Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Flute by Arthur Rennesson, vocals by Aurora Aguilar & Farya Faraji. This is a French traditional song, reportedly from Brittany, with a melodic morphology that clearly showcases old origins, possibly reaching back to the periphery of the Middle-Ages. The instruments used are the flute, harp, and dulcimers.
Lyrics:
Celles qui vont au bois c'est la mère et la fille
La mère va chantant et sa fille soupire
"Qu'a vous à soupirer, ma blanche Marguerite?"
"J'ai bien trop d'ire en moi et n'ose vous le dire"
"Je suis fille le jour et la nuit blanche biche
La chasse est après moi, des barons et des princes"
"Et mon frère Renaud qui est encore le pire
Allez ma mère, allez, bien promptement lui dire"
"Qu'il arrête ses chiens jusqu'à demain midi
Où sont tes chiens Renaud, et la chasse gentille?"
"Ils sont dedans le bois, à courre blanche biche"
"Arrête-les, Renaud, arrête, je t'en prie"
Trois fois les a cornés, de son cornet de cuivre
À la troisième fois, la blanche biche est prise
Mandons le dépouilleur, qu'il dépouille la biche
Celui qui la dépouille dit "je ne sais que dire"
Elle a le cheveu blond et le sein d'une fille
A tiré son couteau, en quartiers il l'a mise
En on fait un dîner aux barons et aux princes
"Nous voici tous sied, hors ma sœur Marguerite"
"Vous n'avez qu'à manger, suis la première assise
Ma tête est dans le plat et mon cœur aux chevilles"
"Mon sang est répandu par toute la cuisine
Et sur vos noirs charbons mes pauvres os s'y grillent."
Translation:
Those who go into the woods are the mother and the daughter.
The mother walks singing, while her daughter sighs.
“Why do you sigh so, my fair Marguerite?”
“I carry too much sorrow within me,
Yet I dare not tell you.”
“By day I am a maiden,
By night a white doe.
The hunt pursues me—
Barons and princes alike.”
“And my brother Renaud, who is the worst of all.
Go, Mother, go quickly,
And tell him…”
“Tell him to hold back his hounds until tomorrow at noon.”
“Where are your hounds, Renaud,
And your noble hunting party?”
“They are in the forest,
Chasing a white doe.”
“Call them back, Renaud,
Call them back, I beg you.”
Three times he sounded
His copper hunting horn.
At the third call,
The white doe was taken.
“Send for the butcher,
Let him skin the doe.”
But the man who skinned her said,
“I do not know what to say…
She has golden hair
And the breasts of a young woman.”
He drew his knife
And cut her into quarters.
A feast was prepared
For the barons and the princes.
“We are all seated here,
Except my sister Marguerite.”
“You need only eat—
I was the first to sit.”
“My head lies upon the platter,
And my heart hangs at the hooks.
My blood is spilled
Throughout your kitchen,
And upon your black coals
My poor bones are roasting.”
Flute by Arthur Rennesson, vocals by Aurora Aguilar & Farya Faraji. This is a French traditional song, reportedly from Brittany, with a melodic morphology that clearly showcases old origins, possibly reaching back to the periphery of the Middle-Ages. The instruments used are the flute, harp, and dulcimers.
Lyrics:
Celles qui vont au bois c'est la mère et la fille
La mère va chantant et sa fille soupire
"Qu'a vous à soupirer, ma blanche Marguerite?"
"J'ai bien trop d'ire en moi et n'ose vous le dire"
"Je suis fille le jour et la nuit blanche biche
La chasse est après moi, des barons et des princes"
"Et mon frère Renaud qui est encore le pire
Allez ma mère, allez, bien promptement lui dire"
"Qu'il arrête ses chiens jusqu'à demain midi
Où sont tes chiens Renaud, et la chasse gentille?"
"Ils sont dedans le bois, à courre blanche biche"
"Arrête-les, Renaud, arrête, je t'en prie"
Trois fois les a cornés, de son cornet de cuivre
À la troisième fois, la blanche biche est prise
Mandons le dépouilleur, qu'il dépouille la biche
Celui qui la dépouille dit "je ne sais que dire"
Elle a le cheveu blond et le sein d'une fille
A tiré son couteau, en quartiers il l'a mise
En on fait un dîner aux barons et aux princes
"Nous voici tous sied, hors ma sœur Marguerite"
"Vous n'avez qu'à manger, suis la première assise
Ma tête est dans le plat et mon cœur aux chevilles"
"Mon sang est répandu par toute la cuisine
Et sur vos noirs charbons mes pauvres os s'y grillent."
Translation:
Those who go into the woods are the mother and the daughter.
The mother walks singing, while her daughter sighs.
“Why do you sigh so, my fair Marguerite?”
“I carry too much sorrow within me,
Yet I dare not tell you.”
“By day I am a maiden,
By night a white doe.
The hunt pursues me—
Barons and princes alike.”
“And my brother Renaud, who is the worst of all.
Go, Mother, go quickly,
And tell him…”
“Tell him to hold back his hounds until tomorrow at noon.”
“Where are your hounds, Renaud,
And your noble hunting party?”
“They are in the forest,
Chasing a white doe.”
“Call them back, Renaud,
Call them back, I beg you.”
Three times he sounded
His copper hunting horn.
At the third call,
The white doe was taken.
“Send for the butcher,
Let him skin the doe.”
But the man who skinned her said,
“I do not know what to say…
She has golden hair
And the breasts of a young woman.”
He drew his knife
And cut her into quarters.
A feast was prepared
For the barons and the princes.
“We are all seated here,
Except my sister Marguerite.”
“You need only eat—
I was the first to sit.”
“My head lies upon the platter,
And my heart hangs at the hooks.
My blood is spilled
Throughout your kitchen,
And upon your black coals
My poor bones are roasting.”
