{"id":3792,"date":"2020-06-19T14:48:58","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T14:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=3792"},"modified":"2023-05-12T05:59:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T05:59:12","slug":"hinky-dinky-parlez-vous","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/hinky-dinky-parlez-vous\/","title":{"rendered":"Hinky Dinky Parlez Vous"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Three German Officers Crossed the Line<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td> 1916<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lyrics<\/strong><\/td>Harry Wincott? or Harry Carlton?<\/td>Music<\/strong><\/td>Harry Wincott? or JA Tunbridge?<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN4703<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Shaun Glenville
Harry Carlton
and many others..<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Source Singers<\/strong>
WG Millard, no date, New South Wales, Australia
Marky (seal hunter), 1923, Newfoundland Canada
ES Fowldes, 1923, Hidalgo, Mexico
RM Davids, 1924 Florida USA
William F Burroughs, 1925, Maryland USA
JJ Burke, 1926, Pennsylvania USA
Frank Partridge, 1927, California USA
John Sizemore, 1937, Kentucky USA
Sgt Robert McDuff, 1938, Kentucky USA
John Addington, 1940, Virginia USA
Schoolchildren, 1952, Dundee Scotland
KR, 1953 Arkansas USA
Susan Randell, 1971, Newfoundland Canada
Alice Cane, 1983, Ontario Canada
Gordon Hall, 1989,Sussex, England
Mabs Hall, 1989, Sussex, England<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
What is the latest song the folks are singing around the street\nSinging around the street\nEveryone you meet?\nWhat is the latest melody that's caught the young idea?\nPromise to keep it secret and I'll whisper in your ear.\n\nMademoiselle from Armentieres\nParlez vous?\nMademoiselle from Armentieres\nSame to you\nWho was the girl who lost her sheep\nThro' singing this chorus in her sleep\nMademoiselle from Armentieres.<\/em>\n\nSandy McTosh from Glasgow Town he put on his kilt one day\nDown by the briny spray\nMerry and bright and gay\nOut on the Prom he strolled along, the wind was rather high\nWho was the girl who turned her head, but only shut one eye.\n\nMademoiselle from Armentieres\nParlez Vous?\nMademoiselle from Armentieres\nSame to you\nWho was it tied his kilt with string\nTo stop \u2018em doing the Highlan' fling\nMademoiselle from Armentieres.<\/em>\n\nCompany Sergeant Major Brown was stationed at Aldershot\nAll the boys on the spot\nKnew that Brown was \u2018ot\nEven the Colonel had no chance to shine in Cupid's lamp\nUntil the day the Tommies spied a stranger in the camp.\n\nMademoiselle from Armentieres\nParlez Vous?\nMademoiselle from Armentieres\nSame to you\nGiddy old Colonel knows his biz\nAnd who do you think his batman is?\nMademoiselle from Armentieres.<\/em>\n\nUp in his aeroplane one night went Robinson for a flight\nEverything alright\nBeautiful moonlight night\nCircled around the moon awhile, it's wonders to explore\nLooping the loop above the clouds, and what do you think he saw.\n\nMademoiselle from Armentieres\nParlez Vous?\nMademoiselle from Armentieres\nSame to you\nWho do you think was there in Mars\nA doing the Can-Can to the stars\nMademoiselle from Armentieres.<\/em><\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Harry Wincott<\/strong><\/a> claimed to have written the version of the song sung in the Halls, though Harry Carlton<\/a>\/Tunbridge claim it too. It’s more likely that either or both of these took the song from something made up in the trenches of World War I. The almost infinite adaptability of the tune and chorus have seen it moulded to multiple, often bawdy purposes. It’s fair to say you are very unlikely to hear it sung exactly as written above\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song no doubt existed in various versions even during the Great War. It was exceptionally popular amongst all the Allied troops, and has since been collected throughout the English-speaking world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n