Exactly Stewart. It is the end of a year of mourning actually. "Bout de l'an" was a religious service for the anniversary of someone's demise. In the dictionary by Nicot, Thresor de la langue française (1606), we find this definition : "Faire le bout de l'an, ou l'anniversaire, Feralia vel parentalia annua celebrare." which means (my translation) "annual celebration of a burial or funerals"
Best wishes, Jean-Marie -------------- >Martin, > >Le bout de lan literally means the end of the year. There is an apostrophe >missing - it would be Le bout de l'an in modern French. > >Stewart. > >-----Original Message----- >From: Antony M Eastwell >Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2015 9:32 PM >To: Baroque Lute List >Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Le bout de lan de Mr. Gautier > >Dear All, > >I’m wondering about the meaning of this title. Could anybody whose French is >better than my 30 year old schoolboy Franglais, enlighten me? > >With many thanks in advance > >Martin > > > >To get on or off this list see list information at >http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > >
