Little Annie Rooney

AKAAnnie Body’s Rooney
Annie Rooney
First Published 1889
LyricsMichael NolanMusicMichael Nolan/George LeBrunnRoud4822
Music Hall PerformersLottie Gilson
Michel Nolan
Vesta Tilley
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of
Howes, Ernest Albert 1880s Canada : Ontario
Atchison, Tex & his Lone Star Rangers 1934 USA
Swain, Alice / Frances Repetto; 1937-38 Tristan da Cunha
Short, Mrs. Lillian 1941 USA : Missouri
LeBarr, John 1957 Canada : Ontario
Breckon, Jack 1969 England : Yorkshire 
As sung by Lottie Gilson and Michael Nolan

A winning way a pleasant smile
Dress so neat but quite in style
Merry chaff your time to while
Has little Annie Rooney
Every evening rain or shine
I make a call twixt eight and nine
On her who shortly will be mine
Little Annie Rooney.

She's my sweetheart, I'm her beau
She's my Annie, I'm her Joe
Soon we'll marry, never to part
Little Annie Rooney is my sweetheart.

The parlour's small but neat and clean
And set with taste so seldom seen
And you can bet the household queen
Is little Annie Rooney
The fire burns cheerfully and bright
As a family circle round each night
We form, and everyone's a delight
Is little Annie Rooney.

We've been engaged close on a year
The happy time is drawing near
I'll wed the one I love so dear
Little Annie Rooney
My friends declare I am in jest
Until the time comes will not rest
But one who knows its value best
Is little Annie Rooney.

As sung by Vesta Tilley (1st pub 1891, words George Dance):

Now little Annie Rooney is the most loved one on the earth
In every clime and latitude they chant her peerless worth
In England she's at least a million lovers at her feet
For every other fellow warbles as he walks the street

She's my sweetheart, I'm her beau
She's my Annie, I'm her Joe
Soon we'll marry, never to part
Little Annie Rooney is my sweetheart.

In bonnie, bonnie Scotland she is worshipped everywhere
From John o' groats to Glasgow Town her name floats in the air
For when each brawny Scotsman takes the liquor he likes best
And drinks unto his lady love, this always is the toast

She's my lassie, I'm her chiel
She loves porridge, cakes and meal
On heath and heather our lives will pass
Annie McRooney is a braw wee lass.'

The gallant Frenchman loves her too, and sounds her charms on high
From cafe and from Boulevard her praises rend the sky
Some scores of duels have been fought, and while one man lies dead
His rival halloes this refrain as he walks home to bed

'She's ma cherie, I'm her beau
She's so charmant, comme il faut
We kiss and cuddle the whole day long
La petite ma'm'selle Rooney is bonne, bonne, bonne.'

Our heroine has sweethearts far across the rolling sea
And 'mongst the suitors for her hand is found the bland Chine Fe
With thumbs upturned he trots about the streets the whole day long
And like a porter staggers 'neath the burden of his song.

She's my chang chang, I'm her ching
Me putty question, she buy ring
Chinaman love little girl, lots of cash
Little Annie Rooney am Chinaman's mash.'

Sentimental ballads were popular in the Halls, though they were often parodied. Little Annie Rooney was a big hit in the British Halls for the man who wrote it, Michael Nolan (a brief biography is given below). Within months of it first being sung, it was being parodied by the Vesta Tilley.

Lottie Gilson (1869 – 1912), a.k.a. The Little Magnet popularised the song in the United States, where it went down a storm. Nolan was said to harbour a bitterness that he never profited from the song success in the States, due to the lack of international copyright laws at the time.

The song was published in a number of broadsides in the UK, and a large range of songbooks/songsters in the US and Canada: often appearing in collections of minstrel songs. The song became a staple of North American traditional (and popular) singing and has been collected from singers across the US and Canada. It was in the repertoire of a number of early country singers including the Sons of the Pioneers. It seems to have only been collected once in the UK and is difficult to say whether it might not be a song that has crossed back over from the States…

Sometimes sung using the name Annie Laurie (Laury), the subject of an older song from Scotland.

In the United States and elsewhere, interest in the song may have been increased in 1925 after the success of the film Little Annie Rooney and subsequent newspaper cartoon strip. These took the name from the song, but little else, telling the story of a mischievous tomboy and a multiracial gang of misfit kids.

Michael Nolan (1869-1910), billed as The Prince of Irish Comedians, was born in Ireland but by the age of 10 was a chorister at Bradford Catholic Cathedral. His professional career seems to have started at the Star Music Hall, Bradford in 1880 where he was taken under the wing of George Leybourne, the famous Lion Comique. Nolan performances combined comic songs and patter with more sentimental songs like Your eyes have told me so. He was renowned for singing Irish ballads and had success in the UK and Ireland, and in his later years toured Australia and South Africa. He also wrote songs for himself and others: Little Annie Rooney was his most famous song.

Another song written and performed by Nolan which has an impact on traditional singing is I whistle and wait for Katie (Roud 37172)

Little Annie Laurie, from a Sons of the Pioneers Radio show in the early 1950s

Sources:

Last Updated on February 25, 2022 by John Baxter | Published: July 27, 2020

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