Debout les gars, French Royalist song

Folk Songs

Debout les gars
French Royalist song
Debout les Gars (“Arise, lads”) is a French Royalist song that speaks of the Breton counter-revolutionary uprisings that took place after the Reign of Terror of 1793-1794.

The song makes reference to Armorica, which is the old name for the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire Rivers that includes the Brittany Peninsula. It also makes reference to several generals of the counter-revolutionary Catholic and Royal Armies (Armées Catholique et Royale) who were killed in battle or executed by the New Republic. These heroes were: the Marquis Charles de Bonchamps, Commander-in-Chief, Jean-Nicolas Stofflet and nobleman François de Charette. The song also tells of the many sacrifices these counter-revolutionaries had to make, calling Frenchmen to action.

Debout les gars was written by Théodore Botrel in 1899
and is interpreted here by an unknown singer.

Listen to Debout les gars

French lyrics:
1. Nous sommes gars de Bretagne,
Fidèles au Roi, (Au Roi!)
Nos aïeux ont fait campagne,
Pour venger le Roi. (Le Roi!)
Et la lande armoricaine
En est rouge encor; dondaine.
Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!
(Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!)

2. Nos pêcheurs quittaient leurs roches,
Pour venger le Roi. (Le Roi!)
Nos fermiers leurs moissons proches,
Pour venger le Roi (Le Roi!)
Nos "Messieurs" les biaux domaines
Criant en chemin; dondaine.
Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!
(Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!)

3. Nos gars avaient à leur tête,
Pour venger le Roi. (Le Roi!)
Bonchamp, Stofflet ou Charette,
Ces vengeurs du Roi. (Du Roi!)
Fronts de granit, cœurs de chêne,
Tombaient en criant; dondaine.
Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!
(Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!)

4. Nos gars n'ayant point d'épées,
Pour venger le Roi (Le Roi!)
Leurs faulx, dans le sang trempées,
Pour venger le Roi. (Le Roi!)
Couchaient les Bleus par centaines,
Comme le blé noir; dondaine.
Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!
(Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!)

5. Ce fut une rude guerre,
La guerre du Roi, (Du Roi!)
De nos gars n'en revint guère,
Sont morts pour le Roi. (Le Roi!)
Mais de la Vendée au Maine
Nous l'aimons toujours; dondaine.
Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!
(Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!)

6. Si la nation française,
Réclame son Roi (Son Roi!)
Tout comme en quatre-vingt-treize,
Luttons pour le Roi. (Le Roi!)
S'il le faut, l'âme sereine,
Marchons à la mort; dondaine.
Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!
(Ah, ah, ah! Debout les gars, vive le Roi!)

English translation:
1. We are lads from Brittany,
Faithful to the King, (To the King!)
Our ancestors went to war
To avenge the King. (The King!)
And the Armorican land
Is still red; dondaine. (1)
Ah, ah, ah! Arise lads, long live the King!
(Ah, ah, ah, arise lads, long live the King!)

2. Our fishermen left their rocks,
To avenge the King (The King!)
Our farmers [left] their coming harvests,
To avenge the King. (The King!)
Our "Gentlemen" [left] the bonny fields,
Shouting on the way; dondaine.
Ah, ah, ah! Arise lads, long live the King!
(Ah, ah, ah, arise lads, long live the King!)

3. Our lads had for chiefs
To avenge the King (The King!)
Bonchamp, Stofflet or Charette,
These Avengers of the King. (Of the King!)
Granite brows, hearts of oak,
Fell shouting [against the enemy]; dondaine.
“Ah, ah, ah! Arise lads, long live the King!”
(Ah, ah, ah, arise lads, long live the King!)

4. Our lads have no swords,
To avenge the King (The King!)
But had scythes drenched in blood,
To avenge the King, (The King!)
Killing the Blues by the hundreds,
Like black wheat; dondaine.
Ah, ah, ah! Arise lads, long live the King!
(Ah, ah, ah, arise lads, long live the King!)

5. It was a tough war,
The war of the King. (Of the King!)
Some of our lads did not come back,
They are dead for the King. (The King!)
But from Vendée to Maine,
We always love them; dondaine.
Ah, ah, ah! Arise lads, long live the King!
(Ah, ah, ah, arise lads, long live the King!)

6. If the French nation,
Reclaims her King (Her King!),
Just like in 1793,
Let us fight for the King (The King!).
If necessary, with a serene soul,
Let us march to death; dondaine.
Ah, ah, ah! Arise lads, long live the King!
(Ah, ah, ah, arise lads, long live the King!)

For a PDF version, click here.

According to Trésor de la langue francaise, the French word "dondaine" is an onomatopoeic word that is used in the refrains of certain popular songs to complete rhymes, and is suggestive of the sound of a bell.