AKA | |
First Published | c1872 |
Writer/composer | GW Hunt | Roud | RN19566 |
Music Hall Performers | George Leybourne |
Folk performances | Appears in Norman Cadzen’s collection of traditional songs (see below) Folk performances: Nancy Raven, Tommy Makem |
There was once a bold Fisherman, Who sailed forth from Billingsgate, To catch the mild bloater And the gay mackerel, But when he arrove off Pimlico, The wind it did begin to blow. And his little boat it wibble-wobbled so, That slick overboard he fell. CHANT: All among the Conger eels, and the Dover soles, and the kippered herrings, and the Dutch plaice, and the Whitebait, and the Blackbait, and the Tittlebats and the Brickbats— Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum, That's the highly interesting song he sung, Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum, Oh! the bold fisherman. First he wriggled, then he striggled, In the water so briny; He bellowed, and he yellowed Out for help, but in vain; Then down did he gently glide, To the bottom of the silv'ry tide, But previously to that he cried, "Farewell, Mary Jane." CHANT: On arriving at the terra firma, at the bottom of the aqua pura he took a cough lozenge, and murmured, Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum, That's the refrain of the gentle song he sung, Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum, Said the bold fisherman. His ghost walked that night To the bedside of his Mary Jane, He told her how dead he was; Then says she, "I'll go mad. For since my love's dead," says she, "All joy from me's fled," says she, "I'll go a raving luniack," says she, And she went, very bad. CHANT: She thereupon tore her best chignon to smithereens, danced the "Can-can" on top of the water-butt, and joined "the woman's rights association," and frequently edifies the angelic members by softly chanting, Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum, That's the kind of soul-inspiring song she sung, Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum, Oh! the bold fisherman. Alternate last stanza: His ghost walked at midnight By the bedside of his Mary Jane, When he told her how dead he was; Said she, "I'll go mad. If my love is dead," says she, "No joy on earth can ever be," "I never more can happy be" And she went raving mad.
A nonsense song written and composed by GW Hunt for George Leybourne – the great Lion Comique who often sang songs with tooral ooral ay choruses, though this whole song might be considered a burlesque of a certain type of folksong. Sung by late 20th century American and Irish traditional singers, I suspect as a result of it surviving in the singing clubs of American colleges, though Humphrey Bogart may have also had a role!
It appears in a modified form in Norman Cadzen’s A book of Nonsense songs (1961) with no indication of where he got it. The song does appear in a number of late 19th century American College song collections the earliest of which credit GW Hunt as writer and composer. Later publications tend to lose the accreditation and the song became considered traditional…
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Not to be confused with the much older and better known song, in English circles at least, The bold fisherman (RN291).
Humphrey Bogart sang The Bold Fisherman in The African Queen but here’s a version he recorded with Bing Crosby and Lauren Bacall:
From Tommy Makem:
Sources:
- VWML entry
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- Cazden, A Book of Nonsense Songs (1961) pp.70-71
- US Sheet Music: Library of Congress
- Our college boys’ songs (1887) p52 Hathi Trust
- Popular college songs (1891)p20 Hathi Trust
- Mudcat Thread
- Christopher Beeching (2011) The Heaviest of Swells
Last Updated on September 16, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: November 29, 2022