Les Dragons de Noailles

 

Harking back to the seventeenth century and the exploits of Henri de la Tour D’Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, “Les Dragons de Noailles (The Dragoons of Noailles)” records the triumphs of French cavalrymen during the Thirty Years’ War and later in the County Palatine of the Rhine, a part of the Holy Roman Empire. In the course of a long and distinguished military career Turenne was named Marshal of France, a title that would be revived under Napoleon. Raised as a Huguenot, Turenne never recanted his Protestant beliefs, despite which he served as a trusted commander under Cardinal Richelieu and became a model of the professional soldier of the period.

 

Les Dragons de Noailles

Ils ont traversé le Rhin
Avec Monsieur de Turenne
Au son des fifres et tambourins.
Ils ont traversé le Rhin

Refrain:
Lon, lon, la
Laissez les passer
Les Français sont dans la Lorraine
Lon, lon, la
Laissez les passer;
Ils ont eu du mal assez

Ils ont incendié Coblence
Les fiers dragons de Noailles
Et pillé le Palatinat.
Ils ont incendié Coblence. [Refrain]

Ils ont fait tous les chemins
D’Anjou, d’Artois et du Maine
Ils n’ont jamais eu peur de rien
Ils ont fait tous les chemins. [Refrain]

Ils ont pavoisé Paris,
Les fiers Dragons de Noailles,
Avec les drapeaux ennemis
Ils ont pavoisé Paris. [Refrain]

They have crossed the Rhine
With Mister de Turenne
To the sound of fifes and tambourines.
They have crossed the Rhine.Chorus:
Lon, lon, la
Let them pass
The French are in the Lorraine
Lon, lon, la
Let them pass;
They have had enough hardship.They have burned Koblenz,
The proud dragoons of Noailles,
And plundered the Palatinate.
They have burned Koblenz. [Chorus]

They have trod every path
Of Anjou, Artois and Maine
They have never been afraid of anything
They have trod every path. [Chorus]

They have decked Paris,
The proud dragoons of Noailles,
With the enemy’s flags.
They have decked Paris. [Chorus]