Tri Martolod

"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 (a region of northwestern France). It was popularized in the 1970s by Breton harpist Alan Stivell.

The Longest Johns' version was released as track 3 on the Santiano (EP) and as track 18 on the  French version of *Between Wind and Water* in 2021.

## Factoids

The Breton language, despite being spoken in a region of France, is not related to French at all; rather, it is a Celtic language, most closely related to Cornish. It was brought to the region by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages, and is the only Celtic language still in use on the European mainland.

Breton is currently classified by UNESCO as a "severely endangered" language, with only around 220,000 native speakers, although efforts are underway to increase Breton and bilingual education opportunities, and those numbers are slowly increasing.

## Lyrics

Lyrics and translation sourced from Wikipedia and edited to match the official recording.

**Original**

Tri martolod yaouank, la la la la la la la

Tri martolod yaouank i vonet da veajiñ

Tri martolod yaouank, la la la la la la la

Tri martolod yaouank i vonet da veajiñ

E vonet da veajiñ, gê!

E vonet da veajiñ

Gant 'n avel bet kaset, la la la la la la la

Gant 'n avel bet kaset beteg an Douar Nevez

Gant 'n avel bet kaset, la la la la la la la

Gant 'n avel bet kaset beteg an Douar Nevez

Beteg an Douar Nevez, gê!

Beteg an Douar Nevez

E-kichen mein ar veilh, la la la la la la la

E-kichen mein ar veilh o deus mouilhet o eorioù

E-kichen mein ar veilh, la la la la la la la

E-kichen mein ar veilh o deus mouilhet o eorioù

O deus mouilhet o eorioù, gê!

O deus mouilhet o eorioù

Hag e-barzh ar veilh-se, la la la la la la la

Hag e-barzh ar veilh-se e oa ur servijourez

Hag e-barzh ar veilh-se, la la la la la la la

Hag e-barzh ar veilh-se e oa ur servijourez

Pelec'h on-oa konesañ, gê!

Pelec'h on-oa konesañs

En Naoned er marc'had, la la la la la la la

En Naoned er marc'had on-oa choajet ur walenn

En Naoned er marc'had, la la la la la la la

En Naoned er marc'had on-oa choajet ur walenn

**English Translation**

Three young sailors, la la la la la la la

Three young sailors went traveling

Three young sailors, la la la la la la la

Three young sailors went traveling

Went traveling!

Went traveling

And the wind pushed them, la la la la la la la

The wind pushed them to Newfoundland

And the wind pushed them, la la la la 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 la la la la

Next to the windmill stone, they dropped anchor

Next to the windmill stone, la la la la la la la

Next to the windmill stone, they dropped anchor

They dropped anchor!

They dropped anchor

And in that windmill, la la la la la la la

And in that windmill was a servant girl

And in that windmill, la la la la la la la

And in that windmill was a servant girl

Where have we met before

Where have we met before

In Nantes at the market, la la la la la la la

In Nantes at the market, we chose a ring

In Nantes at the market, la la la la la la la

In Nantes at the market, we chose a ring

## Recordings

#### Streaming/Purchase

* Amazon Music
* Apple Music/iTunes
* Deezer
* Pandora
* Spotify

#### YouTube Videos

* Tri Martolod

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri\_Martolod