{"id":18014,"date":"2022-11-29T11:05:59","date_gmt":"2022-11-29T11:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=18014"},"modified":"2023-09-16T14:32:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-16T14:32:37","slug":"bold-fisherman-the","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/bold-fisherman-the\/","title":{"rendered":"Bold Fisherman, The"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>c1872<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>GW Hunt<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN19566<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>George Leybourne<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Appears in Norman Cadzen’s collection of traditional songs (see below)
Folk performances: Nancy Raven, Tommy Makem<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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There was once a bold Fisherman,\nWho sailed forth from Billingsgate,\nTo catch the mild bloater\nAnd the gay mackerel,\nBut when he arrove off Pimlico,\nThe wind it did begin to blow.\nAnd his little boat it wibble-wobbled so,\nThat slick overboard he fell.\n\nCHANT: All among the Conger eels, and the Dover soles, and the kippered herrings, and the Dutch plaice, and the Whitebait, and the Blackbait, and the Tittlebats and the Brickbats\u2014\n\nDinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,\nThat's the highly interesting song he sung,\nDinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,\nOh! the bold fisherman.<\/em>\n\nFirst he wriggled, then he striggled,\nIn the water so briny;\nHe bellowed, and he yellowed\nOut for help, but in vain;\nThen down did he gently glide,\nTo the bottom of the silv'ry tide,\nBut previously to that he cried,\n\"Farewell, Mary Jane.\"\n\nCHANT: On arriving at the terra firma, at the bottom of the aqua pura he took a cough lozenge, and murmured,\n\nDinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,\nThat's the refrain of the gentle song he sung,\nDinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,\nSaid the bold fisherman.<\/em>\n\nHis ghost walked that night\nTo the bedside of his Mary Jane,\nHe told her how dead he was;\nThen says she, \"I'll go mad.\nFor since my love's dead,\" says she,\n\"All joy from me's fled,\" says she,\n\"I'll go a raving luniack,\" says she,\nAnd she went, very bad.\n\nCHANT: She thereupon tore her best chignon to smithereens, danced the \"Can-can\" on top of the water-butt, and joined \"the woman's rights association,\" and frequently edifies the angelic members by softly chanting,\n\nDinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,\nThat's the kind of soul-inspiring song she sung,\nDinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,\nOh! the bold fisherman.<\/em>\n\n\nAlternate last stanza:\n\nHis ghost walked at midnight\nBy the bedside of his Mary Jane,\nWhen he told her how dead he was;\nSaid she, \"I'll go mad.\nIf my love is dead,\" says she,\n\"No joy on earth can ever be,\" \n\"I never more can happy be\"\nAnd she went raving mad.\n\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A nonsense song written and composed by GW Hunt<\/a> for George Leybourne<\/a> – the great Lion Comique <\/em>who often sang songs with tooral ooral ay<\/em> choruses, though this whole song might be considered a burlesque of a certain type of folksong. Sung by late 20th century American and Irish traditional singers, I suspect as a result of it surviving in the singing clubs of American colleges, though Humphrey Bogart may have also had a role!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It appears in a modified form in Norman Cadzen’s A book of Nonsense songs <\/em>(1961) with no indication of where he got it. The song does appear in a number of late 19th century American College song collections the earliest of which credit GW Hunt as  writer and composer. Later publications tend to lose the accreditation and the song became considered traditional…<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Not to be confused with the much older and better known song, in English circles at least, The bold fisherman <\/em>(RN291<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphrey Bogart sang The Bold Fisherman<\/em> in The African Queen <\/em>but here’s a version he recorded with Bing Crosby and Lauren Bacall:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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