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Music of the Waters. 165 |
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" Carato," &c, were the principal cables and tow-ropes that tied the horses to the boats. They designated, under the names of front winds and back winds, the first and the last horse of the file of those horses of the towing-path. Each quadriga with its" baile" or conductor, and the conductor of the foremost quadriga, were named "baile premier."
The Durbane was a large farm, with beautiful shady walks of poplars and elms. It was in the old days a public-house of considerable dimensions and repute, and " Joseph Pecoul," who is alluded to in one of the verses, was the last of the great publicans of the Durbane.
Perhaps I may be permitted to quote some verses from Guillaume de la Landelle's dedicatory poem to sailors, with which he prefaces his " Le Gaillard d'Avant." |
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Matelots, bon peuple marin, Votre ronde gaiete m'est chere, Car je suis un ami sincere Et quelque peu votre cousin.
J'ai partage votre destin Et vu de pres votre rnisere, Je sais qu'une chanson legere A bord dissipe le chagrin.
Et c'est pourquoi j'ai fait ce livre Recueilli dans vos nobles coeurs, Au gaillard d'avant je le livre. |
Sailors, brave sons of the ocean, Your sunny nature pleases me, For I am your sincere friend, Your cousin I might almost be.
I have often shared your lot And have seen you in your pain, And I know how much on board May be done by some joyous strain.
And that is why I have written this
book Of the songs that live in your noble
hearts, And I inscribe it to the "Foc'sle
Head."
You are really the authors of it; I have simply put in rhyme The frank simplicity of your sailor life.
I borrow from your varied store All my tunes ; could I do better ? And through your strange vernacular Keep to the very letter. |
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Vous en etes les vrais auteurs ; Moi, j'ai simplement mis en rimes Vos franches vertus maritimes. |
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J'emprunte a votre magasin Tous mes airs; pouvais-je
faire ? Et dans votre vocabulaire Je navigue mon droit chemin. |
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De la Landelle seems to have been to France what Mr. Clarke Russell is to England at the present time, namely, the true chronicler of the sailors' sayings and doings, and the genuine historian of the curiosities and credulities of the foc'sle-head and the galley fire. De la Landelle's volume |
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