The Songs of Keransquer

The Songs of Keransquer are songs in Breton language collected between 1834 and 1840 by Hersart de La Villemarqué, which he left out when composing his famous collection "Barzhaz Breizh". They were recorded in his first collecting book kept at the family manor Keransquer and transcribed by the folklorist and musicologist Donatien Laurent between 1964 and 1974. They are presented here in Breton and English translation with music scores and comments by the translator Christian Souchon. La Villemarqué stands out unequalled and unsurpassed among the collectors of Breton lore for the variety of the pieces he gathered. Even if some of the present songs have evident lacunae which had to be filled by borrowing from other versions, none of them may be suspected to have been adulterated or invented by their collector, as so many critics assert part of the Barzhaz songs were.th Christian Souchon published several translations of the poetic works of the French poet Michel Galiana.