Folk Musicians of the Auvergne

The rustic charm of the countryside was a favorite theme for early postcards, and many pastoral photocards were produced for France's south central region known as the Auvergne. Pictures of the quaint provincial musicians and dancers were popular with French tourists, eager to tell the folks back home about the wonderful time they were missing.

This handsome musician sits atop a tavern table en-wrapped with  his Cabrette, a small bagpipe of France. Originally mouth-blown like the familiar Scottish bagpipes, this instrument uses a bellows under the right arm to pump air into the bag clutched under the left. The chanter and drone pipes are mounted together at the top of the bag.

The word cabrette means little goat in Occitan, the other main language of France. The Cabretaire wears the traditional sabot or wooden clogs that were the standard footwear of farms across Europe.

The card was sent in 1916 and the challenge of reading an old cursive style in a foreign language has defeated me. I do have a notion that the message might involve :

600 œufs a la minute = 600 eggs a minute

The sound of a cabrette is much softer than highland pipes, as it only has one drone. The chanter pipe can have one or two simple finger keys but the scale and range is very limited, so it is only suitable for folk tunes. 

But why do other similar postcards show the musicians seated on top of barrels or tables? After a search for videos on YouTube, like this one from a Dutch bagpipe expert, a cabrette performance explains all. This is an instrument playing to accompany the dance, and the wooden shoes are used as drums. Add a table (and some wine) and one musician can sound like six.

  UPDATE 03 May 2016  

A very generous reader has sent me a translation of the message.

My notion of 600 eggs a minute is not exactly correct.

Mon cher Ozil,
Ton vieux tireur est enfin
arrivé à bon port. Je tire encore,
mais ta pièce va moins vite.
Ce qui ne fait pas du tout le
bonheur de V… qui voudrait des
600 coups à la minute; rien
que ça …
Partirai d‘ici vraisemblable-
ment le 5 janvier. Te souhaite
de tout-cœur une bonne et
heureuse année
ton vieux trempe la mort !
Marcel

My dear Ozil,

Your old shooter [not the gunman but the gun?] has arrived

safely.  I am still shooting,

but your piece [machine gun] goes slower.

What does not the

happiness of V ... who would of

600 rounds per minute;

just that …

Probably leave here on January, 5. Wish you

from all my heart a happy new year,

your old quench the death [slang: corrects death]

My reader adds this conclusion:

On December 28, 1916, Marcel, French soldier during World War I, is writing this card (sent in an envelope, no address on the card) to his old friend and soldier Ozil. The machine gun sent by this friend has safely/finally arrived. But the rate of fire of this gun is not satisfying to  V…, Marcel’s superior (?), who expects the maximum of 600 round/min. Marcel is going to leave Saint Beauzire, a suburb of Clermont-Ferrand/Auvergne, in the middle of France and far from the front, on January 5, 1917. Thirteen lines, a few 60 words, offering a short glance on the life of a poor, regrettable soldier, sending a view from a stop on his journey to the front, showing a scene of peaceful rural folklore, and joining in a bizarre manner his new year wishes to the description of problems with his death-bringing device and his imperious superior officer.

Thank you, G.M., for providing this translation and giving this charming postcard a better historical context.

If you know Dutch, this video gives a nice explanation of this characteristic French bagpipe.

***

***

This next video gives a very good close-up of the Cabrette playing method.

I don't think he is wearing clogs.

***

 

***

Another L'Auvergne Pittoresque musician uses a wine cask for his seat while playing his Joueur de Vielle, or Hurdy Gurdy. This unusual folk instrument has a long ancestry and is a remarkabley complex machine. The sound is made by strings set to vibrate by the friction of a rotating disk turned by a crank. The player has a small keyboard for the left hand which presses little tangents onto the strings at the various scale intervals.

Like the bagpipes, the hurdy gurdy was a traditional instrument in many parts of Europe and came in many regional variations. In addition to the 2 melodic strings there are 4 outer strings set onto a bridge, that produce a nasal drone not unlike the bagpipes.

The hurdy gurdy was often elaborately decorated and on this one you can see a carved figurehead on the scrollbox.

This card was posted to Paris in 1904 and the message reads in translation:

I could not send you peaches,
they were too ripe.
I am sending you at the station
a box of raisins.

Please accept my sincere regards
Stephane ?

Perhaps a  box like the one under the vielle player's clog?

Here's a good example of how the hurdy gurdy works.

***

***

And here the Joueur de Vielle and Cabrette are played together in a folk band
dressed in traditional French costumes.

And from an amateur travel video (today's modern postcard) to
the village of St. Agnan, in the Dordogne area of France
- a whole band of hurdy gurdies and cabrettes with costumed dancers.

Grab your stick and dance!

And finally a very funny solo demonstration
of La Cabrette.

My contribution to Sepia Saturday

Click the link for more enthusiasts of vintage photographs.