Chefs-d’œuvre de la chanson populaire des faux amis, n. 2

Eaux des Dieux d’Audaye (Waters of the Gods of Audaye)

Editor’s Note: French peasants used to sing this merry song whilst harvesting hay in the shadows of the walls of the cathedral city of Chartres. The song commemorates Audaye, a village in the Beauce region of western France where, legend has it, the water from the village spring turned entire hayfields into gold. Hence, the title of the song: “Waters of the Gods of Audaye.” Around 1850, the Baltimore songwriter Stephen Foster would borrow the melody from Eaux des Dieux D’Audaye for the minstrel song, Camptown Races.

Paysans viennent ici de loin,
Dieux d’Au! Dieux d’Au!
Pour de l’eau d’arrose’ leur foin,
Eaux des dieux d’Audaye!

Remplis vite les seaux!
Verse-les sur les champs!

Attends que le foin se transforme en or,
Eaux des dieux d’Audaye!