Hinky Dinky Parlez Vous

AKA Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Three German Officers Crossed the Line
First Published 1916
Lyrics Harry Wincott? or Harry Carlton? Music Harry Wincott? or JA Tunbridge? Roud RN4703

Music Hall Performers Shaun Glenville
Harry Carlton
and many others..
Folk performances Source Singers
WG Millard, no date, New South Wales, Australia
Marky (seal hunter), 1923, Newfoundland Canada
ES Fowldes, 1923, Hidalgo, Mexico
RM Davids, 1924 Florida USA
William F Burroughs, 1925, Maryland USA
JJ Burke, 1926, Pennsylvania USA
Frank Partridge, 1927, California USA
John Sizemore, 1937, Kentucky USA
Sgt Robert McDuff, 1938, Kentucky USA
John Addington, 1940, Virginia USA
Schoolchildren, 1952, Dundee Scotland
KR, 1953 Arkansas USA
Susan Randell, 1971, Newfoundland Canada
Alice Cane, 1983, Ontario Canada
Gordon Hall, 1989,Sussex, England
Mabs Hall, 1989, Sussex, England		 

What is the latest song the folks are singing around the street
Singing around the street
Everyone you meet?
What is the latest melody that's caught the young idea?
Promise to keep it secret and I'll whisper in your ear.

Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez vous?
Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Same to you
Who was the girl who lost her sheep
Thro' singing this chorus in her sleep
Mademoiselle from Armentieres.

Sandy McTosh from Glasgow Town he put on his kilt one day
Down by the briny spray
Merry and bright and gay
Out on the Prom he strolled along, the wind was rather high
Who was the girl who turned her head, but only shut one eye.

Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez Vous?
Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Same to you
Who was it tied his kilt with string
To stop ‘em doing the Highlan' fling
Mademoiselle from Armentieres.

Company Sergeant Major Brown was stationed at Aldershot
All the boys on the spot
Knew that Brown was ‘ot
Even the Colonel had no chance to shine in Cupid's lamp
Until the day the Tommies spied a stranger in the camp.

Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez Vous?
Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Same to you
Giddy old Colonel knows his biz
And who do you think his batman is?
Mademoiselle from Armentieres.

Up in his aeroplane one night went Robinson for a flight
Everything alright
Beautiful moonlight night
Circled around the moon awhile, it's wonders to explore
Looping the loop above the clouds, and what do you think he saw.

Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Parlez Vous?
Mademoiselle from Armentieres
Same to you
Who do you think was there in Mars
A doing the Can-Can to the stars
Mademoiselle from Armentieres.

Harry Wincott claimed to have written the version of the song sung in the Halls, though Harry Carlton/Tunbridge claim it too. It’s more likely that either or both of these took the song from something made up in the trenches of World War I. The almost infinite adaptability of the tune and chorus have seen it moulded to multiple, often bawdy purposes. It’s fair to say you are very unlikely to hear it sung exactly as written above…

The song no doubt existed in various versions even during the Great War. It was exceptionally popular amongst all the Allied troops, and has since been collected throughout the English-speaking world.

Sources:

A contemporary version: