AKA | |
First Published | 1892 |
Writer/composer | Tom Conley and Felix McGlennon / Felix McGlennon | Roud | RN16896 and V38587 |
Music Hall Performers | Millie Hylton |
Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: Dunn, George ; England : Staffs |
THE ROWDY-DOWDY BOYS. Written by Tom Conley Composed by Felix McGlennon. Music published by Francis, Day and Hunter Girls, I'm a jolly old chappie; Girls, I'm a deuced fine chappie; I belong to a jolly set that's known about the town - We are the boys for fun and noise, we won't be taken down. Always out and mashing the girls are we, We're the crowd who're fond of a jolly spree Not afraid of paying the score for anything wrong we do, If you'll look at my card you'll see I'm one of the Rowdy-Dowdy Crew. Then I say, boys, who's for a jolly spree! Rum tum tiddley um, who'll have a drink with me? Fond of a glass or two, fond of a row or noise; Hi! hi! clear the way for the Rowdy-Dowdy Boys! Girls, when we're out in society, Girls, we are fond of variety: In the Gaiety bar we lounge just like a lot of earls, Scatter the cash and cut a dash and mash the chorus girls. Sometimes we at billiards a game will play, We're all right, not one of us is a jay; If a pal should be in distress, stone-broke and he can't pull through, He can always be sure of a helping hand from the Rowdy-Dowdy Crew. Girls, we go out on the tiddley hi! Girls, such a jolly old tiddley hi! With a slop we may have a row going home so late at night, He tootles his whistle, some more arrive, and then there is a fight; Some get locked up, off to the station they go, All the others follow them in a row- Where our pal goes, you may all bet. the others must follow too, So if they want one they must take the lot of the Rowdy-Dowdy Crew!
Roy Palmer collected the chorus of this song from the singing of George Dunn in 1971.
A famous Music Hall drinking song – Charles Morton, veteran manager of the Palace Theatre was one of many who said this was exactly the sort of thing that gave modern Music Hall (i.e. in the 1890s) a bad name. It was a huge hit for male impersonator Millie Hylton and was performed by her and many others in pantomime in the 1892/93 season.
The song was written for her by Felix McGlennon and Tom Conley.
It one of a number of songs from the halls that lived on as a football chants – this one was sung by both Derby County and Sheffield United fans in the years before the First World War
You can hear the chorus as part of a Veterans of Variety medley at Archive.org, or here’s George Dunn singing that same chorus:
Sources:
- Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A16896
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: from March’s Sole Right Edition 117 Broadside Ballads Online from the Bodleian Collection (sheet g)
- Sheet Music (UK) cover: University of Kent
- Sheet Music (US): University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Paul Newsham (2014) The Butter-Cup that Blooms in Spring’: Crowd Singing on the Eve of the First World War; available from playingpasts.com
Last Updated on February 20, 2024 by John Baxter | Published: February 20, 2024