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Identifier/Call Number
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MCC-00175
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Description
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Three hand written notebooks of manuscript song texts and poems compiles by Madawaska, Maine area resident Albina Cyr (b. 1 March 1920) and by her maternal great aunt Anna Clavette (Mrs. Ernest Fournier) of St-Basile, New Brunswick. The Ablina Cyr song collection was loaned to the Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes for photocopying by Ms. Cyr following a field visit to her home on 21 October 1992.
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Copyright Statement and Conditions governing use
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. There are no restrictions on access to the Albina Cyr Song Manuscript Collection.
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Biography, Administrative History and Provenance
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According to Albina Cyr, the texts in notebooks 1 and 2 were compiled by her maternal great-aunt Anna Clavette (Mrs. Ernest Fournier) of St-Basile, New interests passed them along to her. Ms. Cyr compiled the texts in notebook 3.
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Extent
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3 Folders
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Arrangement
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Archives staff reproduced in full the contents of the three notebooks (excepting blank pages) and placed them in three corresponding file folders. The original order of each notebook has been maintained; Archives staff has added pagination (in pencil) to ensure maintenance of order. All three notebooks appear to have been missing some pages at the time the Archives borrowed them for reproduction
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Notes
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Albina Cyr, Biographical Note. Albina Cyr is on of six children born to Edna Cyr (daughter of Joseph and Flavie Clavette) of St-Basile, New Brunswick and Pierre "Pit" Cyr (song of Vital and Flavie Plourde) of Van Buren, Maine1 . She was born 1 March 1920 in Van Buren, Maine, where her father worked as a farmer and lumberjack. Around 1925, the family moved to Madawaska, where Pierre got a job at the newly opened Fraser paper mill. At first the family lived in an apartment in town. Then Pierre bought a farm in one of the "concessions" (back settlement areas) south of Madawaska. There the family lived until Albina was twelve years old, when they moved to a house in town. After some eighteen years of millwork, an increasingly bad ulcer condition forced Pierre Cyr to quit his job at Fraser and move the family to a farm in Lille, where he farmed for six years. Around 1950, Pierre sold the farm and built the house in Madawaska where Albina lives today. There he worked a variety of jobs, including bartender for local bar owner Al Thibault. As the only surviving daughter of an invalid mother, Albina began helping at home from an early age. She began her schooling at a district school in the back settlements, and remembers going to school by horse and buggy. She completed nine years of school and writes in both French and English. However, like many Valley people of her generation, she is most comfortable speaking French. At age seventeen, Albina quit school to help her mother at home. She continued to care for her parents throughout her life; her mother died at home in 1971, and her father lived at home until the age of 92. She also cared for one of her brother for many of years. In addition, Albina 1 Albina Cyr’s parents married in St-Basile, New Brunswick 1 May 1916. Like many Acadians, Albina can trace her parents’ paternal lines several generations back using the father’s first name by way of reference: "Edna à Joseph à Régis" for Edna Cyr and "Pit à Vital à Firmin à Honoré Croc" for Pierre Cyr. has worked a variety of part-time jobs over her life, including four years of seasonal work at the Sneider Bird’s Eye packing plant in Caribou, and eight years of part-time work for the Saint John Valley Times. In 1973, she quit working out of the home due to illness. Albina is an avid gardener who raises a huge vegetable garden every year. (Information gathered by Acadian Archives director during a visit to Ms. Cyr’s home 21 October 1992.) Albina Cyr, Musician and Song Collector. Albina Cyr comes from a musical background on both sides of her family. Her maternal grandfather Regis Clavette was a fiddle player. Her mother, Edna Cyr, sang and played harmonica. Edna Cyr collecte dsome of her favorite songs into a songbook, as did one of her aunts, Anna Clavette (Anna Clavette married Ernest Fournier of StBasile and was mother of Canadian senator Edgar Fournier). Albina’s first instrument was the "bombarde" (jaw harp), which she took up as a small child. She next took up her mother’s instrument, the harmonica, but her great love has always been the fiddle. Albina began playing fiddle at seventeen. For several years, she and fellow Madawaska residents Therese Cyr and Verna Cyr have performed as a volunteer ensemble at senior citizen gatherings. They call themselves "Special People," which, Therese says describes the kind of people it takes to volunteer for this type of community service. Albina has both her mother and great aunt’s songbooks, as well as a number of other family handwritten songbooks which she and other relatives have compiled. Although Albina does not think of herself as a singer, she has a fine voice and an excellent musical memory . She generally does not sing when performing with "Special People." However, her musical recall is excellent and she was able to sing several songs out of her songbooks with minimal hesitation. The songs she sang for me are a mixture of old French traditional song and late nineteenth century/early twentieth century French "pop" songs. (Information gathered by Acadian Archives director during a visit to Ms. Cyr’s home 21 October 1992.)
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Recommended Citation
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Albina Cyr song manuscript collection, MCC-00175, Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes, University of Maine at Fort Kent
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