Our threepenny hop

Now if you're fond of dancing, boys,
I'll tell you where to go.
Believe me, boys I know
The identical kind of show
It's patronised by all the 'nobs' and aristocracy
A splendid night's amusement and
They only charge three 'd'.

At our threepenny hop, our threepenny hop;
Where the boys and girls are found
Hopping it round and round and round;
When you start a-dancing you never know when to stop.
It's Hi! Hi! Go as you please, at our threepenny hop.

You'll always find a partner, boys,
As soon as you're inside,
The girls posses no pride,
And they never go in for 'side'.
The M.C.'s quite a gentleman,
The ladies like him so;
You'll spot some lovely railways
And some bits of calico.

The little orchestra they've got,
Knocks others into fits;
The 'Flutist' makes big hits
With hi sweet little 'twiddley bits'.
They start off with a dreamy waltz
That gives me quite a thrill,
And Finish with the 'Can-Can' or
A good old 'Irish Reel'.

A popular early 2oth century song later collected by Mervyn Plunkett from the singing of Jack Norris – you can listen to a recording downloaded from the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library below

The song was originally a hit in the Halls of the early 1900s for for Kate Carney, it was written and composed by Harry Castling. A version recorded in the late 1950s by prominent Music Hall revivalist Elsa Lanchester is available from most well-known streaming services ….

The song’s biggest impact on traditional singing probably arises from the fact that it formed the basis of the parody Our lovely hops, a song widely collected from Sussex hop pickers (RN24997):

Our luvverly hops, our luvverly hops
When the measurer he came round,
Pick ’em up, pick ’em up off the ground
When he starts to measure
He don’t know when to stop
I, I , jump into the bin
And take the bleedin’ lot

Collected from the singing of Jenny Farrant by Hilary Heffernan, quoted in Roud (2017)

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%3A23453 for Our threepenny hop
• 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%3A23453 for Our lovely hops
• Kilgarrif Sing Us
• Lyrics and sheet music: monologues.co.uk
• Sheet Music: Worldcat entry
• Steve Roud (2017) Folk Song in England, p542

Last Updated on November 1, 2022 by John Baxter | Published: November 1, 2022