In June of 1749, Captain Celoron de Blainville, on orders of the Comte de la
Galissonière, set out to protect French trading interests west of the
Alleghenies against the inroads which were being made by the British-sponsored
Ohio Company.
With a company of about two hundred and fifty Frenchmen, and fifty Indians,
Captain Celoron embarked at Lachine (above what is now Montreal) on the St.
Lawrence River. Their canoes took them up the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, then
to the mouth of the Niagara River. They portaged around Niagara Falls to Lake
Erie, across Lake Chautauqua and to the upper Allegheny River.
On their way down the Allegheny River, they laid several lead plates which
bore inscriptions claiming the land for Louis, King of France.
Vivien Richman
Listen to a Schmertz clip (at Smithsonian Folkways site)
CHORUS:
Did you know about Celoron? No! No!
Did you know about Celoron? No! No!
Did you know about Celoron? No! No!
Did you know about Celoron? No! No!
A Frenchman brave and a Frenchman bold
A captain come from the northland cold
For to lay French claim to the O -hi -o!
Did you know about Celoron? No! No!
In seventeen forty-nine, oh, Captain Celoron
Gave his men a sign, oh, on a June day dawn
Two hundred fifty Frenchmen and fifty braves also -
Embarked on the St. Lawrence for Lake Ontario!
They paddled to Niagara and portaged round the falls
And skimmed along Lake Erie, a-singing madrigals -
Across to Lake Chautauqua they portaged once again
A thrilling sight to see Sir, the Captain and his men!
(CHORUS)
The upper Allegheny they called the O -hi -o -
And down the river valley canoe-ing they did go -
Said Celoron “La Belle Riviere! Allons! Let’s on our way!”
For France and good King Louis we have a claim to lay!
Along the river valley they laid their plates of lead
Which bore a French inscription which very boldly read
“I, Celoron de Blainville, do claim by this advance
The land of the Ohio for Louis, King of France!”
(CHORUS) (What a fellow was Celoron, Oh ho! -)
Down past Monongahela the voyageurs did roam,
And up Miami River they paddled back for home
But soon the men of Britain came on the plates of lead -
It won’t bear repetition just what the British said!
If t’weren’t for Merry England, it might well have been so
That we would all be Frenchmen along the O -hi -o-
And as for captain Celoron, we’d loudly sing his praise
And raise the French tri-color and sing the Marseillaise!
