This song, "The Shepherdess in the Field, " like others of the folk songs of the Auvergne region that Canteloube arranged for voice and orchestra, portrays an encounter between a young Auvergne woman and a foreign gentleman or knight, and ends, as does La Pastrouletta e lou Chibalie, (The Shepherdess and the Knight) with the girl outwitting the foreigner, when he makes advances to her. Like most of these Canteloube songs, the music is not as quickly rollicking as more modern European folks songs with the same theme are, but show the influence that Arabic and early church music provided, in somewhat slower, less "jigging" tempi and in the more frequent use of minor intervals. A shepherdess has gone out to tend her flocks, when a gentleman starts to make advances to her. The verse, written in the langue d'oc, refers to him as a "moussuret" (little gentleman), but does not use the usual diminutive for shepherdess (pastrouletto), but refers to her as "pastouro." Already, we know who's going to win this encounter. She tells him to go tie his horse, but "just when he had her, she ran away." The lyrics are somewhat ambiguous, as the word "tenio" has the multiple possible meanings that "have" has in English, but the music, with the cheerful "Tidera la la la la loi!" in the vocal line, and the swift orchestral diminuendo both make it clear that he lost her just when he thought he had her where he wanted her!

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This set combines three songs that show strong levels of Celtic influence, especially in the instrumental line, whose rather droning accompaniment suggests bagpipes. (This in itself is an example of cultural blending— bagpipes were originally an Arabic invention, and bagpipe music, though it became westernized through European influences, still retains much of its background.)

The first song, "L'ai de rotso" is a light-hearted warning to avoid water, and drink wine instead. Each verse ends with a slight whoop that indicates that the advisor takes his own advise quite seriously.

In the second song, "Ound' onoren, " the shepherd anticipates taking the sheep o out to graze, and meeting his sweetheart there. There's a long instrumental introduction that strongly shows the Celtic influence on this song.

The third song, "Obal, din lou Limouzi, " has an almost jig-like rhythm, again strongly suggestive of Celtic origins. The song tells of how there are many pretty women in Limousin, and then portrays a dialog between a Limousin woman and a man of Auvergne. She tells him that the men of Limousin are much better at talking of love, but he responds that the men of Limousin are gallant—but men of Auvergne are faithful. As in many other Auvergne songs, we see the pride in Auvergne.

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Canteloube's "Chants d'Auvergne" are an extraordinary musical compilation of an extraordinary musical culture. The Auvergne region was subject to many cultural influences, including Celtic, Roman, and Moorish, as well as later European influences, and this shows in both language and music. Canteloube wished to preserve the music and language of the folk traditions in the Auvergne, but wished to preserve them in a living, musical form, rather than in scholarly notations in bound volumes. The results are the five series that he published, between 1923 and 1955. As an arranger, his own touch and musical influences are clear, but he found this appropriate to the way that folk music evolves through the influences that it meets—much the way that the music he arranged was influenced by the many cultures it encountered. Bailero is from the first book, and is perhaps the best known. In this simple, pastoral song, a shepherd and a girl call to one another across the stream that divides them. The verses end with the refrain "bailero, " a common element in many Auvergne songs (equivalent to the "wally, wally, " or "fa la la" refrains in some English songs). The instruments evoke the sounds of nature, using winds and the flute, especially, in a way that seems to be a fore-runner of New Age music.

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