An Dro 'The Wren' - Breton name?

[maxr]

Another Breton tune (I think) has turned up in a band I play in with an English name - 'The Wren'. I remember playing this years ago as an An Dro with a Breton name, but I can't remember what that is - anyone know please? Thanks, Max

[Jim Garber]

Different key but is this the same tune? https://thesession.org/tunes/2828

I am not sure what you are asking. It looks like it is called by both those names.

[Simon DS]

A Wren in French is a Troglodyte, which can also be a cave dweller. (Covid?)
Me too, I’ve no idea what it means.

[vonbiber]

A Wren in French is a Troglodyte, which can also be a cave dweller. (Covid?)
Me too, I’ve no idea what it means.

It's a bird. I think, more commonly called roitelet.

[Beanzy]

Breton for wren is laouenan (Cornish is the closest I can find linguistically "grwannen")

[Simon DS]

Oh course there’s Rennes the capital city of ‘Breton’.
And La Reine, the Queen?

[Beanzy]

Yep, wouldn't be the first croseed-wire in folk tune naming. (& the wren is "the king of the birds, so it has a nice circularity for a mis-hear too)

[Simon DS]

Maybe they were just talking about the weather in England ?

[maxr]

To explain - I suspect this tune, although obviously popular in UK (as the number of versions on The Session would suggest) is originally a Breton 'An Dro' tune with a French name that's nothing to do with any kind of oiseaux, and I'm looking for the French name. I used to play this back in prehistory under that other name, but can't remember it now

[Jim Garber]

AFAIK the Bretons speak their own language so French would be just as foreign to them as English at least back when this tune was composed.

some discussion on the name here: https://thesession.org/tunes/8289

[Simon DS]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wren_Day

[maxr]

Thanks guys - interesting, The Session has maybe six identifiably different versions of that tune. Hunt The Wren is a Manx version tune this band also plays, which I think is different enough not to be someone's different memory of the same thing. Lots of Breton tunes don't appear to have any names, which is a pity - the big 'Green Book' collection just numbers most of them.

[mandocello8]

usually an dro tunes do not have names. except for this one, "An Dro Gweharall" written to commemorate a specific historic event (read it on thesession.org). "Wren An Dro" is the version of this tune played for Contra Dances. Also see 2nd tune in Jim Oakden breton tunes list: https://library.larkcamp.org/Breton/LarkBreton2018.pdf

video links to the 3 most popular versions of the tune:

song with words: (Tri Yann, Kerfank 1870)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEunPF0Vqhw

eluveitie "unplugged": (2nd tune with an extra 3rd part)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAgN_as2rGk

contra dance (with mandolin): (2nd and 3rd tune)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW7jumYTPQc

[maxr]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEunPF0Vqhw[/url]

Thanks - the Tri Yann version is the one we used to play, until err, the trumpet bit comes in One of the comments on that YouTube is that Tri Yann interpreted an older Breton song called Gweharall, which has several versions on YouTube, eg:



Anyone know whether that song just lifted an existing tune that fits the words, or whether the tune was written with the song? Anyway, it looks like that tune is sometime referred to as 'An Dro Gweharall'. Any better ideas?

[Gavin Pascoe]

The Welsh word for wren is Dryw. the current Cornish word looks like a loan from English. My guess the original Cornish word will have been either similar to the Welsh or Breton.

Probably someone heard some Onion Johnny playing the tune and when hearing this tune was "Dro" thought: oh cool - that means "wren"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_Johnny

[David Kennedy]

The Irish for the wren is "an dreoilín" pronounced droh-leen like Jolene.