Ma mère m'a mariée

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In a note on JJON, Aida Yared observes that this is "a traditional French chanson grivoise (bawdy song), recorded in a number of versions from at least the early eighteenth century. Sometimes it is the mother who marries off her daughter, sometimes the father. The bridegroom varies too––a young man, an old man, a lawyer, etc.––and for each the rigmarole story takes its own path. / It is likely that the version to which Joyce alludes is a café-concert version with lyrics by Raphael May and music by Henri Neuzillet. This was recorded by the singer ‘Charlus’ (Louis-Napoléon Defer) in 1898-9 on the Pathé label, and was published (and the music sheet sold) by A. Rouart, of 18 Boulevard Strasbourg in the 18th arrondissement, Paris."

Yared supposes that it is Stephen who sings the song, because the Montmartre area in the 18th arrondissement is "famous for its cafés-concerts and cabarets, including Le Ciel––and L’Enfer, which Stephen most certainly visited and which he mentions in Circe." (Kevin Egan's "Montmartre lair" is in the same part of town.) The surmise is plausible enough, but it does not address the fact that between the two snippets of "Ma mère" comes the first announcement of the "British Beatitudes." If this is Stephen's conceit, as seems highly likely, then he can hardly be singing the French song at the same time. Probably a better candidate is Mulligan, who loves singing dirty songs about women urinating, copulating, and becoming pregnant.

The song alternates lines of narration with lines of nonsensical sound. Of "Retamplatan digidi boumboum," Gifford remarks that "These nonsense words or something like them (though rataplan is French for 'drumbeat') are occasionally added to 'Ma mère m'a mariée" to reinforce its qualities as a marching song." In the Raphael May version the words are different. Yared supplies a translation of the lyrics for all nine stanzas:

My mother has married me
Hun hun hun la ri ra, bon, bon   [nasally, mouth closed]
My mother has married me
To the son of a lawyer
A oua, oua, oua
To the son of a lawyer

The first night of our wedding
Hun hun hun la ri ra, bon, bon
The first night of our wedding
With him I bedded
A oua, oua, oua
With him I bedded

He pulls the cover
Hun hun hun la ri ra, bon, bon
He pulls the cover
Me I pulled the sheet
A oua, oua, oua
Me I pulled the sheet

I called the maid
Hun hun hun la ri ra, bon, bon
I called the maid
“Marguerite are you here?”
A oua, oua, oua
“Marguerite are you here?”

Go tell my mother
Hun hun hun la ri ra, bon, bon
Go tell my mother
That I am about to die
A oua, oua, oua
That I am about to die

My mother who’s quite sharp
Hun hun hun la ri ra, bon, bon
My mother who’s quite sharp
Was coming up with small steps
A oua, oua, oua
Was coming up with small steps

Don’t worry my daughter
Hun hun hun la ri ra, bon, bon
Don’t worry my daughter
You won’t die of it
A oua, oua, oua
You won’t die of it

For if I’d died of it
Hun hun hun la ri ra, bon, bon
For if I’d died of it
You wouldn’t be here
A oua, oua, oua
You wouldn’t be here

You also have a li’l brother
Hun hun hun la ri ra, bon, bon
You also have a li’l brother
That you father doesn’t know
A oua, oua, oua
That your father didn’t make.