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ADD: The Baby's Name (Murphy/Hall)
Related thread:
The Baby's Name -- video (9)
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Subject: Boer War song From: Gervase Date: 16 Nov 01 - 04:27 AM A friend has asked me to try to find out some details of a song popular at the time of the Boer War convering a child named after the battles and generals of the conflict. Anyone have any ideas? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: GUEST,MCP Date: 16 Nov 01 - 04:38 AM Gervase - this sounds like the song Cosmotheka used to sing - "The baby's name was...Little Pretoria Bloggs", mentioning Kitchener, Mafeking and Majuba and several other battles on the way. I can't think what the correct title is, but I'll have a look and try and get back to you on this. Mick |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: Gervase Date: 16 Nov 01 - 04:58 AM MCP, I think you've got it! Any lyrics and info would be greatly appreciated. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: GUEST,MCP Date: 16 Nov 01 - 05:26 AM The chorus appears to be:
The Baby's name is Kitchener Carrington |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: GUEST,MCP Date: 16 Nov 01 - 06:11 AM Gervase If noone posts the words here, I suggest you e-mail Steve Belsey at: steve@creative.softnet.co.uk He knows a lot about the music hall and can probably give you the words. He has the chorus as follows: THE BABY'S NAME The baby's name is Kitchener, Carrington, Methuen, Kekewich, White, - Cronje, Plumer, Powell, Majuba, Gatacre, Warren, Colenso, Kruger, Capetown, Mafekin, French, Kimberly, Ladysmith, 'Bobs'. Union Jack and Fighting Mac, Lyddite, Pretoria Blobbs. Mick |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE BABY'S NAME (Murphy/Hall) From: Steve Parkes Date: 16 Nov 01 - 06:49 AM ^^ The war, the war, the bloomin' war Has sent my wife insane; From Kruger to Majuba, She's got Transvaal on the brain! And when to christen our first child Last Sunday week we tried, The parson said, "what's this child's name?" And my old girl replied: Chorus--as posted above The parson said, "such names I cannot On this infant pop!" So my wife pushed his rolling veldt Into his Spion Kop! She jumped upon his Kronstaadt And she never made a miss; Said she, "I'll burst your armoured train If you don't think of this:" Chorus She tore the parson's flag of truce And burst his Jakob's Dell, She pushed his Moehne River Right into his Shrapnel shell; She kicked his mounted infantry [ouch!--Steve] Till his Bloemfontein was sore, Then she made a flanking movement And she shouted out once more: Chorus An old Cosmotheka favourite; I sang it last night at Befford, funnily enough. Steve P.S. I take it you know th tune? That would take a little longer!
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: Gervase Date: 16 Nov 01 - 07:05 AM Bloody brilliant! Thanks to MCP and Steve. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: brid widder Date: 28 Jun 04 - 05:08 PM A friend of mine was talking about this song today... I said I'd try and find the words for him... I was sure the Mudcat wouldn't let me down... I was right! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: greg stephens Date: 28 Jun 04 - 05:11 PM |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: Big Al Whittle Date: 28 Jun 04 - 05:32 PM Brilliant Steve! it was like having Bob and Al in the room! My Grandad used to sing that one .....such was his talent as performer that he once won a bag of sugar at a Darby and Joan Club. all the very best from me and denise and there is a place in my heart which will always be the fitters arms in walsall |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: Billy Weeks Date: 29 Jun 04 - 04:05 AM Kilgarriff's indispensable index gives the writers as C W Murphy and A S Hall and the publication date as 1900. It was made famous on the music halls by Charles Bignell. From a quick glance at Bignell's sparse discography in Tony Barker's 'Music Hall Magazine' 16, it would appear that he never recorded tthe song. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: Steve Parkes Date: 29 Jun 04 - 10:07 AM BTW, Lyddite was an explosive developed at Lydd for use in armour-piercing shells; 'Bobs' was Lord Roberts of Kandahar; and Fighting Mac was Hector MacDonald, who came up through the ranks, I believe. You can look the rest up! Steve |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: greg stephens Date: 29 Jun 04 - 10:27 AM Interesting, I was struggling for a few of the references in the chorus of the song. In the end I could identify 50%. A quick calculation (I was born 44 years after the end of the Boer war), would make this comparable to a 15-year old now having a bash at World War II references. How would they manage, I wonder? Hitler, Normandy, Ardennes, Stalingrad, Patton, Rommel,Doodlebug, Monte Cassino, Iwo Jima, Goebbels, Dietrich, The Few, ARP, Flying Fortress, Malta VC,Arnhem, Dresden. Any 15 year-olds out there (unlikely, I agree, on Mudcat), who could say how familiar those names are? I suspect they would get higher scores on this list, than 58-year olds on the Boer war, actually. The Hitler war reminiscence industry is pretty consistently big, and has been for years. The Boer War was a bit of an embarassment to be swept under the carpet, in comparison. I must add that my pal Mark in Stoke lives in Pretoria Street, next to Ladysmith and Kimberley Streets. The memory lingers on. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: RoyH (Burl) Date: 29 Jun 04 - 02:29 PM I remember this being sung by the late Tom Brown, and his wife Bertha. Grand people, both of them. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: Bat Goddess Date: 29 Jun 04 - 06:58 PM Where can I find the tune to this? Linn |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: Herga Kitty Date: 30 Jun 04 - 10:09 AM I searched the Forum on "The baby's name" and found this on a thread from last August on Cosmotheka material: "Wines & Spirits" Highway Records (SHY 7001) SIDE 1 1 Good Little Girl 2 The 'ouses in Between 3 The Baby's Name 4 Little Dolly Daydream 5 Down The Road 6 Up Went my Little Umbrella 7 The Golden Dustman Kitty PS Mrs Dragon Zorg sings this song occasionally at Herga... I have wonderful memories of Dave and Al Sealey performing it both at Herga and the Pump House in Watford, and I think I last saw them in the Ham Marquee in Sidmouth. This thread brings back good memories of hearing Burl and Tom and Bertha (and MCP and Gervase) at Herga too! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: GUEST,jonathan carley Date: 18 Jan 06 - 10:38 PM I remember this song being sung to me in my infant bath by my aged great aunt ( she was born in 1891 and died in 1977 ) She had a huge store of songs from her childhood ( and, interestingly, from those of her mother and grandmother) including lots of references to the cotton famine caused by the American Civil War - the family was in cotton in Lancashire - and some, referring to slaves in the Old South, that would get one hunted down by the rabid political-correctness nazis if sung now..... Some of the oldest songs spoke a lot of "Boney" and his plans to invade this country, which are appropriately mocked in the lyrics. Strange, how these things lingered in collective memory. Thanks for posting this - I have often wondered if anyone still remembered it ( I could only remember the tune and the chorus and odd bits of the verses - but I was only about three at the time!) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: Gurney Date: 19 Jan 06 - 12:10 AM My father carried the chorus all his life. His father was a mounted infantryman in that war. He was surprised when I found him the verses, but Cosmotheka had been played on the radio, and I'd recorded it. Dad's version of the chorus was; The baby's name is... Kitchener Gatacre Methuen Crondell White, Kronje Kruger Powell Majuga Gatacre Warren Colenso Buller, Capetown Mafeking French, Kimberly Ladysmith 'Bobs', Union Jack, Fighting Mac, Lyddite Pretoria... Blobbs. Obviously something wrong there, Gatacre is repeated, but that was the chorus I sang, out of loyalty. And no-one sings along with you, anyway. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Baby's Name (re: Boer War) From: GUEST,Neil Date: 17 Oct 06 - 04:33 AM My mother (born Albury New South Wales 1920)used to recite the chorus occasionally to us kids in the 1950s. She never went to England or heard music hall as far as I know but her Dad (too young for the Boer War) probably picked it up from someone (possibly from the trenches in Flanders?). As for me I could only remember properly the lines "Capetown Mafeking French" and "Lyddite Pretoria Blobbs" because of the special metre, and that something sort-of rhymed with Kruger. And I wasn't sure it wasn't "Luddite" despite knowing the earlier derivation of that name. But today I felt an uncontrollable urge to put it into Google. So thanks for the good info. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Baby's Name (re: Boer War) From: GUEST,padgett Date: 17 Oct 06 - 05:15 AM I have the baby's name on a Tom and Bertha Brown cassette bought from them ~ Tom and Bertha from Worksop/Caistor Norfolk if ppl remeber them Bertha still alive I believe and in contact with Roy Harris Ray |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Baby's Name (re: Boer War) From: Big Al Whittle Date: 18 Oct 06 - 03:46 AM It was part of my Grandad's repertoire - he was born around 1880. Many's the time he came home having won the top prize for his singing, at the local Derby and Joan Club - usually a 2lb bag of sugar. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Baby's Name (re: Boer War) From: The Walrus Date: 18 Oct 06 - 05:26 AM GUEST,Neil, "...My mother (born Albury New South Wales 1920) used to recite the chorus occasionally to us kids in the 1950s. She never went to England or heard music hall as far as I know but her Dad (too young for the Boer War) probably picked it up from someone (possibly from the trenches in Flanders?)..." As there was a sizable 'Imperial' presence in the South African War, it's just as likely that she picked it up from some veteran of the Boer War, if only second hand (Father/Mother may have heard it from a veteran and remembered it*) It's the kind of song that might have surfaced at a 'smoker', possibly brought in my someone from a new draft. If the tune is interesting then it's possible that it caught in with some group or other and spread. W * My own Mother occasionally used to sing "Rose of No-Man's Land", which, I assume she got from her Father (a GW veteran). |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: GUEST,dracher Date: 22 Oct 07 - 01:10 AM I can't believe this. I was at a loose end, and decided to google a stupid group of words that had been swimming around in my brain since 1953, they were Kitchener, Carrington, Methuen, Kekewitch White. Union Jack, Fighting Mac, with all the Bulgarian Blobbs. My long dead Uncle Fred, who was in fact my Mother's uncle, from Yorkshire, used to bounce me on his knee and sing this song, (he obviously knew the real words) my baby brain had absorbed them as they appear here, and of course, I could never make sense of them prior to the advent of internet, and today's idle keying exercise. What a relief it is, thanks to all for doing the jigsaw that I am so delighted to have found. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: GUEST Date: 22 Oct 07 - 06:53 PM I have been looking for connections regarding the names in the song, I noted that someone suggested that Blobbs was a reference to L.C.Dunsterville, I can find him referred to as "Stalky" but not Blobbs. I did however discover a reference to Kipling as "Blobs," from the three black blobs of his eyebrows and moustache. Kipling was in SA during the war. I do not know the answer to this, I just thought it may be interesting. Regards, Dracher |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: The Vulgar Boatman Date: 23 Oct 07 - 06:13 PM MCP's second version of the chorus is about right - it is as quoted by Raine Kruger in his book "Goodbye Dolly Gray", a masterly history of the Boer war, and I believe he got it from the sheet music. It's also as I remember it from the Sealeys. Lyddite, btw, was for high explosive shells (it was the first true "high explosive") and was first used in the South African campaign. Blobbs refers to the (comic) surname of the unfortunate family and probably has no further connotation. Kipling's abiding school nickname, probably on account of the eyebrows, was "Beetle". KYBTTS |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: The Walrus Date: 23 Oct 07 - 08:12 PM "...Lyddite, btw, was for high explosive shells..." Wasn't Lyddite basically picric acid? BTW, the name comes from the place the explosive was developed - Lydd, Kent. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: topical tom Date: 23 Oct 07 - 09:05 PM GUEST,MCP: Awesome! My mother used to sing that song back in the 40's and 50's! I never believed I would ever see that song again! I thought it had long faded into the mists of history.What a blast from the past! Mudcat, I love you! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: Gurney Date: 24 Oct 07 - 04:41 PM Guest at 6;53, since the chorus is a recitation of the baby's full name, I always assumed that Blobbs was his surname, rather than reference to a martial figure. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: The Vulgar Boatman Date: 24 Oct 07 - 05:21 PM Walrus, certainly was picric acid. Best not go into too many details in these troubled times. Stained everything around the explosion yellow. We still occasionally found Boer War shrapnel shells on one range I worked on in the 70's. One chap found one in his garden and brought it to the pub! Still live... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Boer War song From: GUEST,Pat in Co. Cork Date: 24 Oct 07 - 08:44 PM My great aunt taught me the chorus when I was about four or five. She was born in 1885 and never left Macroom which is a small town in Co Cork. I did not have all the correct pronounciation. I was creating a character for a short story who would repeat some of the chorous. I never thought I would really find the info. Cheers to all Pat |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: Boer War song-The Baby's Name From: GUEST,guest Date: 25 Oct 07 - 02:23 PM I also just googled a few words as these lyrics have been going around in my head since a family gathering about our family history. My granddad often sang this song to us fifty odd years ago. Nice to see the full version. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: Boer War song-The Baby's Name From: GUEST,c.g. Date: 25 Oct 07 - 04:45 PM Lyddite Pretoria Bobs, not Blobbs Bobs was the nickname of someone - General Roberts? I learnt this from my grandfather! I remember singing it at a primary school concert. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: Boer War song-The Baby's Name From: GUEST Date: 08 Nov 07 - 02:57 PM I thought it was: The baby's name was Kitty McCarrington Generals Buller and White .... |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: Boer War song-The Baby's Name From: The Vulgar Boatman Date: 08 Nov 07 - 03:10 PM Blobs; Bobs (Lord Roberts of Kandahar)is mentioned earlier in the chorus. He took over the campaign with Kitchener as his 2i/c after a number of disasters. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,carole Date: 11 Jan 08 - 07:46 PM I googled to get this. My grandmother taught it to me in the 1940's. I remembered most of it. Now have the spaces filled in! |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Charley Noble Date: 11 Jan 08 - 08:22 PM Mudcat rules! Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Nigel May Date: 15 Jan 08 - 03:00 PM My grandmother used to sing this song to us and I have a very clear memory of the words she used. I believe that it should be Mafeking, not Mafekin and the second last word was Victoria, not Pretoria, which I think did not come into existence until after the Boer War. Bobs was indeed Lord Roberts, and Blobbs is just a silly family name. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Frances Watts Date: 29 Feb 08 - 12:01 PM I just googled "The Baby's name" on the offchance and up came the words and all this - amazing. My grandma also used to sing the song to my brothre and me in the 1950s, - she was born in 1896- and I could never remember all the words. Thanks |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Superted Date: 25 Mar 08 - 08:04 PM My Grandad was born in 1901 and used to sing this to me and my brother. He died in 1991 and we thought he'd taken the song with him as we could never remember the words until I heard it sung on BBC Radio 4 programme Underneath The Archives.This has solved a family mystery and brought back some memories of the old boy singing his face off on a Sunday afternoon. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Herga Kitty Date: 25 Mar 08 - 08:09 PM Mrs Dragon Zorg sang it at the Herga 45th birthday party last week! Kitty |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Dave Parsons Date: 18 Jun 08 - 09:28 AM My dad used to sing this around the house in the 40s (he was born in '09) but I only ever caught a few of the names which have been going my head for years, I did try to google it without success, I mentioned it to one of my sons and he had located this link in seconds. Next step to find a recording. Thanks for all the hard work. Dave (Brummie) Parsons |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST Date: 02 Dec 08 - 11:08 AM My 89 year old mother asked me today if I could find the words to an old song my grandad Fred Williams, (who was born in Shropshire in 1888, and came to Canada in 1910)sang to her as a small child. She was so delighted to get the whole song, she remembers the tune and most of the chorus. Thanks for posting. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Pat Date: 11 Feb 09 - 05:26 PM My Grandad used to sing this to me when I was a small boy in the 60's I'd love to hear the song in full. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Austin P Date: 12 Feb 09 - 03:52 PM Years ago I went to a Cosmotheka concert with Bridget Rowan and her husband Mark. Bid was the 'folk correspondent' for the Fylde Coast local paper. We sat on the front row. Cosmotheka started with the chorus (as a joke 'altogether now...'). She joined in of course (the only one in the room). The look on their faces was priceless ... Al Sealy peers through the lights - 'oh. it's you. might have bloody known'. Al is sadly missed ... |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Bid Date: 26 Mar 09 - 06:54 AM Yeah - but i was only making the sounds - never could work out the first few lines of the chorus. Bid Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Austin P Date: 12 Feb 09 - 03:52 PM Years ago I went to a Cosmotheka concert with Bridget Rowan and her husband Mark. Bid was the 'folk correspondent' for the Fylde Coast local paper. We sat on the front row. Cosmotheka started with the chorus (as a joke 'altogether now...'). She joined in of course (the only one in the room). The look on their faces was priceless ... Al Sealy peers through the lights - 'oh. it's you. might have bloody known'. Al is sadly missed ... |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Flash Company Date: 26 Mar 09 - 11:18 AM My Gran, who was a schoolgirl during the Boer war, used to quote a playground verse which went:- Lord Roberts and Kitchener, Baden Powell and White, All went off to South Africa To have a jolly good fight! Can't remember all the rest, but it finished:- And when the war is over, How happy we all will be, The flag will fly over Pretoria, And Kruger will hang from a tree! Bloodthirsty little buggers, the kids were in those days! FC |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Penny Date: 12 Apr 09 - 06:54 AM I am now 54 and this was sung by my Mother and before her my GrandMother. Itaught it to my children and they have taught it to my Grandchildren. The girls seem more keen to sing it than the boys! I have always loved it and it has been a bit of a party piece over the years. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Guest Andi Date: 20 May 09 - 09:26 AM Thank you all so much for going to the trouble of posting these lyrics Like other have said, I thought they had been lost in the mists of time. I have had the chorus floating around in my head since I was a toddler and even remember being taught how to write it - (for writing practice) by my Grandad Thanks all of you, I'm going to print them out and keep them safe |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Annie Date: 24 May 09 - 01:20 PM My Mother was able to recite the first verse and the chorus when she was 94 years old. Where did this come from and where is she likely to have learned this. Her school days were spent in Wales |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,bob lamb Date: 21 Sep 09 - 06:45 AM wow....i've finally found it ! my father, b sept 1880, used to play this song on the piano in our front room in Liverpool, he died in 1951 before i was really able to find out more about his early life. i remember him saying 'the baby's name was.." .. .and rattling off the names of 'battle' locations in South Africa during the Boer War. so far as i can remember he seemed to know them all because the song went on for some time. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Guest, Joe Cooper Date: 01 Feb 10 - 05:57 AM I've enjoyed reading this thread on The Baby's Name. I have the sheet music and play it on the Piano for fun. Not as good as Cosmotheka dis it of course. Dave Sealey is still 'doing the halls' with his one man shows on Stanly Holloway and Max Miller. Worth going to see him.He's in Lichfield Feb 2010. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Steve Parkes Date: 03 Feb 10 - 04:44 PM My grandad (b 1905) used to sing a couple of WWI kids' songs: Kaiser Bill went up the hillto spy the British army, Gen'ral French jumpd out the trench and knocked the Kaiser barmy! (Goes to Jack & Jill went up the hill) Poor old Kruger's dead, He died last night in bed, He cut his throat on a bar of soap, Poor old Kruger's dead. (Goes to The grand old duke of York) Baby's Name goes down well when I sing it on the Isle of Wight. One or two attempt the chorus now, althought they usually only get as far as "Methuen"! |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Steve Parkes Date: 03 Feb 10 - 04:48 PM There's a novel called The devil's paintbrush (forgotten author's name) about Fighting Mac's last days and suicide in Paris, in whih he (fictitiously) meets Aleister Crowley. Very good read imo. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Michael McNamara Date: 03 May 10 - 04:07 AM In he early 60s I wrote to the Daily Mirror to see whether any of their readers knew the words as they were exasperating me in their elusiveness. I had a brilliant response, mainly from elderly ladies, all with slightly different versions but a core of similarity. For some reason the song has an attraction beyond its politics. I am trying to find out more of its background but with little sucess (even wikipedia has let me down) any clues? |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: burglar Date: 13 May 10 - 11:49 AM i have lots of tapes of Tom and Bertha Brown which were recorded at the worksop mallard folk club in the 80's which i used to run. ive put a few on cd via the marvels of technology..so if anyone wants any ..let me know My Email thingy is..kennytweed@live.co.uk Ps...i'm not really a burglar |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,J gratwick Date: 07 Jul 10 - 05:18 PM I googled this idly, never dreaming anything would appear!! A school friend used to recite it the way she learned it from someone in her family. Her version had wandered a long way from the original, in the oral transmission... The baby's name was: Kitchener Calendar Murphy Cape Kitchener White, Kronje Plume upon Majuba, Getty-go on, Elenza kruger, Capetown, Mafekin France, Crinoline ladies in bobs, The fighting Mac and the Union Jack, go on to Victoria Bobs. It was a case of pure Chinese Whispers resulting in pure nonsense, but it had rhythm and stuck in my mind ... only later did I twig that there was a Boer War connection in there somewhere! How fascinating to discover it was a real song - and to see the true version! Thank you! |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,John Vale Date: 10 Sep 10 - 06:32 PM Its so comforting to know that I'm not the only person with this facinating song swimming around in my head. As with most of the correspondents, I remember my mother 1915-2001 singing it to me when i was very small. All these mysterious names places and references have been stuck in my subconscious for many many years only to shoot out of my mouth unexpectedly whilst dring.It was imperative to find out the proper words, which your superb thread has done many times over. Thank you! |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,c.g. Date: 11 Sep 10 - 06:56 AM Me too! I learned it from my grandfather (born about 1870). I remember singing the chorus at a primary school assembly, though I can't remember why. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,John Vale Date: 11 Sep 10 - 02:40 PM Well ive spent the day driving and singing the blinking song non stop. TRYING to sing the correct words, but clearly the way im used to singing it is rather different! Memories from childhood are hard to erase. Anyway for a laff, here's 'my' version! The baby's name is Kitchener Kavanagh, Koehner, Kensita, White. Karonja Bloomer, Cowan, Majuba Kathinka Warren, Colenza Kruger Cape Town Mafeking French Kings and their ladies in bobs The Union Jack and fighting Mac And all Victoria Bobs Well bearing in mind I was only four or five when Mum used to sing it, I think its not bad! |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Steve Parkes Date: 10 May 11 - 06:50 AM See my illustrated version of The Baby's Name |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,Dave in Michigan Date: 10 May 11 - 01:16 PM BTW, for trivia collectors, Fighting Mac, aka Hector MacDonald, was also the dedicatee and namesake of the Scott Skinner tune Hector the Hero. |
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Subject: RE: Req/ADD: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Steve Parkes Date: 10 May 11 - 02:29 PM Also the hero of the novel The Devil's Paintbrush by Jake Arnott, in which Mac meets Aleister Crowley in Paris. A good read. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: GUEST,arfdone Date: 21 Sep 11 - 06:35 AM Here's the full song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8h9HMGTmlo&feature=youtube_gdata_player |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Big Al Whittle Date: 21 Sep 11 - 01:04 PM I used to walk past the statue of Lord Roberts every day on my way to college in Exeter. Pretoria Bobs...? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Gurney Date: 22 Sep 11 - 03:09 AM Frederick Sleigh Roberts. Bob is the familiar shortening of the forename Robert, so Bobs for Roberts. That's what they called him. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: The Baby's Name (Boer War song) From: Jim Dixon Date: 23 Sep 11 - 02:51 PM WorldCat.org tells me that the British Library and Oxford University both have the sheet music, described thus: THE BABY'S NAME Words by C W Murphy and Albert Hall; music by C W Murphy; sung by Charles Bignell. London: Francis, Day and Hunter, ©1900. First line: The war, the war, the blooming war. First line of chorus: The baby's name is Kitchener, Carrington, Methuen, Kekewich, White. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: The Baby's Name (Murphy/Hall) From: GUEST,Guest. L.Walker Date: 28 Nov 11 - 05:44 AM I decided to look on Google for correct words to The Baby's Name and was delighted to find all this information. Like many of you I was taught this song (phonetically) by my paternal grandmother before I went to school; this would be 1941 or 1942. It is only in recent years that I realised the names referred to military leaders. My remembered version of the last lines is:- Cape Town Mafeking French King of the Ladysmith Bobbs Union Jack and Fighting Mac Lion Victoria Bobbs. Happy Memories and Thank you all for the information. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: The Baby's Name (Murphy/Hall) From: Steve Parkes Date: 28 Nov 11 - 06:57 AM Correct chorus here, L, and verses in the post after that. See my post on 11 May for a link to my version on YouTube. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: The Baby's Name (Murphy/Hall) From: GUEST,Deirdre Date: 28 Jan 12 - 04:33 PM I am a woman in my sixties now but remember marching up and down our hall in the 50's to my father and grandfather(who fought in the Boer War) singing at the top of their voices. I thought they had made it up to teach us the military leaders (army family!!) What great memories you brought back. Thank you. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: The Baby's Name (Murphy/Hall) From: GUEST,Phoebe Hyams Date: 07 Jul 12 - 12:54 PM My grandfather who was badly wounded at Zoutpans Drift, having had five dum dum bullets shot through his body and miraculously survived, taught The Baby's Name etc. song to me when I was about four years old. That was just before the beginning of WW11 |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: The Baby's Name (Murphy/Hall) From: GUEST Date: 02 Jul 19 - 07:27 AM > Years ago I went to a Cosmotheka concert with Bridget Rowan and her husband Mark. Bid was the 'folk correspondent' for the Fylde Coast local paper. We sat on the front row. > Cosmotheka started with the chorus (as a joke 'altogether now...'). She joined in of course (the only one in the room). The look on their faces was priceless ... Al Sealy peers through the lights - 'oh. it's you. might have bloody known'. > Al is sadly missed ... I heard a Cosmotheka on the radio (Folk on Two, perhaps) some time in the 1980s, and they sang this song and The Kangaroo Hop and a few others. I still have the recording of it... somewhere. I found this TV concert on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXaZQEAhNcg. I love the little bunny hop that Al does at https://youtu.be/DXaZQEAhNcg?t=589 . Seems as if he succumbed to pneumonia very quickly after getting flu https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=16738 |
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Subject: Lyr Req: What is this song? From: topical tom Date: 27 Jan 22 - 12:34 PM When I was a young lad my mother used to sing me a song which incorporated South African place names.These may be misspelled at times but as nearly as I can recall the first words were:
I would like to know the title and the missing lyrics to this song. CAN ANYONE HELP ME?. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: What is this song? From: Manitas_at_home Date: 27 Jan 22 - 01:24 PM There's an old music hall song sung by cosmotheka that is a list of Boer war battles and generals. Here's a link https://monologues.co.uk/musichall/Songs-B/Babys-Name-The.htm. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: The Baby's Name (Murphy/Hall) From: GUEST Date: 27 Jan 22 - 10:22 PM Sadly, these Youtube videos are marked as private, so not accessible to mere mortals.... |
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Subject: RE: ADD: The Baby's Name (Murphy/Hall) From: Joe Offer Date: 28 Jan 22 - 01:17 AM Try this one: And a performance by Cosmotheka: |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: What is this song with So. African places From: Steve Gardham Date: 29 Jan 22 - 02:29 PM 1900, 'The Baby's name was Kitchener' Boer War, sung by Charles Bignell. Try Googling. It's a well-known song. You might even get a copy of the sheet music. |
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