| AKA | Tres Bien |
| First Published | 1893 |
| Writer/composer | Norton Atkins | Roud | RN000 |
| Music Hall Performers | Charles Chaplain Snr |
| Folk performances | None? |
Oui! Tray Bong! : or my Pal Jones / written & composed by Norton Atkins ; arranged by John S. Baker; Sung by Charles Chaplin Jones and I, with two good boys, Tom and Harry Have returned from a visit to Gay Paree We thought we would see the sites of it, But we've made some fair old nights of it, Still I can assure you we've enjoyed ourselves immense: I say boys!,,, Through the streets we marched along Shouting every comic song Hip hurray let's be gay! Boom diddy ay, Ta-ra-ra! To each little Frenchy dove Standing drinks and making love We fairly mashed the ladies with our Oui! Tray Bong! My pal Jones said, "Let's bite a bit of something" Off we went to get some grub, but what a rum thing; Clearly there had been a blunder done— They had brought us horseflesh underdone! Then Jones seized the dish and slung it at the waiter's head. And once more — Some young girls to us started parley vooing, I could see plainly there was mischief brewing ; One of them commenced a-hugging me, To her residence was tugging me, But I said, "I'll see you blowed first, I'm a bashful man." Ta-ra-ra! My pal Jones, full of cognac, started prancing, Then said he, "Let's go and see the ladies dancing." To this place we'd never been before, And such sights I'd never seen before; Well, you'll understand me when I say it made me blush. Oh, Great Scott!
A big hit in the Halls for the debonair comic, Charles Chaplain Snr, father of Charlie Chaplin. It was written and composed by Norton Atkins (see brief biography below). As far as I know not a song which has passed into traditional singing.
Not to be confused with an earlier song from 1886 which has been found several times in cheap street literature: Tres Bien (RNV15622).The 1886 song was written and composed by WH Phillips and performed by Lizzie Vallrose, its first line was: Last summer time I went away, and the chorus was:
Tray Bong! Tray Bong! Tray Bong! Tray Bong! That's what this French girl said all along Whatever did I could never do wrong, She only said Tray Bong! Tray Bong!
The Charles Chaplin Snr song was written by the prolific Norton Atkins, and I’ve constructed a brief biography of him from Victorian newspapers sources:
Norton Atkins (real name: Ernest Wragg, 1862-1902) was a prolific songwriter in the 1890s, producing hundreds songs for the British Halls. He often worked in collaboration with Felix McGlennon Only one of his songs seems to have passed into traditional singing: Oh! What a difference in the morning. Towards the end of his career he seemed to suffer from financial difficulties, and this report from the Daily Mail makes it clear that the system was still very brutal at this late stage in the 19th-century.
Sources:
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics and Sheet Music: Charlie Chaplin Archive
- Sheet music cover image (c) Victoria and Albert Museum
Last Updated on January 13, 2022 by John Baxter | Published: January 13, 2022
