"Ma Normandie" is the semi-official anthem of the Bailiwick of Jersey

Jersey

Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...

, a British Crown dependency

Crown dependency

The Crown Dependencies are British possessions of the Crown, as opposed to overseas territories of the United Kingdom. They comprise the Channel Island Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea....

 in the Channel Islands

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

, and was written and composed by Frédéric Bérat

Frédéric Bérat

Frédéric Bérat was a French composer and songwriter. He is the writer of Ma Normandie which is used as the National Anthem of Jersey, and sometimes as the unofficial Norman anthem.-External links:...

. Jersey is historically part of the Duchy of Normandy

Duchy of Normandy

The Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...

, and French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 has been for centuries an official administrative language of Jersey, whose inhabitants have traditionally spoken a variety of Norman language

Norman language

Norman is a Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. Norman can be classified as one of the northern Oïl languages along with Picard and Walloon...

.

Although "Ma Normandie" is used by Jersey at Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

, Island Games

International Island Games Association

The International Island Games Association is an organisation the sole purpose of which is to organise the Island Games, a friendly biennial athletic competition between teams from several European islands and other small territories. The IGA liaises with the member island associations and with...

 and other international events where it is necessary for territories that otherwise use "God Save the Queen

God Save the Queen

"God Save the Queen" is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms and British Crown Dependencies. The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns...

" to be distinguished, the fact that the song refers to France rather than to Jersey means that a body of opinion has campaigned for a change of anthem.

In 2007 the States of Jersey undertook to find a new, official, Anthem by means of an open competition. The final judging of the competition took place with a public performance of the short-listed pieces on 30 April, 2008. The short-listed composers were: Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a record producer, famous for his work for Joe Meek's Outlaws, Deep Purple, Machiavel and Wishbone Ash.Lawrence came in contact with Meek circa at the end of 1963, when he managed a group, Laurie Black and the Men of Mystery, that won a recording session at Joe Meek's studio. He...

, Gerard Le Feuvre

Gerard Le Feuvre

Gerard Le Feuvre is a British musician.He is a former student of acclaimed academies including the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Banff School of Performing Arts in Canada and the Sibelius Academy in Finland...

, James Taberner and a joint composition by Kevin Porée

Kevin Porée

Kevin Porée is a British record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger and recording engineer who is best known for his work with Mark Hole, Paul Young, Los Pacaminos, Senser, Joy Tobing, Hiding in Public, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, Charlotte Gordon Cumming and for his associations with...

 and Matheson Bayley

Matheson Bayley

Matheson Bayley , is a British pianist, composer, orchestrator, singer and television host. He studied commercial composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London...

; the traditional song "Beautiful Jersey"/"Man Bieau P'tit Jèrri" was also included in the shortlist. The winner of the competition was declared to be "Island Home" composed by Gerard Le Feuvre. A Jèrriais

Jèrriais

Jèrriais is the form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, off the coast of France. It has been in decline over the past century as English has increasingly become the language of education, commerce and administration...

 version of the English lyrics will be provided. The States will take the decision on whether to ratify the adoption of a new anthem in the light of public reaction to the results of the competition.

"Ma Normandie" is also widely used, but unofficially, as the regional anthem of Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

.

"Ma Normandie"

Quand tout renaît à l'espérance,

Et que l'hiver fuit loin de nous,

Sous le beau ciel de notre France,

Quand le soleil revient plus doux,

Quand la nature est reverdie,

Quand l'hirondelle est de retour,

J'aime à revoir ma Normandie,

C'est le pays qui m'a donné le jour.

J'ai vu les champs de l'Helvétie,

Et ses chalets et ses glaciers,

J'ai vu le ciel de l'Italie,

Et Venise et ses gondeliers.

En saluant chaque patrie,

Je me disais : « Aucun séjour

N'est plus beau que ma Normandie,

C'est le pays qui m'a donné le jour.»

Il est un âge dans la vie,

Où chaque rêve doit finir,

Un âge où l'âme recueillie

A besoin de se souvenir.

Lorsque ma muse refroidie

Vers le passé fera retour,

J'irai revoir ma Normandie,

C'est le pays qui m'a donné le jour.

English translation

When everything reborns in hope

And winter flees far from us,

Under the beautiful sky of our France,

When the sun returns gentler,

When nature has turned green again,

When the swallow has returned,

I like to see again my Normandy,

It's the country where I was born.

I’ve seen the fields of Helvetia,

And its chalets and its glaciers,

I’ve seen the sky of Italy,

And Venice and its gondoliers.

Greeting each homeland,

I told myself that no stay

Is finer than my Normandy,

It's the country where I was born.

There comes a time of life,

When every dream must end,

A time when the restful soul

Needs to remember.

When my chilled muse

Makes its way back to the past,

I’ll go see again my Normandy,

It's the country where I was born.

External links

• Midi file
• mp3 file
• Magène has recorded a new intimist version of this song in the CD "Veillie Normaunde".