Watching ’em

AKA I was there a-watching them
First Published 1899
Writer/composer AJ Mills and FW Carter Roud RN10691

Music Hall Performers Harry Ford
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Payne, Ernie; England: Avon; 1979
Smith, Tom; England: Suffolk; 1960s		 

Transcribed from the singing of Tom Smith by John Howson
(Full copy of sheet music not accessed yet!)

I'm a copper and I know my book:
You can tell it by my saucy look. 
I go prowling round the houses, 
Dusting the seats of the loud boys' trousers.
Til the other night, while on my beat,
I saw two chaps what-ho!
They were arguing about a gold watch they'd nicked,
But it of course they did not know...

That I was there a-watching them, 
I was there a-watching them. 
While they were arguing I drew my staff,
I caught them in the chivvy, well it made them laugh!
And then they bolted, it was a pantomime.
Now I've got a gold ticker and it's worth ten quid,
Because I was there a-watching all the time.

Once a cookie, down upon my beat, 
Used to feed me up with her old meat. 
All at once I found she stopped it:
I used to wonder why she stopped it. 
'Til one night down the eerie steps
I crept quite silently.
But she didn't know, as she sat there 
With a soldier on her knee...

That I was there a-watching them, 
I was there a-watching them. 
For down in the kitchen I could see my dear,
Giving all the mutton to the fusilier.
Then, oh, good gracious, it was a pantomime:
Now 1 know what the cookie did with her cold meat,
'Cos I was there a-watching all the time.
 
At the break-of-promise case one day,
I was giving evidence all day.
How the defendant looked quite puzzled
When I described how they cuddled.
'How the Dickens do you know?'
Said the old judge with a frown.
I said, 'Sir the house is on my beat,
And the blinds were not pulled down!'

And I was there a-watching them, 
I was there a-watching them.
Take my tip, sir, the fun was nice,
I saw him kiss the lady in the same place twice.
Oh, good gracious, it was a pantomime!
But the rest of the evidence I'm not going to tell,
Though I was there a-watching all the time.

Another song from the 1890s remembered by traditional performers in the late 20th century. It was written by the prolific AJ Mills in collaboration with FW Carter. It was a hit for Harry Ford whose brief biography appears below.

Lewis Winstock in his book Songs and Music of the Redcoats, draws on memoirs and other sources to show that songs from the Halls were widely sung by British soldiers fighting in the South African War of 1899-1902. According to the memoirs of Major G Tylden, Watchin ’em was a very popular song amongst the Yeomanry, who appear to have sung at the end of the second verse:

Down in the kitchen I saw my dear,
Perched on the knee of a Grenadier

Songs and Music of the Redcoats, p244

Harry Ford (real name: HWJ Comerford, 1874-1955) was son to a printer (his Father) and boot machinist (mother). He was a juvenile performer, for three years from age 10 he took minor parts in the pantomime at the Elephant and Castle, whilst earning a pittance as a call boy- a stagehand who alerted actors of their entrances during a performance. He made his Music Hall debut at The Middlesex, Drury Lane aged 13 and worked steadily in both the provinces and London throughout the 1890s. He started achieving real success in around 1897 when he was given his first major pantomime role in Aladdin at Brighton’s Eden Theatre. By 1900 he was often appearing “top of the bill” and his success continued until the outbreak of war in 1914. He made several successful tours of South Africa. In the 1920s he appeared in a number of revues, but his popularity seemed to decline. On leaving the stage in the 1930s he ran a tobacconist business.

Sources:

  • VWML entry
  • Kilgarrif Sing Us
  • Lyrics: John Howson, Songs Sung in Suffolk (1992)
  • Sheet Music: British Library (full sheet music not accessed)
  • Lewis Winstock, Songs and Music of the Redcoats (1970)
  • John Howson, Songs Sung in Suffolk (1992)
  • Monty Carew, Cavalcade of Variety Westminster and Pimlico News, August 10, 1956
  • Obituary: HW J Comerford, Birmingham Post, 1 April 1955
  • Terence Mortimer: Harry Ford Music Hall Studies Vol4 p170