{"id":16877,"date":"2022-08-10T11:36:29","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T11:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=16877"},"modified":"2023-04-04T06:38:12","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T06:38:12","slug":"what-ho-she-bumps","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/what-ho-she-bumps\/","title":{"rendered":"What Ho! She bumps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Now my wife’s mother she’s a nimble push<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1899<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>AJ Mills and Harry Castling<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN38304<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Charles Bignell, <\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Faires, Norman; England : Sussex: 1991<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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I've been out on a pleasure boat, for a day on the breezy brine\nWe started away from London Bridge, and we all felt fit and fine\nWe sang 'A life on the ocean wave' as loud as we could roar\nOur boat went alright down the Thames, but when we reached the Nore.\n\nShe began to bump a little bit\nBump, bump, bump, just a little bit\nA fat man fell down the engine room\nHis wife was clinging to the great jib boom\nShe rolled about and fairly in the dumps\nI clung to the Captain's bags, and cried\n'What ho, she bumps!'<\/em>\n\nI once played in a drama that we called 'The flying scud'\nI'd to appear on a gee-gee and it was a bit of blood\nIn front of the blooming audience I had to mount her nibs\nAnd when I stuck a pin into her India-rubber ribs.\n\nShe began to bump a little bit\nBump, bump, bump, just a little bit\nOh, she made a tremendous hit,\nWhen she kicked our villain in the threep'ny bit\nThe actors guyed as she took running jumps\nAnd a boy in the gallery cried\n'What ho, she bumps!'<\/em>\n\nWhere I lived at the seaside once, a girl lived opposite\nAnd one fine morning she went to bathe in a costume pink and white\nA crowd of chaps stood on the shore as she waded in the blue\nAnd everyone was, anxious there to see what she would do.\n\nShe began to bump a little bit\nBump, bump, bump, just a little bit\nAt first she was bashful as she could be\nTill she got used to the rolling sea\nThen up and down the little petlet jumps\nAnd the men all shouted from the golden shore\n'What ho, she bumps!'<\/em>\n\nAdditional verses from broadside:<\/strong>\n\nMy wife's mother is a nimble puss, though she weighs just half a ton; \nShe went out in some bloomers once, on a bike that was built for one. \nShe went at the rate of a mile an hour, her squeaker went pup, pup,\nUntil she came to a thoroughfare where all the road was up \u2014\n\nShe began to bump a little bit - \nBump bump, bump, just a little bit\nInto a hole she went, head first,\nWhere a bloke was patching up a pipe that burst.\nShe did the splits and gave him awful thump.,\nThen he dropped his shovel and exclaimed, \"Great Scott!\nWhat ho, she bumps!<\/em>\n\nMy wife has two wooden legs, and they are a bit all right,\nBut she won't unscrew those bits of wood when we retire at night.\nOne night while enjoying a peaceful doze I felt a little smack-\nTwas my old woman's timber yard stuck right fair in my back-\n\nShe began to bump a little bit \u2014\nBump, bump, bump, just a little bit ;\nI yelled out and I woke the twin \u2014\n\"D'you hear \u2014 you're hurting my poor shins!\nI'd like to burn my old girl's timber stumps;\nFor when she starts to snore and has nightmares \u2014<\/em>\nWhat ho, she bumps!<\/em>\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A turn-of-the-century song collected from the singing of Norman Faires by Nick and Mally Dow in 1991. It can be heard at the British library Sound archive<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In early 1899 two songs called  What Ho She Bumps <\/em>were being sung in British Music Halls.<\/em> One, written by Willie Stern and sung by JW Rickaby<\/a> soon faded into obscurity. The other, written and composed by Harry Castling<\/a> and AJ Mills <\/a>became a major hit throughout the English-speaking world. The title became one of those irritating catchphrases that for a while was everywhere\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The official sheet music gave three verses and three choruses, though a pirated broadside version with several additional verses was also in circulation. It is not clear who wrote the additional material, though Music Hall songwriters often wrote more verses than were included in the sheet music.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The song was recorded several times , this version was recorded by Burt Shepard:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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