{"id":14098,"date":"2022-01-02T10:24:47","date_gmt":"2022-01-02T10:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=14098"},"modified":"2026-07-11T07:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:04:49","slug":"bobbing-up-and-down-like-this","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/bobbing-up-and-down-like-this\/","title":{"rendered":"Bobbing up and down like this"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Bobbin’ up and down
Sons of the Sea<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1899<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Worton David \/ Norman Reeve<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN 29819<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Austin Rudd<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Jones, Frank; England : West Midlands; 1984
Turner, Pat; England : Gloucestershire; 2013
Modern performances<\/strong>
Lieutenant Pigeon <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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BOBBING UP AND DOWN LIKE THIS\n\nI'm a man who liken a bit of fun\u2014\nConsequence I took a little run \nNot to Brighton, as most folks do,\nOr to Margate\u2014I know a thing or two. \nTook the misses, left the key next door,\nDown at Ostend took a second floor, \nGot up early as lively as could be,\nAnd watched the, giddy young kippers in the sea\u2014\nLike this\u2014 like this\u2014\nBobbing up and down like this.<\/em>\n\nGus and Gertie in their bathing frocks, \nAll mixed up like chocolates in a box. \nI cried,'What ho?'\u2014 Such fun I would not miss,\nWhen I saw my Mrs and the man next door \nBobbing up and down like this.<\/em>\n\nUnderneath the moon the other day, \nMy friend Timpkins and his fiancee \nSat a-dreaming in rapture sweet, \nTalking lots of stuff they couldn't eat.\nThey were seated where the tulip springs, \nViewing the stars and sundry other things, \nWhen of a sudden like a silly young clown, \nTimpkins started a-hopping up and down\u2014 , \nLike this\u2014 like this\u2014\nHopping up and down like this.<\/em>\nHe discovered that a nest of ants\nHad perforated the lining of his pants.\nOh, dear! oh, lor, it fairly spoilt their bliss, \nFor till early morning was this poor young man \nHopping up and down like this<\/em>\n\nMister McCann is such a silly ass,\nFor last Sunday with the aid of gas\nBe attempted a tooth to draw\u2014\nHe had an abscess in his lower jaw.\nSucked the burner of the chandelier, \nTurned the gas on\u2014nobody was near. \nPresently got full up as a drum,\nThen he started to bounce about and hum\u2014 \nLike this\u2014 like this\u2014\nBouncing up and down like this\u2014<\/em>\nJust like a fairy in a pantomime,\nAll day long without a dinner time.\nOh, dear! oh, lor, his meals he'll surely miss\nIt occurred last Sunday, but McCann's still - there.\nBouncing up and down like this.<\/em>\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
A song remembered in snatches by several traditional singers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bobbing up and down like this<\/em> (the version given above at least) was the first hit for the prolific Music Hall lyricist Worton David<\/a> , with music composed by Norman Reeve. It was performed in the British Halls by Austin Rudd (1868-1929) a Tyneside comic who had his first success in the 1890s and continued to tour and perform into the 1920s, he was especially popular in his later years in Australia and New Zealand. In this review his performance is compared to that of the earlier singer JH Stead<\/a>, who specialised in singing songs while jumping up and down vigourously on the spot with hands tight to his sides:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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 <\/strong>Review of performance at The London <\/em>Saturday,  Sept. 2, 1899;  The Era<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
This song would probably have been long forgotten had but at some point in the first half of the 20th century its chorus seems to have been combined with that of Sons of the Sea<\/a><\/em> (a song which takes itself far too seriously!) to generate an action song sung  around campfires, on coach trips and apparently in British holiday camps. It lives on as a children’s song in various versions – see this Mudcat thread<\/a> …<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The combined version is often sung as a cumulative action song like this one from Joe Offer On Mudcat<\/a>, which starts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sons of the sea,<\/strong>
      BOBBING up and down like this.<\/em>
Sailing the ocean,<\/strong>
      BOBBING up and down like this.<\/em>
Well you can build a ship my lad,<\/strong>
      BOBBING up and down like this.<\/em>
But you can't beat the boys in the bulldog ring,<\/strong>
      BOBBING up and down like this.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Ending eventually with: CLIMBING the ropes and ROWING the boats and SWABBING the decks and HITCHING up your pants and BOBBING up and down like this.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Not to be confused with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n