''Tri Martolod'' ("Three sailors" in Breton) or ''Tri Martolod Yaouank'' ("Three young sailors"), is a traditional Breton song which dates to the 18th century in

Lower Brittany Lower Brittany ( br, Breizh-Izel; french: Basse-Bretagne) denotes the parts of Brittany west of Ploërmel, where the Breton language has been traditionally spoken, and where the culture associated with this language is most prolific. The name i ...

. It was made famous by the interpretation, the arrangement and the recordings made by the Breton

harpist The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

Alan Stivell Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) is a French, Breton and Celtic musician and singer, songwriter, recording artist, and master of the Celtic harp. From the early 1970s, he revived global interest in the Celtic (specificall ...

, in the 1970s. The lyrics tell the story of three young sailors who embark for

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and the history quickly settles into a romantic dialogue. The music is a

round Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the numbe ...

in three steps typical of the South

Cornouaille Cornouaille (; br, Kernev, Kerne) is a historical region on the west coast of Brittany in West France. The name is cognate with Cornwall in neighbouring Great Britain. This can be explained by the settlement of Cornouaille by migrant princ ...

and common in the Breton coastal areas.

Performers

Colmar - Foire au Vins - Nolwenn Leroy et Alan Stivell

*Zaïg Monjarret (''An tri-ugent martolod'') *

(live '' À l'Olympia'' in 1972, single, ''Again'' in 1993) *

Tri Yann Tri Yann () is a French band from Nantes who play folk rock music drawing on traditional Breton folk ballads. The band was founded in 1969 by Jean Chocun, Jean-Paul Corbineau and Jean-Louis Jossic – all of whom remained members – hence the ...

(''Tri Yann an Naoned'', 1972) *

Deep Forest Deep Forest is a French musical group originally consisting of two French musicians, Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance ...

(''Dao Dezi'', 1994) * Yann-Fañch Kemener (with

Didier Squiban Didier Squiban (born 23 September 1959 in ''Ploudalmézeau'' ( Finistère)) is a French pianist and composer. His musical work is a combination of traditional Breton music, jazz improvisation and classical romanticism and has added the piano to ...

, 1995) * Micamac (Breton folk band, album ''Froggy Dew'', 1999) * Shannon (Polish band, 2000) * Gérard Jaffrès (Belgian singer, album ''Viens dans ma maison'', 2003) *Claire Pelletier (Quebec singer, ''En concert au St-Denis'', 2003) *

Nolwenn Leroy Nolwenn Le Magueresse (; born 28 September 1982), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy (), is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actress. Originally classically trained (violin and opera singing), she rose to fame after winning the second ...

(album '' Bretonne'', 2010) *Les Marins d'Iroise (2011) * Santiano (German band, 2011) *Dunkelschön (German band, album ''Zauberwort'', 2011) *

Alexandrov Ensemble The Alexandrov Ensemble ( rus, Ансамбль Александрова, r=Ansambl' Aleksandrova; commonly known as the Red Army Choir in the West) is an official army choir of the Russian armed forces. Founded during the Soviet era, the en ...

(2012) *Restless feet, Almost Irish (2013) *Faitissa (album ''Terra aviatica'', 2014) *MystTerra (Russian metal band)(2015) *Annwn (album ''Enaid'', 2016) *Metal Cambra, 10th Anniversari Album, 2019 (Band from The Catalan Countries) *Kick Your Heart (metal band from Hungary)(2019) *Dr Peacock - Tri Martelod (Frenchcore Hardstyle Genre - 2020) *

The Longest Johns The Longest Johns are a British folk musical group from Bristol, England, consisting of Andy Yates, Dave Robinson, Jonathan "JD" Darley, and Robbie Sattin. They are known for performing folk music and sea shanties in the English tradition, and ...

, ''Contre vents et marées'' (''Between Wind and Water'' re-release with additional French shanties, 2021) *Joshua Burnell (album ''Songs From The Seasons II'', 2022)

Other songs

Other songs on the same musical air: * Danish band

Lars Lilholt Band Lars Lilholt (born in Herlev, Denmark on 14 March 1953) is a Danish singer, violinist, guitarist and composer. Career Kræn Bysted's In the early 1970s, he was part of Kræn Bysted's, a Danish acoustic folk, electric folk and rock group mad ...

"Et folk, Et menneske" ("One People, One man") Danish lyrics by Lars Lilholt (2012) * French band Manau, '' La Tribu de Dana'' ("

Tuatha Dé Danann The Tuath(a) Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu (Irish goddess), Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deity, ...

", about a Celtic warrior tribe, 1998) * Polish band Ryczące Shannon (album ''Ryczące Shannon Project'', 2005) * Russian band Nachalo Veka (НАЧАЛО ВЕКА) feat. harpist Hellawes (Хелависа), "I Waited You" ("Тебя Ждала") (single "Tebya Jdala" 2008, album "Formy Vremeny" 2010) * Hungarian band Arany Zoltán (2009) * Irish singer Méav Ní Mhaolchatha sings this song in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

as titled "Once You Were My Lover". (album ''The Calling'', 2013) * Olli & the Bollywood Orchestra, ''Teen Aazaad Naavik'' (album ''Olli goes to Bollywood'', 2013) * Swiss band

Eluveitie Eluveitie ( ; )Chrigel Glanzmann: "...According to current research, it is pronounced in Bernese German as, i.e. ''"Elvèyti"''. But I don't know if this is correct. The gods know that.:: Metalist Magazine :: Interviews :: Eluveitie is a Swiss ...

, '' Inis Mona'' (album ''Slania'', about the Gallish Wars and related to De Bello Gallico by Julius Caesar, 2008) Additionally, ''Celtos'' (album ''Origins'', focusing on Gaulish folklore, 2014) and ''

Ogmios Ogmios (also known as Ogmius; grc, Ὄγμιος; la, Ogmius, Ogimius) was the Celtic deity of eloquence. ...

'' (album ''Evocation II: Pantheon'', 2017) * Brazilian band Terra Celta, "O Quadrado" (album ''Folkatrua'', 2010) * Montenegrin song ''Ovo je naša zemlja'', Sergej Ćetković & Danijel Popović (2009) *Dutch

hardstyle Hardstyle is an electronic dance genre that emerged in the late 1990s, with origins in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. Hardstyle mixes influences from techno, new beat and hardcore. Early hardstyle was typically written at 140 BPM (''be ...

DJ and producer

Adaro Adaro may refer to: * Adaro (mythology), a race of sea spirits from the mythology of the Solomon Islands * Adaro (company), Spanish aircraft manufacturer * Adaro (DJ), Dutch hardstyle DJ and producer * Adaro (band) Adaro was a German medieval fol ...

, "Flame Up High" (2018) * Dutch

frenchcore Frenchcore is a subgenre of hardcore techno. The style differs from other forms of hardcore in terms of a faster tempo, usually above 190-250 BPM, and a loud & distorted offbeat bassline. In the 1990s, drum machines and samplers were used to ...

DJ and producer Dr. Peacock, "Tri Martolod" (2020) * DJ Bens, Dadinho, Kofs and RK, "Dans la cité" (2022)

Lyrics

;Breton ;English Three young sailors... la la la… Three young sailors went traveling Went traveling! Went traveling And the wind pushed them… la la la... The wind pushed them to Newfoundland All the way to Newfoundland! All the way to Newfoundland Next to the windmill stone… la la la... Next to the windmill stone, they dropped anchor They dropped anchor! They dropped anchor And in that windmill… la la la... And in that windmill was a servant girl There was a servant girl! There was a servant girl And she asked me… la la la... And she asked me where we met Where have we met before? Where have we met before In Nantes at the market… la la la... In Nantes at the market, we chose a ring

References

Links

Alan Stivell, live 2000live Olympia 2012

Nolwenn Leroy, live 2011
{{Authority control Breton folk songs 18th-century songs Year of song unknown Songwriter unknown