Has anybody seen our cat?

AKAKitty Cat
Has anybody seen my Kitty
First Published1899

Writer/composerTW Connor RoudRNRN15708

Music Hall PerformersGeorge Beauchamp
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Pardon, Walter; England : Norfolk; 1987
As sung by George Beauchamp

I'm upset now; let me tell you why,
Our old tom cat has been and done a guy (run away)
My old gal declares that it's a sign
Somebody's number's up and two to one it's mine
I've been wondering why I am to blame
For sneaking the bacon and the brawn
And the young man lodger's two-eyed steaks (bloater)
When they're missing on a Sunday morn.

Has anybody seen our cat?
Has anybody seen our cat?
He's got a bit of black on the end of his tail
And the skin's all off where he's been fighting
Last Sunday morning we missed him from the mat
Puss! Puss! Puss! Meat! Meat! Meat!
Has anybody seen our cat?

How we loved that cat nobody knows
Put butter on his feet and pepper on his nose
When he caught cold gave myself a job
When the toothache troubled him so bad
And I found little Tommy couldn't eat
I tied up his face, put baccy in his ear
And got another cat to chew his meat.

I never thought he'd leave his happy home
Though after the gals he often used to roam
I've sent tripe hounds out upon his track
I'm doing everything to try and get him back
Got two cods heads stuck up on a pole
And nailed up a kipper on the door
And written underneath it ‘Welcome home'
And a promise not to kick him any more.

A song from the Halls of 1899 which crossed the Atlantic and was adapted by early country music pioneers.

English traditional singer Walter Pardon sang a fragment of this song for Jim Carroll and Pat Mackenzie in 1987, though its not clear whether his version was derived from the British or American sources. The original British song was written and composed by TW Connor in 1899 for  George Beauchamp – probably as a sequel to an earlier successful song Puss, Puss Puss (1897). According to a contemporary advert, the 1899 song is likely to have also been sung in productions of the pantomime Dick Whittington:

[A song] to suit any comedian, whether playing Dame, Baron, or any comedy part in any pantomime – but especially adapted for Whittington … one of T. W. Connor’s Masterpieces.

Ad for Mr George Beauchamp, The Era, 21 Oct 1899, p31

It crossed the Atlantic in 1901 when American comic James T Powers wrote additional verses and incorporated it in his hit Broadway Musical The Messenger Boy.

The British and US versions

The Broadway show may have provided the spark which led to an American song usually called Anybody seen my Kitty (RN 15708) collected several times in the USA. It first seems to appear in the late 1930s, credited to Asher Sizemore and sung by child radio star Little Jimmie. The song varies slightly, but the chorus from Prairie Home Companion Folk Song Book is fairly typical:

Anybody seen my kitty?
Anybody seen my cat? 
She's got a crook at the end of her tale 
To show that she's been fighting. 
Down in Dugan's alley 
Up in Finnegan's flat 
Kitty Kitty Kitty Kitty Kitty Kitty Kitty Kitty 
Anybody seen my cat?

This chorus seems to be directly derived from the original Music Hall/Broadway song by TW Connor, though where the song is sung with verses these are different from those written by Connor or Powers. The American song later featured in the repertoire of country music pioneer Tex Ritter.

Neither of the above should be confused with the 1922 song Has anybody seen my kitty? by HP Porter which nonetheless has certain similarities! ..

Burt Sheppard sings the original TW Connor song:

Little Jimmie sings the later US version which adopted/adapted the Music Hall chorus:

Tex Ritter sings a further adaption of Little Jimmie’s song:

Sources:

Last Updated on August 3, 2022 by John Baxter | Published: April 5, 2022

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