Ah ! mon beau château ! Lyrics
Two groups of children trade boasts in this French game song. One group sings about its beautiful castle, the other says theirs is finer, and then they bargain over which child to take and what to give for her. Eight short verses.
Ah ! mon beau château !
Ah! mon beau château,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
Ah! mon beau château,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire, lo.
Le nôtre est plus beau,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
Le nôtre est plus beau,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire, lo.
Nous le détruirons,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
Nous le détruirons,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo.
Laquell' prendrez-vous,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
Laquell' prendrez-vous,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo?
Celle que voici,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
Celle que voici,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo.
Que lui donn'rez-vous,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
Que lui donn'rez-vous,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo?
De jolis bijoux,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
De jolis bijoux,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo.
Nous n'en voulons pas,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
Nous n'en voulons pas,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo!
In English
Ah! my beautiful castle,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
Ah! my beautiful castle,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire, lo.
Ours is more beautiful,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
Ours is more beautiful,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire, lo.
We will knock it down,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
We will knock it down,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo.
Which one will you take?
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
Which one will you take?
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo?
This one here,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
This one here,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo.
What will you give her?
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
What will you give her?
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo?
Some pretty jewels,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
Some pretty jewels,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo.
We do not want any,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lire;
We do not want any,
Ma tant', tire, lire, lo!
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/ah-mon-beau-chateau/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- A bouncing call-and-answer tune, with the nonsense refrain Ma tant', tire, lire, lire sung out each time
- Best for ages
- 4 to 9 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Ah! mon beau château | Everyone in the first group joins hands in a line and swings their arms forward. |
| Le nôtre est plus beau | The other group answers in its own line, with arms swinging the other way. |
| Celle que voici | Point to one child in the other line. |
What Does Ah ! mon beau château ! Mean?
French children sing this one, and the title means Ah! my beautiful castle! It sounds roughly like ah, mo bo sha-TOH. The refrain Ma tant', tire, lire, lire is a run of sounds that goes with the tune and is not translated; it begins with ma tante, my aunt, but nothing in the song says more than that.
It is a choosing game and the songbook says how it is played. The first group sings the boast about its castle and the second group replies that its own is better. Then comes the line that surprises some parents, Nous le détruirons: "we will knock it down". It is only a game about a pretend castle, and nobody gets hurt. In the verses that follow, the second group asks which girl the first group will take, the first points to one, and they ask what will be given for her. "Pretty jewels" are offered and turned down: Nous n'en voulons pas, we do not want any.
The book adds a note on how the game ends. The first group goes on offering other things, such as toys and cakes, until the second group says it will take them. The page gives the eight verses as printed.
History and Origin
The song is in Vieilles chansons pour les petits enfants, a Paris songbook with piano parts by Charles-Marie Widor (1844 to 1937), an organist and composer.
Besides the words and tune, the book prints a short note on how the game goes, and the description above follows that note.
Learning Activities
- Two lines: split the group in two lines facing each other, and sing the verses as a question and answer, one line to each verse.
- Offers: after verse eight, the first line offers something else (a toy, a cake, a hat) and the other line replies with 'yes' or 'no' in French or English.
- Block castle: build a castle from blocks, sing the boast, then let the builder knock it down when everyone sings 'we will knock it down'.
- Refrain only: teach just 'Ma tant', tire, lire, lire' first, and let the small ones join on that line.