''Tri Martolod'' ("Three sailors" in

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

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

Lower Brittany Lower Brittany (; ) 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 is in distinction to Upper Brittany, th ...

. 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 individual string (music), strings running at an angle to its sound board (music), soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing ...

Alan Stivell Alan Stivell (; born Alan Cochevelou on 6 January 1944) is a Breton people, 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 (specif ...

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

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

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

round Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere * Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number * Round number, ending with one or more zeroes * Round (crypt ...

in three steps typical of the South

Cornouaille Cornouaille (; , ) 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 princes from Cornwall ...

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 medieval 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 – ...

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

Deep Forest Deep Forest is a French music project that originally began as a duo consisting of Michel Sanchez (musician), Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electro ...

(''Dao Dezi'', 1994) *

Yann-Fañch Kemener Yann-Fañch Loeiz Kemener (April 7, 1957 – March 16, 2019) was a traditional singer and ethnomusicologist from Brittany, born in Sainte-Tréphine, Côtes-d'Armor, France. Known in French as Jean-François Louis Quémener. He took part in re ...

(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 t ...

, 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) * Arany Zoltán (2009) *

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

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

Alexandrov Ensemble The Alexandrov Ensemble (), commonly known as the Red Army Choir in the West, is an official army choir of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Russian armed forces. Founded during the History of the Soviet Union, Soviet era, the ense ...

(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 The Catalan Countries (, ) refers to the territories where the Catalan language is spoken. They include the Spanish regions of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencian Community, and parts of Aragon ('' La Franja'') and Murcia ( Carche), as ...

) *Kick Your Heart (metal band from Hungary)(2019) *Dr Peacock - Tri Martolod (Frenchcore Hardstyle Genre - 2020) *

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

, ''Contre vents et marées'' (''Between Wind and Water'' re-release with additional French shanties, 2021) *Joshua Burnell (album ''Songs From The Seasons II'', 2022) *The London Sea Shanty Collective (in translation as ''Three Breton Mariners'')

Other songs

Other songs on the same musical air: * Danish band Lars Lilholt Band "Et folk, Et menneske" ("One People, One man") Danish lyrics by

Lars Lilholt Lars Lilholt (born in Herlev, Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally ...

(2012) * French band Manau, ''

La Tribu de Dana "La Tribu de Dana" (, literally ''Dana's tribe'') is a 1998 song by French hip hop band Manau (band), Manau for their debut album Panique celtique, on which it features as the second track. Initially released as a single in July 1998, it was an ...

'' ("

Tuatha Dé Danann The Tuatha Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the 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 deities of pre-Christian Gaelic ...

", about a Celtic warrior tribe, 1998) * Polish band Ryczące Shannon (album ''Ryczące Shannon Project'', 2005) * Russian band Nachalo Veka (НАЧАЛО ВЕКА) feat. harpist Hellavis (Хелависа), "I Waited You" ("Тебя Ждала") (single "Tebya Jdala" 2008, album "Formy Vremeny" 2010) * Irish singer

Méav Ní Mhaolchatha Méav Ní Mhaolchatha ( , ), mononymously known as Méav, is an Irish singer, songwriter and recording artist specialising in the traditional music of her homeland. She was one of the original soloists in the musical ensemble Celtic Woman, whic ...

sings this song in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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: "Eluveitie is a name in Gaulish language, which is an ancient Celtic language. Since it's not a living language anymore, nobody really knows how it's pronounced like. All we have today of this language is scient ...

, '' 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 (sometimes Ogmius; ) is the name given to a Celtic god of eloquence described in ''Heracles'', a work of the Syrian satirist Lucian. Lucian's ''Heracles'' is a short text, intended to be read aloud before a longer public performance. It ...

'' (album ''Evocation II: Pantheon'', 2017) * Brazilian band

Terra Celta Terra Celta ("Celtic Land") is a Brazilian Celtic comedy rock band formed in 2005, and based in Londrina, Paraná. They are noted for making Celtic rock in Portuguese language (initially English), with often humorous lyrics.hardstyle Hardstyle is an electronic dance music, 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 (electronic dance music genre), har ...

DJ and producer Adaro, "Flame Up High" (2018) * Dutch

frenchcore Frenchcore is a subgenre of hardcore techno Hardcore (also known as hardcore techno) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany in the early 1990s. It is distinguished by faster tempos (1 ...

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 Songs with unknown songwriters