A portion of this song is quoted on page 16 of the printed Heritage Songbook.
| French: Voulez-vouz écouter chanter Une chanson de vérité? Le dixneuf de juin la bande des Bois-Brûlés Sont arrivés comme des braves guerriers. En arrivant à la Grenouillère Étant sur le point de débarquer Tout aussitôt bous avons déviré J’avons agi comme des gens d’honneur, Le Gouverneur qui était enragé Le Gouverneur qui se croit empereur, Il s’est trompé, il s’est fait tuer Si vous aviez vo tous ces Anglais Qui en a composé la chanson? |
English: Come and you will hear me sing A song of a true and a brave thing. The nineteenth of June our band of Brule Boys, Arrived like soldiers full of joy. When we arrived upon Frog Plain, We were about to ride away, An envoy then we did send The governor thinks he’s an emperor, For his mistake with his life he paid; You should have seen those Englishmen Who is the singer of this song? |
(Click here for a PDF version of the music) * (Play instrumental MP3)
This is a song of the Métis — the French-speaking people who arose from the interbreeding of French and Indians in Canada. They were largely outcast from the society of English Canada, and tried to make their own way in the western part of Canada — first in what is now called Manitoba, later in Saskatchewan.
Unfortunately, the English were always pushing them — first with the establishment of Winnipeg, then as railroads let farmers move into the lands of Saskatchewan and Alberta. At one stage of the conflict, quite a few Métis ended up in the upper Red River Valley area of Minnesota.
English: The beginning of the Battle of Batoche during the North-West Rebellion of 1885. Fish Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sometimes the Métis yielded ground; sometimes they fought back. In the end, the fighting would destroy them; they were slaughtered at the Battle of Batoche (May 12, 1885) and their leader, Louis Riel, was executed. Bill Gallaher wrote a very beautiful song about this, “The Last Battle,” recorded by Gordon Bok on his CD “In the Kind Land” (Timberhead Records, THD CD11). But that song is not traditional, and it dates from a time when the Métis were no longer in Manitoba and Minnesota.
This song comes from an earlier stage of the conflict between English Canadians and Métis; it comes from a time when western Canada was still ruled by the two great British trading companies, the Hudson’s Bay Company and the Northwest Company. Neither was above using the Métis to raid the others’ outposts — which is what happened here: the song refers to a conflict that took place June 19, 1816 near Fort Douglas on the Red River. The Métis soldiers of the Northwest Company (who called themselves Bois-Brûlés after their relatively dark skins) fought a force from the Hudson’s Bay company and defeated it completely.
Hudson’s Bay Company coat of arms, photographed on the wall of the HBC building in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Pierre Falcon, the author of this piece, was a witness to the conflict, and reportedly wrote it on the night of the battle. The Métis name is Chanson de la Genouillère, the “Song of Frog Plain.” It is known as Falcon’s Song because it became famous — probably the most famous of all the Métis songs. Although it refers to an inter-company conflict (soon to be cleared up when the companies merged), it became a song of Métis pride and independence.
Source: The French words and tune are from Edith Fowke, Alan Mills, and Helmut Blume, Canada’s Story in Song, p. 122. The translation combines portions of several verses to reduce the song from ten verses to eight.
The Minnesota Heritage Songbook 
Hello, my name is Bobbi-Lynn Clark, daughter of Kerry Clark and Colleen Urban. I am a Métis woman and I would like to clarify a misrepresentation of the Métis in this article. The Battle of Frog Plain was not an “inter-company” battle but rather a battle between the independent Bois-Brules and the Selkirk Settlers. The Bois-Brules were the men of the Métis families of the NorthWest part (of what is now called Canada) who were defending their land and hunting rights that were being threatened by the incoming British settlers and their government. The Métis had been there for quite some time and had developed a way of life that was their own. They made alliances with local indigenous communities and with the NorthWest Company but they were not governed nor acting on behalf of anyone or any companies interests. They were defending their own ways of life and their freedom.
I thought it went without saying that the Métis were defending their own way of life. I guess not.
You are of course correct about the history. But the context was the fight between the two companies about who governed where.
I am just learning of all this. Pierre Falcon was my great(×3) grandfather!
Correct