On Saturday at the commemoration of the Battle of Jersey at the Parish Hall in Saint Helier, a brief entertainment provided selections of poetry and song in Jèrriais, French and English, inspired by the Battle of Jersey. Many in the audience were unfamiliar with the texts and there were questions as to where to find the poems and songs.
Historic Jèrriais texts on the Battle of Jersey can generally be found on the Pages Jèrriaises, and some here on previous postings on the blog.
Poetry in English and French – as well as the Chanson de Peirson – can be found transcribed on the poetry pages here (and the lists of poetry in newspapers enable more texts to be found by title and date).
The Chanson de Peirson has been arranged by Jon Lord and performed by Jersey Premier Brass. The traditional song has been recorded and can be found (under the title “L’invasion de Jersey“) on the CD “Chants des Marins Bretons“.
La Prise de Saint-Hélier is available on CD: