This song was written in 2007 as a potential national anthem for Jersey in response to a competition launched to find a new anthem (it wasn't shortlisted). The words were written in Jèrriais and English by Geraint Jennings (1966- ) and the music is by Daniel Bourdelès, a composer of songs in the Norman language from mainland Normandy.
The words take their inspiration from the idea that the sounds of nature are like the sounds of our language which can be heard all over Jersey, from the farthest corners of our territory.
As a song written after the Occupation of Jersey 1940-1945 it includes the words libèrté, liberty, libéthé (liberated) and freedom. This recalls the experience of Liberation on 9th May 1945, as celebrated every year on Liberation Day, Jersey's national day. As an anthem it would be expected to be sung on Liberation Day, so the identification of the freedom of nature and open space was
Since the brief for the anthem competition was to take into consideration Jersey's national symbols, and taking as a starting point that the anthem would be written first in Jèrriais, the concept was that the language was identified with nature - that place and language were one, and that the imagery would be of the Island's name "Jèrri" being heard in the natural sounds surrounding us, and of the Island's territory itself speaking the name in Jèrriais. So "Jèrri" can sound like a whispering wind or a murmuring wave and, in the movement of air and water, the language covers the extent of the Bailiwick. The anthem recalls the extent of our territory (and in the Jèrriais version right out to our outlying reefs) and includes all parts of Jersey and aims at being open, expansive and inclusive.
The idea of nature and landscape being essential to identity was informed by the Czech national anthem, which is a very beautiful evocation of homeland and belonging.
Although Man Bieau P'tit Jèrri is a much-loved anthem, it speaks of a particular status: male, Jersey-born and abroad. Chant d'Jèrri, on the other hand, aspires to be accessible and identifiable to all, calling everyone to be part of the two strands of freedom and belonging.
Performances by Badlabecques:
Chant d'Jèrri
patholes: Geraint Jennings
Lé nom paîsibl'ye d'eune Île d'espé
Couort sus les mielles et les côtis;
San r'nom monte haut coumme la mathée,
Sa glouaithe enduthe coumme san grannit.
Jèrri, Jèrri, not' chièr îlot:
Dé La Corbiéthe au Creux du Vis,
Des Mîntchièrs jusqu'en Êcrého,
Nou ouait dans l'vent lé nom d'Jèrri.
Ch'est not' rotchi d'la libèrté:
Du Vièr Châté au Vièr Marchi,
Des Landes au Châté Lîzabé,
J'èrchant'tons touos lé nom d'Jèrri.
La brîsette sûffl'ye par nos fôssés;
Souos châque pommyi, ou pâle dé paix,
D'un peupl'ye prospéthe et libéthé,
Enréchinné fort coumme un bouais.
Jèrri, Jèrri, not' chièr îlot:
Dé La Corbiéthe au Creux du Vis,
Des Mîntchièrs jusqu'en Êcrého,
Nou ouait dans l'vent lé nom d'Jèrri.
Ch'est not' rotchi d'la libèrté:
Du Vièr Châté au Vièr Marchi,
Des Landes au Châté Lîzabé,
J'èrchant'tons touos lé nom d'Jèrri.
Ès vaux et baies, ès clios et c'mîns,
Amont les monts, par sus la sîl'ye,
Ensolilyie ou dans l’hathîn,
La natuthe chante l'ordgi d'not' Île.
Jèrri, Jèrri, not' chièr îlot:
Dé La Corbiéthe au Creux du Vis,
Des Mîntchièrs jusqu'en Êcrého,
Nou ouait dans l'vent lé nom d'Jèrri.
Ch'est not' rotchi d'la libèrté:
Du Vièr Châté au Vièr Marchi,
Des Landes au Châté Lîzabé,
Chantons tréjous lé chant d'Jèrri!
Lé chant d'Jèrri!
Performances in a more folk/traditional style:
A performance by me:
The Jèrriais version is the primary version. The English version isn't really a translation as such - I had in mind the need for the subsequent adaptation in English while I was working on the Jèrriais. In effect, the English version is a text that treats the same major themes and images as a parallel composition. I also bore in mind the way the Canadian national anthem O Canada is frequently performed in bilingual versions, alternating sections in one language with another. As a submission to the Jersey anthem competition, recordings were submitted in Jèrriais, in English, and in bilingual versions
Notice that "Jèrri" is easy to rhyme in Jèrriais, so the Island's name, appropriately enough, is placed in strong positions at the beginning of the chorus and at the end of lines. "Jersey", on the other hand, is a difficult word to make work in verse (compare how "The Island of Jersey" has to force a glaring rhyme in with "Mersey").
Here's the English-language version sung by me:
Island Song
words: Geraint Jennings
The côtils call, the valleys sigh;
The cliffs resound, the dunes declaim;
Each rushing tide raises it high;
The wind declares - our Island's name:
May Jersey grow in harmony
From Grosnez to the Royal Square;
Our homeland proud and fair and free
From Mont Orgueil to La Corbière.
Our Jersey, rock of liberty,
Now crowned with castles, standing strong;
An Isle renowned in stone and sea,
Whose breezes breathe our Island song.
A prosperous land for everyone
Where freedom sings upon the breeze;
A peaceful folk, warmed by the sun
And rooted strong as apple trees.
May Jersey grow in harmony
From Grosnez to the Royal Square;
Our homeland proud and fair and free
From Mont Orgueil to La Corbière.
Our Jersey, rock of liberty,
Now crowned with castles, standing strong;
An Isle renowned in stone and sea,
Whose breezes breathe our Island song.
Down streams and lanes, through fields and bays,
From hedge to hill and far and wide,
In light or dark, in sun or haze,
All nature sings our Island's pride
May Jersey grow in harmony
From Grosnez to the Royal Square;
Our homeland proud and fair and free
From Mont Orgueil to La Corbière.
Our Jersey, rock of liberty,
Now crowned with castles, standing strong;
An Isle renowned in stone and sea,
Whose breezes breathe our Island song,
Our Island song!
The anthem mentions different extremities of Jersey in order to encompass everything and everyone. The Royal Square is traditionally the centre of the Island - centre of power, of administration, of commerce - and literally the central point from which all distances (milestones, etc) are measured. The specific measuring mark is at the base of the statue of George II. The square is called lé Vièr Marchi in Jèrriais because it was the old marketplace; in English it's been called the Royal Square since the inauguration of the statue of George II in 1751.
Mont Orgueil (a French name) is called lé Vièr Châté because it is the old castle, replaced militarily by Elizabeth Castle (which only gets a mention in the Jèrriais version - the English version includes the phrase "crowned with castles" to get across the same message).
Grosnez, although a Jèrriais placename, is only mentioned in the English version. The two versions can be seen as complementing each other.
Here's a version mixing the two languages, performed by me:
Straight translation of the Jèrriais lyrics into English
The peaceful name of an Island of hope
runs on the dunes and the côtils;
its renown rises high as the tide,
its glory lasts like its granite.
Jersey, Jersey, our dear little island,
from La Corbière to the Devil's Hole,
from the Minquiers to the Écréhou,
the name of Jersey can be heard in the wind.
It's our rock of liberty:
from Mont Orgueil to the Royal Square,
from Les Landes to Elizabeth Castle,
we will all sing again Jersey's name.
The small breeze whistles past our hedge-banks;
underneath each apple tree, it speaks of peace,
of a prosperous and liberated people
rooted strong as a tree.
In valleys and bays, in fields and roads,
up hills and over the crest,
in sunshine or in haze,
nature sings the pride of our Island.
Jersey, Jersey, our dear little island,
from La Corbière to the Devil's Hole,
from the Minquiers to the Écréhou,
the name of Jersey can be heard in the wind.
It's our rock of liberty:
from Mont Orgueil to the Royal Square,
from Les Landes to Elizabeth Castle,
let's always sing the song of Jersey!
The song of Jersey!
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