Fall in and Follow Me

First Published 1910
Writer/composer A.J. Mills \ Bennett Scott Roud RN32470

Music Hall Performers Whit Cunliffe, Charles R Whittle
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Keeping family, London England, 1930s		 

Mister Gibson, once a military man,
Uses military language when he can.
Once he left his quiet suburban nest
With six pals he went up west.
Said the others, "Now, what shall we do?
As we want some fun, we'll leave it all to you."
Then Gibson swelled with military pride
Twirling his moustache, he cried,

"Fall in and follow me. Fall in and follow me
Come along and never mind the weather
All together, stand on me, boys.
I know the way to go, I promise you a spree
You do as I do, and you'll do right. Fall in and follow me,"

Off they went to see a ballet gay that night
And the lovely dancing girls gave them delight.
Then behind the scenes they thought they'd go
Said, "These girls we'd like to know"
Gibson quickly led the way, for sure,
Through a dark passage until they reached a door
And then he stopped and whispered low,
"I guess this is where the fairies dress,"


Something after twelve they started home again
Had to walk, they lost the last suburban train
By the old canal they tramped along, 
Singing out the latest song
Then they saw their wives, oh what a scream
Walking up towards them by the flowing stream
Then Gibson slipped and fell into the tide
Splashed about and loudly cried,

A song often associated with World War 1, but actually a hit from the Halls a few years earlier. It was originally written by AJ Mills with music composed by Bennett Scott. In the Halls it was most associated both with Whit Cunliffe and Charles R Whittle, it was also recorded by Harry Fay and Albert Whelan. It was a great hit in the pantomimes of winter 1910/11.

It was adopted as the anthem of the school children’s strikes that swept Britain in 1911, here’s how they adapted it (the journalist seems to have missed out one line):

Dundee Evening Telegraph – Wednesday 13 September 1911

It was later remembered by Charles Keeping as being sung at family parties in 1930s Lambeth.

As recorded by Harry Fay in 1910:

Sources: