The Italian Song “Sega sega mastro Ciccio”, plus Someone’s Looking for the Lyrics to “Saga, Saga Master Cheech”
Marie wrote me…
Hi,
Have you ever heard of a song that says, “Saga, saga master cheech, this is the casa of san Francesco”?
My mother said it means “Saw, saw master Francisco, this is the house of the lord.”
I would like to hear the song.
Thank you,
Marie
***
I asked Monique, who speaks Italian, and she wrote…
It sounds a little like the Italian song, Sega sega mastro Ciccio…
Sega sega mastro Ciccio
(Italian)Sega sega mastro Ciccio
una patatina e una salsiccia
la salsiccia ce la mangiamo
e la patatina ce la conserviamowhich literally means in English:
Saw saw, master Ciccio,
A little potato and a sausage
The sausage, we eat it
And the little potato, we keep it.
Thanks Monique!
***
If anyone is familiar with Marie’s song, please comment below. If you’d like to send a midi or recording, please email me.
Thanks!
Lisa
October 30th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
i have an alternate song of the Sega Sega master ciccio that my grandmother used to sing to me;
Sega Sega master ciccio
ob onell’ e u salsicc’
u salsicc a gia mangiam
ob onell’ e gia stibam
November 13th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
I’m Italian, from Naples!
My mother used to sing to me (…and now I sing to my nephews) this song!
The lirics I know are these (in Neapolitan dialect), but there are little different versions in other parts of Southern Italy:
«Sega, sega mastu Ciccio,
na panèlla e nu sasiccio;
‘o sasiccio c’ ‘o mangiammo
e a panella c’ ‘a stipammo.
c’ ‘a stipàmmo pe’ Natale,
quanno vènene ‘e zampugnàre!!»
Translation:
«Saw saw, master Ciccio (=Francesco),
A round loaf and a sausage
The sausage, we eat it
And the round loaf, we keep it.
We keep it for the Christmas period
when the pipers (=players of reed-pipe) arrive.»
A question for Don Maffeo: when and where your grandmother was born?
And when did she leave Italy? Where did she emigrate? It’s interesting for my studies just about these popolar songs!!!
November 13th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
hi,
you can email me at danielma05@sbcglobal.net b/c its easier for me to find you there. What you wrote is what i was trying to spell; you know more than me obviously. I’m pretty interested too although i didn’t know the last two lines. I’ll ask my grandmother more about her history (im 17 yrs old); i’m sure she’ll know and then i’ll write back! thanks
dan maffeo
January 8th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
my grandmother used to sing this to me too when she would
feed me as a baby. She was from Naples also.
February 1st, 2007 at 4:49 am
I’ve been looking for the lyrics to this song for years and years. My great-grandfather used to sing it to my brother’s and I when we were children. He too was from Naples.
Not understanding the Italian, I was never sure of the lyrics.
I shall teach it to my daughter now.
Thank you so much!
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:13 pm
My grandmother used to sing this to me as a little girl and even when i got older. I recently started singing this to my boys and didn’t know exactly what the words meant.
She was also from naples and the words were slightly different:
Saga, saga masta cicchi
la panella salsicci
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:15 pm
It’s so nice to hear other people talking about a song from my childhood.
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:49 pm
My Nanny (from Naples) sang this to me. My mom now sings it to my niece.
My grandmother came here at 16 so the words we sing are kind of made up at this point (nobody else speaks “real” Italian in my family).
Met a girl at work who heard me singing it one day and said she knew it too!
I spent years trying to find another Italian who knew it. Everyone thought i was nuts!
I bought an Italian record with a song Sega Sega on it – but it wasn’t it. It was a disco song!
August 27th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Hi
I am looking for the complete verses to a rhyme (and I am not familiar with the spelling as I am not Italian). My Mother-in-law used to play this with my children. She was form Pedivigliano in Calabria. You hold baby standing up on your lap and rock her/him back and forth while holding their hands saying: Yetala, Yetala
Mare, Mare
Si lupe, e pisce cana.
I am looking for the rest of the verse and its translation. Thanks Chris
October 7th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
My husband’s grandfather sang this song to our niece and our son. We have him on video tape singing it, but it’s kind of hard to understand exactly what he’s saying to be able to sing it ourselves. He passed away this week so I was thrilled to find these words here! My husband is very glad to be able to continue the tradition of singing this song to our children.
Thanks!
October 24th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Wow, there are so many versions of the chant!
My grandmother grew up in Milan, born in 1927.
The version she told me was (forgive any horrific italian spelling)
“sega sega mastro ciccio
una panello, una salsiccio,
una per me, una per te,
y una por il filio del rei”
It’s interesting to see the majority of those who have learned it had their relatives from Naples…yet my grandmother’s slightly different version was from Milan…very interesting.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
As I remember the song, it went “Sega, sega marinara, bogourina si u bona, ah minesta camanouoz, sega sega bacalla.” Please excusre the spelling. My Grandmother was from Naples italy also.
November 20th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
my father used to sing this to me, but i never knew the words. however there was one part (the ending) that sounded like this sega sega do ta do, does anyone know this
January 16th, 2008 at 6:34 am
anch’io cantavo questa ninna ai miei figli ma era anche così:
sega sega nu vogl sega, teng (il nome del figlio) maria ra spusà e a chi a vulimm ra bubiti bubiti ba…..
-Bacioni
English translation of comment:
I used to sing this lullaby to my children too, but it went this way:
sega sega nu vogl sega, teng (child’s name) maria ra spusà e a chi a vulimm ra bubiti bubiti ba
January 18th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Hi Antonella,
I wonder if you could translate your rhyme?
“Potrebbe mandarci una traduzione per favore?”
Or if anyone else can translate Antonella’s rhyme that’s just above into English for us that would be great!
Thanks in advance.
-Mama Lisa
January 29th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Hi all…i happened to find this page becuz am looking for a latin or spanish dance song that i used to listen to it back in the 90’s in spain it kinda goes like “sega sega then something sege sega” am not sure if its sega or seka or segay please e-mail me at suba7eyah@hotmail.com
September 10th, 2008 at 6:29 am
does anyone know where i can buy the music and lyrics to the song?
September 7th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
My father in law sang a song that sounded like “u day chella” and the end of the song was “da ding da ding” and he would tweek my daughter’s nose. I thought the song was a about a friar or priest and had somthing to do with ringing a bell. Any help would be appreciated. (I am not Italian so the ‘lyrics’ are phonetic!”
September 19th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
My Nonna used to sing a song to me and I dont know what it means. here it is phonetically
Sega Sega
Maston dreg
fallo fenio
pollo seg
ellu seg
aritta ma
ellu ma
lumadin
chicken donna catterin
any ideas? I cant find it anywhere on the internet. btw she was from caiazzo
October 14th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Saw Saw Mister Ciccio came from Roman XIX century Saw Saw Mister Titta
(Mastro Titta 1779-1869 Giambattista Bugatti)
He was the hangman of the Pope he also used to saw the people after death.
October 31st, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I would really appreciate your help with figuring out what the song my grandmother sang to us as kids means. We now sing it to our children, and my mother thought it meant something to do with a seesaw, but now I am not so sure about that. Here is how the song we know goes:
“Sega Sega Masta Chich,
Na bonel
eh
eh
bonzanzeech”
Forgive my spelling! I wish I learned italian, however when my great grandmother came over to the US she refused to let her grandchildren speak italian – only english so they fit it. Such a sad but understandable thing to have happened.
Your help with this is greatly appreciate!