No composer or lyricist is credited, no copyright claim is made, and no date is printed, in this very strange piece of sheet music from the National Library of Australia. There is a portrait of a woman on the cover, but she is unidentified.


H'SH! THE BOGIE MAN.
"John Snow & Co., Sturt Street, Ballarat, Drapers & Importers" [1890's?]

1. Oh! gather round me, little ones, so full of fun and glee.
Your father's going to be a fool, to plaze the familee.
All up upon the table, upset the dish and pan.
I love to hear your mother say, "Whist! Whist! The bogie man!"

CHORUS: Oh, whist! Whist! Whist! Here comes the bogie man!
Now go to bed, you baby, you Tommy, Nell and Dan.
Oh, whist! Whist! Whist! He'll catch ye, if he can.
Now all you popsey-wopsey wops, run from the bogie man.

2. When I sit down to dinner, it's seldom I have pie.
If I must speak, it's once a week, then all the babies cry.
It's with their little fingers they dip into the pan.
It's then I hear their mother say, "Whist! Whist! The bogie man!"

3. I hid out in the pantry; I hid out in the hall.
To frighten all the little ones, I let the dishes fall.
Then they began boo-hooing; away, away they ran.
'Twas then I heard their mother say, "Whist! Whist! The bogie man!"

4. Oh! when I meet an old-time friend who's coming home quite late,
I take a drop of whiskey hot and something on a plate.
Oh! in the house I stumble, and wake up Nell and Dan.
'Tis then I hear the mother say, "Whist! Whist! The bogie man!"