Happy to oblige. Tom Hirst was a regular at the folk club that used to meet at the Crown in Glossop around twenty-five years ago. A retired watchmaker who had appeared on variety stages with a piano accordion as a young man, he's long gone but fondly remembered. Tom didn't remember where he got the song, and I've never been able to find out more about it, though Derek Schofield did send me a transcript of the chorus from a midlands newspaper some years ago.

Tom only remembered the first verse and chorus, which didn't stop the rest of us from requesting the song every time he came to the club. Veres two and three are my own attempts to capture the spirit of the original.

CHIPS AND FISH

Some people in Yorkshire, they like Yorkshire puddings
People in Paris like frogs
When I went to Blackpool for my holidays
I met with the shawls and the clogs
A Lancashire lass as I happened to pass
Took a fancy to me on the spot
A-courting we went, I says "You smell of scent;
Is it lilac?" she says: "No it's not, it's...."

[chorus]
Chips and fish, chips and fish
Ee by gum what a champion dish
Oh what a smell when you fry 'em
Just take a penn'orth and try 'em
Put some salt and vinegar on
As much as ever you wish
You can do, do, do with out supper if you've
Got a bob'sworth of chips and fish

We walked hand in hand down the edge of the strand
And we kissed by the silvery sea
We spent half an hour on top of the tower
Had cod and five penn'orth for tea
The time came to part, I was sick to my heart
To the station we had to make haste
She boarded the train, and we kissed once again
And oh, how I savoured the taste, of........

Now travels I've had, Hong Kong, Trinidad,
I've partaken of every cuisine
Italian spaghetti my stomach upset, ee
By gum, and those curries are mean
You get nasty diseases from eating French cheeses
And German frankfurters are worst
And though I like to eat stewed tripe and pigs' feet
There's one dish'll always come first, its...