try to find it; the third/hundredth time he does not come up.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1880 (E. Gagnon, Chansons Populaires du Canada)
KEYWORDS: courting ship death drowning ring foreignlanguage grief
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) US(MW,NE)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Hugill-ShantiesFromTheSevenSeas, pp. 515-517, "La Danae" (2 texts, French & English, 1 tune)
Hugill-SongsOfTheSea, pp. 154-155, "La Danae" (2 texts, French & English, 1 tune)
Berry-FolkSongsOfOldVincennes, p. 20, "Isabeau se promene (Isabeau Went a-Strolling)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune); also p. 89, "Mon joli coeur de rosier (Little Rosebud Fair)" (1 text + translation, 1 tune)
Scott-TheBalladOfAmerica, pp. 297-300, "Isabeau S'y Promene (Isabel)" (2 texts (1 French, 1 English), 1 tune)
Lane/Gosbee-SongsOfShipsAndSailors, pp. 121-123, "Sur le Bord de L'ile (By the Edge of the Sea)" (1 French text plus singable translation, 1 tune)
DT, ISABEAU
ADDITIONAL: Edith Fowke and Richard Johnston, _Folk Songs of Quebec (Chansons de Quebec)_, Waterloo Music Company, 1957, pp. 74-75, "Isabeau s'y Promène" (One day Isabel Wandered)" (1 French text plus English translation, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Isabeau S'y Promeneau" (on PeteSeeger29)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jolie Fleur de Rosier (Lovely Flower of the Rose-Tree)" (plot)
cf. "The Lady of Carlisle" [Laws O25] (theme)
NOTES [18 words]: Reported by Scott to be sung in France, Quebec, and Louisiana, though his version is from New Brunswick. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: SBoA297

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography