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Nissart lyrics by (Bernard ?) Martin-Saytour. Traditional from County of Nice.
A bucolic description of the everyday life, in this Baumettes (1) suburb. Here after, the 8 more frequently publicated verses.
Noun li a jamai d'iver.
They turn often [around] the May-tree.
Qu es que devina ?
[Who is] the one I love?
It is necessary to turn on one's heel.
It is necessary to go back home.
Fill up the crawl (5).
If you could see how they "pack up"!
verses A, B, C: see above n° 1, 2, 3.
verse E: see above n° 4.
verses G, H: see above n° 5, 6.
When they look like mistlethrush.
And we will grow tired.
Make going with the spindle.
verse N: see above n° 7.
They go all over the fields.
N'hai fa giornada. » Oh, what a laugh!
Better than on the [market] square.
verse U: see above n° 8.
I know that from my sister.
It is proper for it to die.
Si foù soufflà lou nas.
We need to blow the nose.
To put [into] the fatty cheek.
You are a nice paradise.
A soil that bewitches (14).
1. This Nice west located suburb is so called according to bauma (diminutive baumeta), cave, cavern.
2. Pleasant, welcoming, pretty; see Lou Tint dòu moulin or La Rouseta de Nanoun.
3. Flora: Italic goddess of Flowers and Gardens, in honour of whom were celebrated the floralies ("flower show"); here, the spring.
5. From Provençal bourdigo, "enclosure made of hurdles, on the sea side, to catch or keep fish" (according to Larousse). Here, in a figurative meaning: paunch, potbelly.
6. Cantarèu or tapé: small white snail, frequent in the olive groves.
7. Bonda: the edge overhanging the lower faissa (terrace) of a soil.
8. Abicò, belouna, doùcueira, verdala: varieties of figs. The "bellone" is black and of great repute.
9. Pomona: Greek goddess of Flowers and Gardens.
10. Bernissoù: an other variety of figs.
11. Arret or aret: a kind of bird-catcher snare (from Latin rete). See the expression: "to ensnare somebody".
12. Aubre: here, a small tree (natural or artificial) whose branches are fitted with birdlime-twigs.
13. Esperença: pitch or tar, used on birdlime-twig to catch birds.
14. Alletà or aletà: to allure, to bewitch, to entice, to get round, to lead on, to tempt, to wheedle... (from Latin alleciare).
15. Pier d'Arena, Elena: Peter of Arène, and Helen, an allusion to the neighbouring suburbs of the Baumettes.
• Delrieu (Georges), Anthologie de la chanson niçoise (Anthology of the Song from Nice), Nice, publisher Delrieu & Co, 1960, p. 80-81.
• Tosan (Albert), Princivalle (Gaël) and d'Hulster (Frédéric), Anthologie de la chanson du comté de Nice (Anthology of the Song from County of Nice), Nice, Serre publisher, series "Encyclopædia niciensis – Patrimoine régional", volume III, 2001, p. 36-37.
• Toselli (Jean-Baptiste), Rapport d'une conversation sur le dialecte niçois, Nice, Ch. Cauvin, 1864, p. 120-122.
• revue Nice historique, Nice, n° 9, 1907, p. 141.