AKA | |
First Published | 1897 |
Writer/composer | E. Graham and George Le Brunn | Roud | RN23550 |
Music Hall Performers | Gus Elen |
Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: Copper, Jim; England : Sussex; 1936 Keeping Family; England : London; 1930s-50s Modern performances Cosmotheka |
Me and old Bill Smiff's bin dust-'oys Allus worked the same old rahnd Strange to say we've struck a Klondyke And we've shared the welf we fahnd 'Ow it 'appened, there's a miser 'Ud never let us shift 'is dust A Toosday night 'e died, and Wensday Like two burglars in we bust Gets to work and blest yer eye-sight Oh, such a welf yer never saw 'Apeneys, fardens, lor, in fousands And to fink that last week I was poor. But nah I'm goin' to be a regular toff A ridin' in a carriage and a pair A top 'at on my 'ead, and fevvers in my bed And call meself a dook o' Barnet Fair As-terry-my-can rahnd the bottom o' my coat A Piccadilly winder in my eye Ah, fancy all the dustmen a-shoutin' in my yer 'Leave us in yer will before yer die'. Stuck inside a rusty saucepan Wot looked a worn out mat Close in-spec-shun, 'twas a stocking Full o' nuggets - big as that Down we flops upon our kneeses See my scoopin' up the welf When up I jumps, oh! oh! so happy 'Ardly could believe meself The Guvnor just nah sez 'Come, 'Iggins, 'Ere get to work, yer looks 'arf tight' 'Get to work, 'ere who yer kiddin'? Yer can dine wiv me next Sunday night.' In the Summer I'll go yachting With the dooks and the Em-per-ors In the autumn spot yer 'umble Shooting grouses on the moors What price me drivin' tandem Wiv a cahntess at me side? If she likes to pop the question Well, I'll consent to be 'er bride As for low in-sin-u-a-tions As regards my style and sich Well, I'll soon teach 'em ettiketty If I slaps this 'cross their snitch.
A hit song from the late 1890s sung by cockney comedian Gus Ellen. It has been collected from the singing of Jim Copper and recalled from a Cockney family’s singing habits, both in the 1930s.
“The Golden Dustman” had previously been used as a nickname for two Victorian characters who rose from rags to riches, one real and one fictional. The real character was William Henry Dodd (d1881), a wealthy ship owner who rose from being a ploughboy in Hackney, making his fortune by removing London’s waste via barges on the River Thames. The fictional one was Nicodemus Boffin, a nouveaux riche character in the Dickens novel Our Mutual Friend (1865).
Other songs of Elen sung by traditional singers have included:
- Down the Road,
- Arf a pint of ale,
- Wait til the work comes round,
- If it wasn’t for the ‘ouses inbetween
- If it wasn’t for the ‘ouses inbetween
As recorded by Elen in the 1930s:
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%3A23550
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- Sheet Music:
Last Updated on April 7, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: April 7, 2023