Michaud - French Children's Songs - France - Mama Lisa's World: Children's Songs and Rhymes from Around the World  - Intro Image

Notes

"Pommier" can be changed to "poirier" (pear tree), "prunier" (plum tree), "cerisier" (cherry tree), etc...

The version below is reported as a voyagers' song in the 4th chapter of Wau-bun by Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie (first printed in 1858 - Chicago: An instructive and entertaining history of a wonderful city : with a useful stranger's guide)...

Michaud est monté dans un prunier,
Pour treiller des prunes,
La branche a cassé -
Michaud a tombé ?
Où est-ce qu'il est ?
II est en bas.
O, réveille, réveille, réveille* !
O, réveille, Michaud est en haut !

English translation

Michaud climbed up a plum-tree
To gather plums
The branch broke
Did Michaud fall down?
Where is he?
He's down on the ground.
Oh, wake up, wake up, wake up*!
Oh, wake up, Michaud is up in the tree.

*"Réveille" seems to be the result of a mishearing. This song is known to say "Relève, relève…" i.e. "get up, get up" which makes more sense –See the version at the top.

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Many thanks to Monique Palomares for singing "Michaud" for us!

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Thanks and Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Gracie Gralike for the illustration!