The Wreck of the "Julie Plante"

The Wreck of the "Julie Plante"

A Legend of Lac St. Pierre

Original Text
William Henry Drummond, The Habitant and other French-Canadian Poems, intro. Louis Frechette (New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897): 8-10.
1On wan dark night on Lac St. Pierre,
2    De win' she blow, blow, blow,
3An' de crew of de wood scow "Julie Plante"
4    Got scar't an' run below--
5For de win' she blow lak hurricane,
6    Bimeby she blow some more,
7An' de scow bus' up on Lac St. Pierre
8    Wan arpent from de shore.
9De captinne walk on de fronte deck,
10    An' walk de hin' deck too--
11He call de crew from up de hole,
12    He call de cook also.
13De cook she 's name was Rosie,
14    She come from Montreal,
15Was chambre maid on lumber barge,
16    On de Grande Lachine Canal.
17De win' she blow from nor' -eas' -wes',--
18    De sout' win' she blow too,
19W'en Rosie cry, "Mon cher captinne,
20    Mon cher, w'at I shall do ?"
21Den de captinne t'row de beeg ankerre,
22    But still de scow she dreef,
23De crew he can't pass on de shore,
24    Becos' he los' hees skeef.
25De night was dark lak wan black cat,
26    De wave run high an' fas',
27W'en de captinne tak' de Rosie girl
28    An' tie her to de mas'.
29Den he also tak' de life preserve,
30    An' jomp off on de lak',
31An' say, "Good-bye, ma Rosie dear,
32    I go drown for your sak'."
33Nex' morning very early
34    'Bout ha'f-pas' two--t'ree--four--
35De captinne--scow--an' de poor Rosie
36    Was corpses on de shore,
37For de win' she blow lak hurricane,
38    Bimeby she blow some more,
39An' de scow bus' up on Lac St. Pierre,
40    Wan arpent from de shore.
MORAL
41Now all good wood scow sailor man
42    Tak' warning by dat storm
43An' go an' marry some nice French girl
44    An' leev on wan beeg farm.
45De win' can blow lak hurricane
46    An' s'pose she blow some more,
47You can't get drown on Lac St. Pierre
48    So long you stay on shore.

Notes

1] Lac St.Pierre: a lake between Sorel and Trois Rivières, east of Montreal, through which the St. Lawrence River flows. Back to Line
2] Drummond acknowledged that a village lumberman, Gidéon Plouffe, was the source of this line (Arthur L. Phelps, ed., Habitant Poems [Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1959]: 8). Back to Line
6] Bimeby: by and by. Back to Line
7] scow: large flat-bottomed boat. Back to Line
8] arpent: a French measure, amounting to "about an acre and a quarter to about five-sixths of an acre" (OED). Back to Line
16] Grande Lachine Canal: bypasses the Lachine rapids and runs through Montreal. Back to Line
21] beeg: "big" in original. Back to Line
22] de scow: "the scow" in original. Back to Line
24] skeef: skiff, small rowboat. Back to Line
25] lak: "lak'" in original. Back to Line
37] "lak'" in original. Back to Line
45] lak: "lak'" in original. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1897
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1997.
Rhyme
abcbdefe