Staccia Buratta

Lisa got me thinking the other day with her post about "Sana que sana colita de rana..." and Staccia Buratta.

For those who don't know these two rhymes (I guess that's what you'd call them), they're things we grew up with courtesy of two grandmas that were in our lives. I think the first one Mom picked up from Susanna Salazar, a Colombian woman who spoke no English whatsoever. Or if she did, she never let on. Anyway, it's a much more fun way of trying to make a child feel better about a boo-boo, as long as you don't try to use it once the child attains the age that he or she expects you to actually DO something to treat the hurt (MOM!). You say it while either rubbing the afflicted area or doing sort of a circular "hocus pocus" motion. I Googled this little rhyme and it's common in many Latin American countries.

Staccia Buratta, on the other hand, was a difficult one to track down. Lisa came up empty, as did I on many searches. I finally searched pages in Italian, and while I don't exactly speak or read the language I finally found numerous versions of "Staccia Buratta" after figuring out how to correctly spell some of the words I was searching for.

It seems that while "Staccia Buratta" is common throughout Italy, each area says it a little differently. Libby taught it to us, and when we were little she held our arms and rocked us on her lap as she sang. As she said the last word, "Mare," (rhymes with "hooray" and means the sea or ocean) she would let the child rock all the way back until upside down. Being upside down when you're a little kid is just some kind of special thrill, and as Lisa can attest, kids would make her do "Staccia Buratta" over and over and over.

I have pieced together lyrics based on my memory and the Italian versions I have found on the Web. If you can fill in the blanks (even if you're not sure how to spell it), leave a comment with what you remember. I can't find any pages in English with Staccia Buratta, maybe because this came straight from Italy with Libby and Nonna.

Staccia Buratta
Martin è della gatta
la gatta va mulino
per fare focaccino,
con l’olio, col sale,
Buttalo Do [?word?] [?word?]
Ve
Mare!

Translation (from what I understand):

Staccia Buratta (have no idea & no language translator I have is deciphering this)
Martin leaves the cat
The cat goes to the flour mill so that it can make bread
With oil, with salt
It throws it in the sea