Derrière Chez Nous
(Behind Our House)
Original French
Derrière chez nous, y a z'un p'tit bois,
Ch: Hurra, mes boués, hour-ra!
J'cueillis deux frais'jen mangis trois,
Ch: Tra la, la la, la la la, la la!
Avec une fillett' de quinze ans,
Sa mère arrive au même instant.
Que faites-vous à mon enfant?
J'suis en train d'lui compter les dents.
Il lui en man-qu'une sur le d'vant.
Il lui en man-qu'une sur le d'vant.
Que je lui pose bellement.
Que je lui pose bellement.
Il m'en man-qu'une également!
Il m'en man-qu'une également!
Donnez-moi z'en, marin galant.
Donnez-moi z'en, marin galant.
J'les pose qu'à celle de quinze ans.
J'les pose qu'à celle de quinze ans.
Les vieilles pour le commandant!
Les vieilles pour le commandant!
English translation
At the back of our house there's a little wood,
Ch: Hurra, me boys, hurra!
I gather two strawberries, and I eat three.
Ch: Tra la, la la, la la la, la la!
Along with a maiden of sweet fifteen,
Just at that moment her Ma arrives.
What are you doing to my little girl?
I'm in the process of counting her teeth.
And she is short one in front.
And she is short one in front.
So I'm fixing her nicely with a new one.
So I'm fixing her nicely with a new one.
I likewise have one missing, too!
I likewise have one missing, too!
Give me one, bold sailor, do.
Give me one, bold sailor, do.
I give them only to young maidens.
I give them only to young maidens.
The old ones are for the captain!
The old ones are for the captain!
Stan Hugill’s research into this song led him to “a French Canadian folkson which tells a somewhat similar tale and… a French folksong too, which starts off: ‘Derrière chez nous…’ indicated that [the French sailor] also had a penchant for making his own country’s folksongs into shanties”. He found the “original words” in two french publications:
- Chansons de la Voile “sans Voiles” (1935, Capt. Hayet)
- Cahier de Chansons de Jean Louis Postollec et de Jean La Pipe (ca. 1940)
If, says Hugill, the words and phrases in this song seem “a little peculiar”, it is because this is a bowdlerized version from Capt. Hayet, and the original makes far more sense.