Whole Hog or None, The

AKA
First Published1855

Writer/composerMackney / George WareRoudRN7596

Music Hall PerformersEW Mackney
Folk performancesSource Singers
Gould, J.F. 1919 USA : Kansas
Gilliam, Marvin 1929-35 USA : Virginia
Fish, Lena Bourne 1942 USA : New Hampshire
The Chilly Man Songster (no date)
Sung by EW Mackney at Weston's Music Hall

I've just arrived across the sea,
All the way from Canada, 
You Britishers I've come to see. 
Not long escap'd from slavery. 
Up and down, I know a dodge or two, 
I'm pretty full of fun; 
In and out, and round about, 
I'll go the whole hog or none. 

Up and down, I know a dodge or two, 
I'm pretty full of fun; 
In and out, and round about, 
I'll go the whole hog or none. 

Just arrived at Liverpool, 
A chap comes up and spoke to me; 
Says he, "I know you are no fool! 
These things I've smuggled here, you see- 
Cigars they are, some fine Havana, 
And India shawls, as sure as a gun; 
I brought 'em in the ship Cabana- 
I went the whole hog or none." 

Straight up to London then I came, 
Determined all to see; 
I went to concerts, masquerades, 
And all the sights with glee. 
By Fechter, the Shakesperian, 
I saw the great Othello done; 
At Sydenham Palace, Mr. Blondin 
Went the whole hog or none.

In Rotten Row the ladies all, 
On every afternoon, 
Their figures fine are showing off 
To gain a husband soon. 
Mammas desire to make a match, 
By which they won't be done- 
To catch a fine young chap like me, 
They'll go the whole hog or none. 

The married men of London 
Never stop out late at night, 
Though they like a bit of fun, 
And dearly love a sight! 
They love their children dearly. 
Their boys and girls surpass'd by none; 
They love their homes and wives, and 
Like to go the whole hog or none.

Your humble servant now before ye, 
Will ever strive his part to play 
"In the Strand, " or "Dixey's Land," 
As ' Uncle Sam, " or "Peter Gray." 
The welcome given shows that you 
Appreciate what he has done; 
To gain your smiles he'll be prepar'd 
To go the whole hog or none.

An early British Music Hall song from the 1850s which evolved into a traditional song in the USA. The version collected by Helen Hartness Flanders from the singing of Lena Bourne Fish is almost certainly derived from the singing of Tony Pastor (see below), focussing like Pastor’s variant, on humorous verses about the polygamy of Brigham Young. As yet, I’ve not seen or heard the version collected by Vance Randolph from the singing of JF Gould, so I won’t speculate where that one comes from.

The Whole Hog or None is a difficult song to pin down, and the information provided here is my best interpretation of the evidence I can access. The confusion arises in part because there are several unrelated songs of the same title, and that the original song was designed to be varied by adding and modifying verses to reflect the events of the day. The original version is most associated with the singing of EW Mackney, it was written by George Ware in the late 1840s – he and probably others added new topical verses over the years. According to George Belmont:

If all 250 or so verses were ever printed, they would provide a valuable retrospective of events that stirred party strife and agitated the public mind during a long period.

George Belmont, quoted in Richard Baker: British Music Hall, p234

The version given above “Sung EW Mackney at Weston’s Music Hall” is likely to be from the early or mid 1860s when we know that Mackney was also singing songs like In the Strand. Around that time, he also often sang this verse in response to the American Civil War:

The northern and the southern states
Are picking of a bone
But who should get that bone at last
Shortly will be shown.
They had a bit of fighting
At a place they call Bull Run
But John Bull would make them go
The whole hog or none

(Richard Baker: British Music Hall, p234)

In the late 19th century there was a dispute in the pages of The Era about the authorship of the song, which ended with this letter from George Ware, making clear that he started singing the song in 1849, that he sang it to a tune written by Thomas Moore, and that he sold the rights to the song to Mackney in 1856 or 57 :

Era Jan 27 1894

So far so good… But the great collator of Music Hall song, Michael Kilgarriff, suggests two songs of this title were performed in the halls, the second being written by and performed by Charles Sloman, set to music from Thomas Moore’s Love’s Young Dream. From Ware’s letter above you can see that the original was written to the same tune. However, the words of the version credited to Sloman usually take the form the song published by Glasgow’s Poet’s Box in 1862, which can be found in the Vaughan Williams Memorial library (RNV35800) . It usually starts with this verse and chorus:

The world is a funny kind of place with funny people there,
It’s just the kind of steeplechase in which we all must share;
To high and low, to rich and poor it all turns out the same,
For if the king be not secure the knave must win the game.
Oh law! gals, sure Dublin is a pretty city,
Were you ever there? If not you ought to go,
For the girls are also pretty, likewise so full of fun,
There’s no mistake about them, tis the whole hog or none.

Sloman’s song continues for several verses, none of which are in common with the versions published as sung by Mackney. Some authors have suggested that Sloman wrote these verses for Mackney to sing, but I can find no evidence to support this, so it’s best treated as one of a number of variants that circulated in the second half of the 19th century.

A third version was sung in America by the early vaudeville performer and entrepreneur Tony Pastor, sometimes called The Whole Hog None No.2. It usually starts with a verse and chorus along the lines of:

Come , give me your attention and I'll sing a little ditty
Of many sights that I have seen (you must not think me witty) 
Of fashions that have met my eye, 'twill cause a little fun; 
I'll show you how the people go, the whole hog or none
Law! Bless your soul!
It is the truth I tell you, honey;
The people act so strangely and so very funny! 
Everybody's bound to go the whole hog or none
Taken From Broadside available at Bodleian Library

To complicate things still further, there is another 19th-century song called Brown and his Donkey or The Whole Hog None [First line: Oh I’m a free good-hearted cove] (RNV8609). I have not attempted to discuss the 20th century American songs of the same title.

Sources:

Last Updated on May 5, 2021 by John Baxter | Published: December 21, 2020

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