AKA | A starry night |
First Published | 1887 |
Writer/composer | Sam Bagnell | Roud | RNV15330 |
Music Hall Performers | JW Rowley |
A starry night and a beautiful girl, A shady lane and a flowery dell, A rosy bower-now isn't it bliss, A silent hour And a sweet little kiss; The light of her eye is a fairy lamp, The rose on her cheek, how sweet and damp, Her beautiful lips so often entice, Those rip-a chip chips, now isn't it nice. A starry night and a beautiful girl, A shady lane and a flowery dell, A rosy bower-now isn't it bliss, A silent hour And a sweet little kiss. A beautiful form and rather shy, A pearly tooth and a diamond eye, A ruby lip and a rosy cheek, A boot with a tip and a weazel squeak; She's a wopsy waist and golden hair, She's cherry ripe And lily fair, And the panting heart of a turtle dove, A fairy band and a sixes glove. There's Julia Jane, O isn't she a lamb, Clara Vane and rollicking Sam, Lots of cash and plenty of chain, Going to smash, and he'll stand Sam. Sweet cigarette, Havana cigar, Dear little pet and his la di da, Come along, do, don' tell your ma, But I know a thing much better by far.
A success for JW “Over” Rowley in the late 1880s and 1890s, it was widely advertised as the last composition by Sam Bagnell. The song bears a passing similarity to an earlier piece of his A starry night for a ramble, also sung by JW Rowley (and others).
I am not aware of any instances this song entering the repertoire of traditional singers. It was fairly widely published as cheap street literature on both sides of the Atlantic.
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%3AV15330
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: Wehman’s Collection of Songs, number 59, page 21
- WorldCat entry
Last Updated on September 22, 2021 by John Baxter | Published: August 28, 2021