| AKA | BANG SLAP WHAT JOLLY DOGS HERE WE ARE JOLLY DOGS AGAIN SLAP BANG JOLLY DOGS JOLLY BOYS |
| First Published | 1865 |
| Writer/composer | Harry Copeland | Roud | RN46974 |
| Music Hall Performers | Frank Hall, Alfred Vance, T Maclagan |
| Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: Evans, Mrs. Annie G. ; USA : West Virginia : 1938 |
There is a school of jolly dogs,
I've lately come across,
They're game for any mortal thing,
From this [sparring attitude] to pitch and toss.
And they always seem so jolly, oh! so jolly, oh! so jolly, oh!
They always seem so jolly, oh! wherever they may be;
They dance, they sing, they laugh ha, ha, they laugh ha, ha;
They dance, they sing, what jolly dogs are we.
Fal la la, fal la la, fal la la, fal la la, fal la la,
Fal la la, fal de the ral, de the nil lal li do;
Slap, bang, here we are again, here we are again, here we are again;
Slap, bang, here we are again, what jolly dogs are we.
They meet each night at six o'clock,
And then sit down to dine,
They put the courses out of sight,
And then they take their wine.
At eight o'clock they sally forth,
Because you know it's dark;
"Follow my leader," cries the chief,
To-night we'll have a lark..
To balls or hops, of course, they go,
And each man does his weed;
They stick by one another,
As they've previously agreed.
Spring-heel Jack and all his pals,
With their nocturnal larks,
I'm sure were not a patch upon
This school of modern sparks.
A drinking song from the mid 1860s – first sung in the Halls by Alfred G Vance, and later by Frank Hall , Tom Maclagan and many others. The song was first published by D’Alcorn in 1864, written by Harry Copeland:
The fact this is the 150th Edition of the sheet music suggests huge sales and the song certainly inspired many imitators including The Jolly Dogs Polka, Quadrille, Galop and Quick March. D’Alcorn unsuccessfully tried to prosecute the publishers of The Jolly Dogs Polka for breach of copyright (see Appendix below).
The song was a huge hit throughout the English speaking world – in America it was most associated with the singing of Tony Pastor, The Dean of Vaudeville.
Harry Copeland was paid just over a pound for Slap Bang! – it earned the music publishers thousands! Despite its huge commercial success it was almost universally reviled by the respectable music critics. Harry Copeland died at the height of the song’s success prompting a series of newspaper articles like this one:
I see that Mr. Harry Copeland, the author of “Slap- bang; here we are again!” is dead. I am sorry that he, rather than his song, should have left us. Undeniably pretty as is the music of this song.. the words are execrable … go where you will … those poor ill-treated .. fellows who drag about the instruments of torture which are mockingly called organs, grind it at you under your window … boys perpetually sing it with their hideous Cockney twang … gents fresh from the music-halls give it “oft in the stilly night” when the said gents ought to be in bed; and our servant-girls hum it about our houses. When I see a lot of ragged little urchins dancing round the Italian who is grinding away at this too “popular melody,” knowing how few are their innocent pleasures, I rejoice that at least they can have cheap music, such as it is; but really these horrid organs are becoming more of a nuisance than ever.
“Metropolitan Gossip”, Central Somerset Gazette – 07 Oct 1865
Yet the song persisted – it was adopted as a march by the British Royal Artillery, as a drinking song at Yale, the hundreds of editions of official sheet music were supplemented by dozens of street publications – broadsides and songsters. We know little about Harry Copeland except that during the court case he claimed to have written 100 songs of which Slap Bang! was, in his opinion, the worst. I have only been able to find a handful of his other songs, the most famous of which were probably the blackface minstrel song Hat and Feather (RN7586) and another Music Hall drinking song, Bitter Beer (RNV9738)
Despite its popularity in the 19th century, the song seems to have only been collected from one traditional singer: Mrs Annie G Evans of Laurel Dale, West Virginia. You can hear her version on the West Virginia Folk Music site.
Here’s a nice jazz version by the wonderful Mike and Kate Westbrook, which should still be available as a download only single on Bandcamp:
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%3A46974
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics and Sheet Music: facsimile in Garrett 60 years of Music Hall
APPENDIX:
D’ALCORN VS SHEARD – COPYRIGHT IN “JOLLY DOGS”
In October 1861, [D’Alcorn] bought the copyright of the song in question [from] Mr. Harry Copeland who had written it; and at great expense the plaintiff brought the song fully under the notice of the public; the “Great Vance” was induced to sing it, and it was now a most popular song. In February, 1863, [Sheard] published a polka called “The Slap-Bang Polka,” …… in the course of the dance the dancers were to sing “Slap-bang, here we are again; what jolly folk are we .” The plaintiff did not claim any copyright in the music of his song; but the infringement that he complained of was the use of words similar to those of his song. [D’Alcorn] argued that he had lost at 300 or 400 pounds as a result of reduced sales of his sheet music since the publication of The Jolly Dogs Polka
Mr Harry Copeland [confirmed] that he composed the words for the plaintiff’s song. It had obtained great popularity, a fact that did not say much for the taste of the British public, for though he had written 100 songs, this was the worst of them all (laughter)..,.. He first sang it in Dublin in January but medical students kicked up such row, and broke so many glasses, that he was not allowed continue singing it (laughter). He afterwards sang it at Brighton, where it was a “hit.” He sold the copyright to the plaintiff for a guinea, and thought himself remarkably well paid (laughter.) But he should add that the plaintiff had given him several pounds since, in consequence of the great popularity and sales of the song.
Several other Music Hall performers and managers were questioned. The defence tried to establish that the melody of the song in question was almost identical with that of an obscene song called “The Bungalow.” Questions were also asked with the view of showing that words similar to the refrain of the plaintiffs song had been used when singing The bungalow, in a song called Slap Bang or The Adventures of Solomon Slip-stitch and in the song in the pantomime Hey diddle diddle .
The defence convinced the judge and jury that copyright law did not apply to the words or titles and that the melody was as common as halfpence, and was whistled and sung by the children in every court, alley, and street in the metropolis. The jury stopped the learned gentleman in his address, and gave a verdict for the defendant.
Morning Advertiser – Saturday 27 May 1865
Sun (London) – Saturday 27 May 1865
Last Updated on September 26, 2025 by John Baxter | Published: September 26, 2025
