La mist'en laire
This is a very old song. It was collected by J.B Weckerlin in his book, "Chansons et rondes pour les enfants" in 1870. It's the French version of the Canadian song, "Bonhomme, bonhomme". A somewhat similar song was published in 1612.
"Mist'en laire" doesn't mean anything.
La mist'en laire
The Mist'en laire
Chanson de ronde
Circle Dance
(French)
(English)
Bonhomme, bonhomme, que savez-vous faire ?
Savez-vous jouer de la mist'en laire ?
Laire, laire, laire, de la mist'en laire
Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! que savez-vous faire ?
Bonhomme, bonhomme, que savez-vous faire ?
Savez-vous jouer de la mist'en basse ?
Basse, basse, basse, de la mist'en basse,
Laire, laire, laire, de la mist'en laire
Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! que savez-vous faire ?
Bonhomme, bonhomme, que savez-vous faire ?
Savez-vous jouer de la mist'en flûte ?
Flûte, flûte, flûte, de la mist'en flûte
Basse, basse, basse, de la mist'en basse,
Laire, laire, laire, de la mist'en laire,
Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! que savez-vous faire ?
Bonhomme, bonhomme, que savez-vous faire ?
Savez-vous jouer de la mist'en viole ?
Viole, viole, viole, de la mist'en viole,
Flûte, flûte, flûte, de la mist'en flûte
Basse, basse, basse, de la mist'en basse,
Laire, laire, laire, de la mist'en laire
Ah ! Ah ! Ah ! que savez-vous faire ?
(On peut continuer avec n'importe quel instrument de musique de deux syllables : lyre, fifre, claves…)
Good man, good man, what can you do?
Can you play the mist'en laire ?
Laire, laire, laire, the mist'en laire
Oh! Oh! Oh! What can you do?
Good man, good man, what can you do?
Can you play the mist'en bass?
Bass, bass, bass, the mist'en bass,
Laire, laire, laire, the mist'en laire
Oh! Oh! Oh! What can you do?
Good man, good man, what can you do?
Can you play the mist'en flute?
Flute, flute, flute, the mist'en flute
Bass, bass, bass, the mist'en basse,
Laire, laire, laire, the mist'en laire,
Oh! Oh! Oh! What can you do?
Good man, good man, what can you do?
Can you play the mist'en viola?
Viola, viola, viola, the mist'en viola,
Flute, flute, flute, the mist'en flute
Bass, bass, bass, the mist'en bass,
Laire, laire, laire, the mist'en laire
Oh! Oh! Oh! What can you do?
(This can go on with any musical instrument: lyre, piano, claves…)
Notes
Mist'en laire can be found as "mist' en l'air", "mistenlaire", "mistanlaire"…
Game Instructions
The children hold hands to form a circle. They walk around in a circle during the first two lines. When they sing "laire, laire, laire", they raise their arms and wave their hands. When they sing "Oh! Oh! Oh!" they turn around while clapping, then they resume their walk. On the following verses, "bass, bass, bass", "flute, flute, flute" etc. they pretend they're playing the instrument.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Monique Palomares for contributing and translating this song and for contributing the comments, game instructions, midi, score and mp3
Merci beaucoup !
