Un Canadien errant

"Un Canadien errant" ("A Wandering Canadian") is a song written in 1842 by Antoine Gérin-Lajoie after the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–38.

[n 2] Gérin-Lajoie wrote the song, about the pain of exile, while taking his classical exams at the Séminaire de Nicolet.

In Souvenirs de collège, Antoine Gérin-Lajoie writes that he based his verse on an existing folk tune: I wrote it in 1842 when I was taking my classical exams at Nicolet.

I did it one night in bed at the request of my friend Cyprien Pinard, who wanted a song to the tune of 'Par derrière chez ma tante'...

"[1] The melody is from the French Canadian folk tune "J'ai fait une maîtresse" (of which "Si tu te mets anguille" is also a variation).

In the 1969 film, My Side of the Mountain, the folk singer and musicologist Theodore Bikel sang the first part of "Un Canadien Errant" and then played a bit of it on a "homemade" reed flute.

Canadian folk rock duo Whitehorse recorded "Un Canadien errant" and included it on their 2013 covers album The Road to Massey Hall.

The song also made an appearance as the location music for Canada in the Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego video game (1996), performed by Terry Gadsden & Frederik Kinck-Petersen.

Ernest Gagnon in Chansons populaires du Canada (Quebec City 1865) says "the original tune was "J'ai fait une maîtresse," of which the words of the variant "Si tu te mets anguille" are (somewhat altered) fragments.'

Un Canadien errant, Banni de ses foyers, Parcourait en pleurant Des pays étrangers.

Mon regard languissant Vers toi se portera..." English translation A wandering 'Canadien' Banished from his homeland Travelled, weeping, through foreign lands.