| AKA | The Stammering Song |
| First Published | 1918 |
| Writer/composer | Geoffrey O'Hara | Roud | RN18458 |
| Music Hall Performers | Ella Retford, Walter Williams and others |
| Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: Soldiers of the AEF [American Expeditionary Force] ; c1918 Hinnan, Alice ; USA : Missouri ; 1969 Children in Summer camps ; Canada : Ontario ; c1971 |
K-K-K-Katy
Words and Music: Geoffrey O'Hara
Jimmy was a soldier brave and bold,
Katy was a maid with hair of gold,
Like an act of fate, Kate was standing at the gate,
Watching all the boys on dress parade,
Katy smiled with a twinkle in her eye
Jim said meeet you in the b- b- bye and bye
That same night at eight
Jim was at the garden gate
Stutteringthis song to K- K- Kate
"K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy,
You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore;
When the m-m-m-moon shines over the cow shed,
I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door."
No one ever looked so nice and neat,
No one could be just as cute and sweet,
That's what Jimmy thought,
When the wedding ring he bought,
Dinky little home and all complete.
Jimmy thought he'd like to take a chance,
His heart did a sort of song and dance
Stepping to a tune,
All about the silv'ry moon,
Jimmy followed up his first advance.
A novelty song which wasn’t written for the Halls but which was performed there in the period which immediately followed World War 1. Its chorus was widely sung as a campfire song in the second half of the twentieth century. Laughing at folks with speech impediments is thankfully less acceptable to modern audiences.
K- K- K- Katy was hugely popular amongst English speaking troops, and was written for them by Canadian-American Geoffrey O’Hara, a singing instructor for American soldiers. It was adopted by professional singers too – it became associated with Irish-American Billy Murray on the vaudeville stage, and was sung by Ella Retford and others in the British Music Halls.
It was widely sung in British pantomimes in the 1918/1919 season and was later incorporated in a number of stage revues and films.
Its popularity was such that many tried to write their own stammering songs – the publisher claimed to have been inundated with similar lyrics (Leeds Mercury, 30 Dec 1918)
Billy Murray sings it in 1918:
Geoffrey O’Hara performs it in 1952
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%3A18458
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics and Sheet Music: Album of Famous Old Songs, No 12 (personal copy)
- Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
- British newspaper archive:
Last Updated on May 17, 2025 by John Baxter | Published: May 17, 2025
