Odd Poem Found on the Internet

[helwen]

Romancero de Champagne

Le Chant des Brandons
1er Dimanche de Carême

Saint panceau, qui n'a pas soupé,
s'il vous plaît de lui en donner!
Taillez haut,
taillez bas
Un bon morceau
Au milieu du plat.
Si vous n'avez pas de couteau,
Donnez tout le morceau;
La jambe de fer,
Qui court comme un cerf;
La jambe de bo(i)s, [adding "i" per math5's suggestion]
Qui reste au culot,
Si vous ne voulez rin donner;
Trois fourchettes,
trois fourchettes.
Si vous ne voulez rin donner;
Trois fourchettes,
Dâ vô gozier (1)!!!


***
A probably bad translation because I used Babelfish to help:

Song of the Torches
First Sunday of Lent

Saint Panceau, who does not have soup,
If you please give to him!
Cut high,
cut low
a good piece
in the middle of the dish.
If you do not have a knife,
give all the piece; (give the whole thing)
The iron leg,
who runs like a stag;
The leg of wood, [EDIT: change "boss" to "wood"]
who remains with the base,
If you want to give nothing, (If you don't want to give anything)
Three forks,
Three forks.
If you want to give nothing
Three forks.
Dâ vô gozier (not French?)


Notes:

- I am guessing that "rin" is a variation of "rien".

- S.Panceau or Pancart was apparently an imaginary saint. Patron of "gens des bon appetits" -- gentlemen with good appetites.

- L thinks "three forks" might also be "three branches". Either way, meaning is unclear at the moment, unless it is perhaps a derogatory phrase?

Huh. Can't make sense of it all, but it's a funny poem for Lent.

[EDIT for additional thoughts]: Song for Mardi Gras, which includes directions for a dance? See comments.

Comments

[math5.livejournal.com]

Trois fourchettes,
Dâ vô gozier
3 forks (worth) in your throat
It's a menace in case they give nothing.

La jambe de bos,
the wood(en) leg

[fitzw.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Sometimes it's fairly clear when translating from older French to modern, and sometimes not so much. ;-)

[fitzw.livejournal.com]

"Taillez haut/taillez bas" are instructions/dance moves in "Les Mattachins"/"Les Bouffons", and in combination with the rest of the poem, I'm thinking that this sounds a lot like caroling (which didn't use to be only around Christmas time), performed in combination with some kind of dance (which could be part of the "iron leg"/"wooden leg" reference).

Certainly the song is asking for food, and the good food from the middle of the plate, giving more rather than none at all ("if you haven't a knife..."). And the "three forks" reference in combination with math5's clarification on the last phrase sounds like a typical threat with these things.

Caroling during Lent?

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Or just before Lent, despite the subtitle (Mardi Gras)

[math5.livejournal.com]

I was intrigued so I googled :)
Apparently it was a tradition from Charleville (Ardennes) on the first Sunday of lent: people would (burn some cats) and prepare a good/rich meal. Poor people would go from door to door and sing that song. The menacing part being used only if they didn't get food.
The rion leg/wooden leg seems to be a reference to a local legend where somebody generous received good and strong iron legs while somebody who wasn't received wooden legs.

http://books.google.com/books?id=pscFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=Saint+Panceau&source=bl&ots=K2PdCYjkhj&sig=Wy0j6lF3eji8IITqQ_dPpVqX098&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA48,M1

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link! Guess I should have read further down the 'pages' of the book.

I've been trying to find out more about Ponceau too - place, name, etc. There's a street in Auxerre, south of Champagne-Ardenne, and also there is a place sort of nearby by to those places, called Le Grand Ponceau. Since Ponceau is a name local to that area of France, it makes sense that a saint might be named Ponceau/Panceau, even if he's imaginary.

The "cut high, cut low" reference is a dance instruction, so I am thinking there was dancing to go with the singing, too.

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

Saint panceau, qui n'a pas soupé,

I suspect that this would be "S. Panceau, who hasn't eaten [supped]..."

The imagery reminds me of the passage in Piers Plowman in which the personification of Famine shows up, and the peasantry brings out food to appease him :-)

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Ah! I think you're right. That's what I get for being mostly lazy and letting Babelfish do the work. Thanks!