Up came Johnny with his camera

AKAThe Camera Boy
Johnny and his camera
First Published1895

Writer/composerAlbert Hall and Felix McGlennon / Orlando Powell RoudRN34939

Music Hall PerformersNellie Wilson, Violet Leslie
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Smith, Bill; England : Shropshire; 1980
Lynch, Jerry; Ireland : Kerry; 1980
Up Came Johnny with his Camera
Words Albert Hall & Felix McGlennon, Music Orlando Powell

Johnny Briggs was an artful youth, the pride of Ma and Pa
So much a pet they lately bought for him a camera
He took it out and rambled round when oh the artful dog
He saw a lot of romping girls were playing at leapfrog

Up came Johnny with his camera, and took the blessed lot
Up came Johnny with his camera, and oh what a nice snapshot
And now he’s got the photograph and the girls both near and far
Have sworn that they will make away with Johnny and his camera

Johnny rambled down a country lane and gave his hat a twist
As he saw coming down the road a lady bicyclist
But all at once there was a smash – the lady in the dust
And just as she discovered her pneumatic tyre was bust

Johnny went to the football match the ladies’ football team
And for a while the game was smooth as any pleasant dream
Until there was a scrimmage when the blue team fouled the brown
And all the girls got mixed about – some of them upside down

Johnny rambled by the seaside – t’was a quiet little spot
Some ladies there were bathing for the weather it was so hot
But when they came back on shore, Oh Lor how they did screech
Some tramp had stolen all their clothes but left one towel each

A very popular song in the Halls of 1895/96 performed both by Nellie Wilson and Violet Leslie; it was later recorded by Will Denny. In the late 1890s there are multiple reports of the song being sung by amateur singers at social events, so it seems to have had a life after the Halls .

Remembered by traditional singers in both Ireland and England, it may also be the source of a session tune (a polka) sometimes called Johnny and his Camera. A snatch of the Irish song sung by Jerry Lynch is available at The Muckross House Library (I particularly enjoyed the way that in Lynch’s version “the pride of Ma and Pa” has become “the pride of Panama“). The English version as sung by Bill Smith is available at the VWML

Saturday,  Nov. 30, 1895;  The Era 

As recorded for Edison by Will Denny:

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%3A34939 RN34939
  • Kilgarrif Sing Us
  • Lyrics: transcribed from original sheet music by Andrew Smith in letter to Rod Stradling, on mustrad site
  • Sheet Music: held by British Library, not accessed

Last Updated on December 4, 2021 by John Baxter | Published: December 3, 2021

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