Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 10 - D'où viens-tu, bergère? [France]

D'où viens-tu, bergère? (Where are you coming from, shepherdess?) is a traditional French carol. In its English translation Mary Magdalene comes from visiting the manger of Jesus and tells the shepherds and angels of his birth. The lyrics were published in Vieilles Chansons patoises du Périgord (1888) as collected by Emmanuel Casse and Eugène Chaminade.

D'où viens-tu, bergère?
     [What did you see Oh Maiden]
D'où viens-tu?
     [What did you see?]
Je viens de l'étable
     [I went to the stable]
De m'y promener!
     [walking there myself]
J'ai vu un miracle,
     [I saw a miracle]
Ce soir arriver!
     [Arrive that night!]

Rien de plus, bergère ?
     [Was he fair, Oh Maiden]
Rien de plus?
     [Was he fair?]
Y'a le boeuf et l'âne,
     [And there's the ox and ass]
Qui sont par devant,
     [Who stand close by]
Avec leur haleine
     [With their breath]
Réchauffant l'enfant.
     [Warming the Child.]

D'où viens-tu, bergère? - Chanticleer (arr. by Sirett)

D'où viens-tu, bergère? - Elizabeth Polese (soprano) & Antoine Malette-Chénier (harp)