PANTOMIME SONGS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 10, 10 December 1936, Page 19

PANTOMIME SONGS

SOME FAMILIAR MELODIES. “TA-R A-R A-800 AI-DE-AY.” Pantomime time used to be relied upon in thousands of homes for a yearly budget of new songs, which could be, and were, sung, hummed and whistled for the remainder of the year. There was nearly always one predominant song, and this was the feature of every pantomime in every town (writes Vaughan Dryden in the London Times). Men and women who are progressing in years will remember “Ta-Ka-Ra-Boom-De-Ay.” I mported from the United States, it was first sting in Great Britain at a London variety theatre; and thence spread like a prairie-fire all over the country. The refrain was simply a repitition of the syllables given above, but what popularised the ditty in the first place was the wild dance given by the original singer, with a mad whirl of flying skirts and a tremendous high kick on the word “boom,” emphasised by a clash of cymbals and a bang on the drum. Another American importation popular in pantomime about that period was concerned with the New York thoroughfare known ns the Bowery. Its simple but effective refrain was: Oh, the Boworv, tho Bowery! They do such things and they say 6itch things On tho Bowery, tljo Bowery, That I’ll never go there any more. Of course, the lines might be slightly altered to meet local conditions. In a Birmingham panto., for instance, the Bowery became the Bull Ring. “MAGGIE MURPHY.” Forty years ago the producers of pantomime relied a good deal on importations from across the Atlantic. A homely song, with a swinging melody, always given to the principal girl, had the chorus:

On Sunday night it’s my delight And pleasure, don't you sec, Mooting all the boys and all the girls Who work down town with me. There’s an organ in the parlour To give the place a tone, And you’re welcome every evening At .Maggie Murphy's home. The last line was rewritten to suit the particular pantomime, as Maggie Murphy is not a heroine known to any of the fairy stories on which these Christmas plays were founded. “Where Did You Get That Hat?” is remembered even now. The singer inquired : Where did you got that bat ? Where did you got that tile ? Oh, isn’t it. a nobby one— It’s just the proper stylo! Oh, 1 should like to wear one, Just the same as that. So when I went out, the folks would shout, “Where did you get that hat ?” Another American ditty reproduced in many British pantomimes was “Quite English, you know,” which

satirized various national characteristics. Of course, there was always a local verse hitting at the local foibles, which were “Quite Nottingham, you know,” in Nottingham, and so on in other towns. BRITISH BARDS. British bards, however, could produce “the goods” if they liked. One of them was responsible for that universally popular song of conviviality which he called “Hi-Tiddley-Hi-Ti,” for some reason which seemed good to him at the time. The singer, generally the principal comedian, jovially invited his friends thus : All of you come along with me, I’m for a fair old. rare old spree. Everybody is invited, Come along. I’ll see you righted. Hi-tiddlcy-hi-ti-lii-ti-lii I Hi-tidfllov-hi-ti-hi-ti-lii! All of you come along with me, For I’m all right. This song produced, as was inevitable, a crop of ditties on similar lines, such as “The Rowdy-Dowdv Boys,” and “Strolling Round the Town,” (mi few of them equalled the original, the attraction of which lay not so much in the words as in the rollicking tune. One of the most universally popular pantomime songs of 40 years or so ago concerned the supposed conduct of a Covent Garden porter, who, having received a small legacy, had come to despise his former friends. The refrain went like this: When Vs clown at Covent Garden You can see ’im standing all alone. Won’t join in a quiet “Tommy Dodd” — Drinkin’ Seoteh-and-sodas on liis own. ’E ’as tlie cheek and immidencc To call ’is mother ’is “Ma.” Since Jack Jones come into ’is little bit of splosh, Why, ’e don’t know where ’c are! Perhaps it ought to be explained that “Tommy Dodd” is a tossing ceremony with coins to decide who pays for refreshment, and “splosh” is one of the many synonyms which the Cockney finds for money. A POPULAR DITTY. A little later, another Cockney 6ong swept through the country. It was called “Down at the old Bull and Bush,” the Bull and Bush being an historic inn on Hampstead Heath.

Then there was the popular ditty which tells what happened at Trinity Church, as follows: She (old mo that she was fivc-and-twcnty; Cash in tile bank she said she’d plenty. I like a fool believed it all; I was an M.U.G. At Trinity Church I met my doom, Now we’re lip in a top back room; Up to the eyes in debt for rent-y, That’s what she’s done for me. Songs adapted to the supernatural element in pantomime were the immensely popular “Hush, Hush, Hush,, here Comes tho Bogey Man,” originally sung in England in a Gaiety burlesque, and “Who’s That A-Caliing?” This latter could be made very effective with a hidden chorus of fairies or elves. The Fairy Queen herself was generally provided with a popular sentimental ballad, such as “Wweet Violets,” or “The Song that Reached my Heart.” Another favourite with the lady of the wand was the still-popular “Love’s Old Sweet Song,” with the refrain: Jn*t a song at twi light, V hen the lights are low, And the flickering shadows Softly' come and gu Though the heart he weary, And the day he long. Still there comes at twilight. Love’s old sweet song. COMEDY AND SENTIMENT. As for the Demon King, always selected for an imposing appearance and a deep voice, he would come on at some odd moment when an elalxirate scene was being prepared behind a hack-cloth, and sing “The AVoIf,” or some similar bass or baritone ballad. But the songs that really mattered were allotted to tho principal girl, the principal boy, and the comedians. Most of them were broadly comic, like the carol of the defiant debtor, who stated : I owe ton dollars to O’Grady, You’d thing it was a mortgage on my life, He conics round to sec me every morning. And at night he sends his wife. He wants 111 c to sell the child’s piano, Ho thinks he’ll make me look so very small; But if lie doesn’t wait, I will wipe it off the slate. And never a cent he’ll got from me at all.

Others had a sentimental note and extolled some winsome maiden with an Irish name, like "Little Annie Rooney.” or “Sweet Katie Connor.” whose adoring swain stated: Sweet Katie Connor I I dote upon her. Kate, Kate, as sure as fate, 1 You’ll have to marry me. Or else I’ve pot. a notion. Of living in the ocean, And mashing all the mermaids At the bottom of the sea. But, comic or sentimental, the old ditties served their purpose, were immensely popular for a time, and now survive only as dim echoes in the minds of some middle-aged and elderly people.