NAU GOJATAS : NINE MAIDENS In Castelnau (the Occitan word for Newcastle) they sing this "canon de nau". It's an old rhythmic and poetic form composed with nine verses, describing nine items, disappearing one by one after each chorus. The number four never appears in this count down, for both superstitious and prosodic reasons. These nine girls desperately hope the boys will join them for a dance, but their suitors never show up. Some ethnomusicologists saw in this very recent lyrics (although written on an old "rondeau gascon" tune) an evocation of homosexuality. They haven't been contradicted, so far.