Lou Festin dei verna
(The Feast of the alders)
Nissart lyrics by François Guisol. Traditional from County of Nice.
Tune Chantons, enfants de Nice.

At this period, Nice was only a small town, the population of which was almost entirely concentrated in the current old town. From the very first days of spring, the inhabitants of Nice went to the country and had a picnic lunch on bank of river Var, under the high alders. Lou Festin dei verna occurred in Sainte-Marguerite area, on Whit Monday.

The “timbre” of the second part of the chorus (“Es lou festin dei verna...”) is found exactly in Saint Fiacre aux artichauts (Saint Fiacre with artichokes), a traditional song from South of Wallonia (Belgium).

On this tune Lou Festin dei verna, François-Dominique Rondelly, known as Menica Rondelly wrote some texts, among which A la bella poutina, Viva la pesca, Viva l’estocafic !

See also À San-Jouan, Cansoun nissarda.

Watercolour by Gustav Adolf Mossa to illustrate Lou Festin dei verna.		1st verse
		Lou mès de Mai es arribat, Lou plus bèu es ahura. Anèn culhì li flou dòu prat E la frucha madura (1).		The month of May has arrived, The more beautiful is now. Let’s go and pick the flowers in the meadow And the ripe fruits.
		Chorus
		Belli partida De Santa-Margarida. Sus l’èr dei tendre passeroun Faguèn retentì de cansoun, Faguèn, faguèn retentì de cansoun. Es lou festin dei verna Que tan bèn n’en gouverna, Que tan, que tan, Que tan bèn n’en gouverna.		Fine outings in the country To Saint Margaret. On the tender passerines tune Let’s ring songs, Let’s, let’s ring songs. It’s the feast of the alders Which so well control us (2), Which so, which so, Which so well control us
		2nd verse
		Cad’an pèr aquesta sesoun Paire, enfan, maire e filha Venès au Var sus lou gasoun De familha en familha.		Each year in this season Father, child, mother and daughter Let come to the Var on the lawn From family to family.
		3rd verse
		N’oublidès pas lou saucissoun, Lou jamboun, la toumeta. Aven a doui pas dei bouissoun Li plu tendri faveta.		Don’t forget the (pork) sausage, The ham, the (cheese) tomme. We have, just a stone’s throw from the bushes, The more tender French beans.
		4th verse
		En arriban soubre lou luèc Dai fecoundi limita, Si preparèn à faire fuèc E bulhi la marmita.		Coming on the place With fertile boundaries, We prepare ourselves to make fire And the cooking pot to boil.
		5th verse
		Un courre lèu cercà de tronc, Assende la basana, Et nautre faguèn su lou jounc Audi li nouostri ourgana.		One runs quickly and look for wood, Lights the tinder, And we, we make over the bulrush (3) Hear our fine voices.
		6th verse
		A l’oumbra d’un fuèlhage estrech E verdejanti tenda, Faguèn d’assetat e de drech La plu sana merenda.		In the shade of a narrow foliage And a verdant curtain, We have, seated and (or) up, The more healthy snack.
		7th verse
		Se fauta de vin vous vèn souon, Reveia-vous jouinessa, Li Dama e Payan n’an de bouon Per creisse l’allegressa !		If, through lack of wine, comes sleep, Let wake, youth, The Ladies and Payan (4) have good one To make the jubilation grow!
		8th verse
		Après un bouon past frugal, Agradable e campestre, Cantèn, virèn, sembla lou bal D’un paradis terrestre.		After a good and frugal meal, Pleasant and rural, Let’s sing, let’s turn, it looks like the dance Of an earthly paradise.

Jean-Baptiste Toselli (see below Bibliography) published, under the name of (Bernard ?) Martin-Saytour, a version of Lou Festin dei verna (The Feast of the alders) that embeds the following complementary verse, inserted before the last verse:

1. Pierre Berringer indicates me that his father Louis, born in the Babazouk in 1897, sang the following variant:
     Lou mès de Mai es arribat, | Lou plus bèu es ahura. | La fava grana lou faiòu, | La cerièia es madura.
     Au festin de li verna | Si canta li lanterna, | Si can, si can, | Si canta li lanterna.
     (The month of May has arrived, | The more beautiful is now. | The French bean [makes] seed of the bean, | The cherry is ripe.
     At the feast of the alders | Are sung the lanterns, | Are sung, are sung, | Are sung the lanterns.)
This variant was sung alternately, year after year, with the original version.

2. In his Dictionnaire niçois-français, Georges Castellana gives: gouvernà = to govern , to rule, to feed, and si gouvernà = to behave.

3. May be a basket, turned upside down, on which climbed the singer. Or better, as suggests me Michel Savary, an allusion to a flute or a fife carved in a reed (or jounc, bulrush, for the rhyme), accompanying the songs and so over which it would be sing.

4. Li Dama (The Ladies): sign of an inn in the neighborhood of Sainte-Marguerite, that was sharing the clientele with the establishment ran by Payan family.

Back music page - Top

© 2001-2025 Jean-Gabriel Maurandi.