Cantiques des Noel

Oh la bonne nouvelle

Qu’on vient nous annoncer

Une mère est Vierge

Un Sauveur nous est né

Bon, bon, bon

Oh the good news

That has just been announced to us

A mother is a virgin

A Saviour has been born to us

Good, good, good

– Traditional creche song, translated by Kevon Swift

IT WAS 1783 and the face of Trinidad was changing. Planters from Martinique, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Dominica, and Guadeloupe were coming to the island in droves, settling all over the country and leaving their legacy in places such as Blanchisseuse, Champs Fleurs, Paramin and even Laventille.

This mass immigration was possible because the Spanish government in charge of Trinidad had agreed to a proposal by French businessman Roume de St Laurent to allow French planters from the Caribbean to settle in Trinidad with their enslaved Africans.

The law making this possible was called the Cedula of Population. The terms of the new settlement law were so attractive that countless French came, bringing with them their language, culture and social norms. In fact, amongst the elites, they soon became the most influential group, owning plantations, businesses and serving on the Cabildo which ran the country.

A key component of the agreement was that the planters needed to be Catholic. Christmas was thus a large part of their influence, as they popularised their tradition of serenading from house-to-house, food and parties around this time. The
Cantiques des Noels or Christmas hymns told the story of the season:

“
Pour Joseph qui admire – For Joseph who is admiring/
Ce prodige nouveau – This new child prodigy/
Il ne peut que nous dire – He can only say to us/
Voyez comme il est beau – Look at how beautiful he is/
Bon, bon, bon – Good, good, good.”

In Trinidad, the songs and the rituals associated with the time are called creche, literally translated from the French as crib or manger. It refers of course to the traditional Nativity scene with the new born baby Jesus being watched over by Mary, Joseph, the Three Wise Men and the animals. Today, villagers in Paramin still sing from a book of songs, no doubt as the first settlers would have done. Of course, the privilege of reading would only have been for the masters and any enslaved brave enough to risk torture or death for trying to read. As one Paramin elder put it, “When you are singing creche songs you have to have a book because the words are French.”

It is thought that these songs came mainly from Martinique and Guadeloupe and were sung in Creole. Today, in those islands they still enjoy
Chanté Nwèl, which in their Creole or Patois means “Singing for Christmas.” In Martinique, miniature Nativity scenes are still put up in communities across the country. Here, it is possible to see where the tradition of singing from a book emerged, as it is still widely practised. The African influence remains strong as well, as
Chanté Nwèl festivities must always include the tambour or drum.

Creche remains one of our Christmas secrets as the practice seems to be largely localised in Paramin. This hilly place full of history and character has some of the strongest retentions of historical French culture; for instance, several street names are still in French. Additionally, many Paramin residents speak Patois, which also has influences from African and First People languages. Interestingly, in Paramin, creche songs are sung in French, but I suspect that originally they would have been sung both in French by the masters and in Patois by the enslaved. The French songs survived because they were written down; the Patois did not because in many respects colonialism forced the language underground.

The style of creche is rather slow and leisurely so it would not be surprising to learn that the faster-paced and more energetic parang has become more popular amongst the younger generations at Christmas time. Still, Nnamdi Hodges and other advocates for the preservation of Patois and other French-influenced traditions have been collaborating with the community to translate the songs and assist with the pronunciations. This is part of our collective heritage so it is important work.

I hope that you enjoyed discovering some of the Christmas secrets of TT with me. Now, as Paraminians would say, “
Soyons de la partie – Let’s be part of it/
Allons rendre nos vœux – Let’s go, give our best wishes/
Au beau fils de Marie – To Mary’s beautiful son/
Qui est le roi des cieux – Who is the king of the heaven ...”

Joyeaux Noel tout le monde – Merry Christmas to you all.

Dara E Healy is a performance artist, communications specialist and founder of the NGO, the Indigenous Creative Arts Network – ICAN