My grandfather used to sing this song. He's gone now, and my mother has no memory of where, exactly, it came from. I'm hoping this rings a bell for someone. I've searched for it fairly extensively, and have come up with nothing... And please forgive the pathetic attempt to spell the word that is supposed to sound like "fuh-lye." If I sat here long enough to come up with a spelling I was satisfied with, I'd never get this posted. This is how I remember it: ^^ CHARLES AUGUSTUS Oh, I'll tell you now a tale Of a gay young cavalier who Not many years ago, Lived in this town right here His name was Charles Augustus And divinely he could sing And he was a clerk at a dry goods store And he wore a diamond ring. (chorus) Whack! Tilly fa-lie fa-lay Fa-lie fa-lay fa-lay whack! Tilly fa-lie fa-lay, and he wore a diamond ring. Well, he had a grand mustache His hair hung down in curls, oh! What a fellow to smash Said unsuspecting girls. Sly glances he would fling As he passed them on the street What a handsome ladies man With his elegant diamond ring (chorus) To parties he would go And with the girls he'd flirt oh! What a handsome catch (?) the girls would all assert He had plenty of cash on hand And all that sort of thing And he wore a two-forty coat And he flashed his diamond ring (chorus) At last suspicion came To his employer's mind, oh Charles Augustus' clothes Were all together too fine So watch was set on him To stop that sort of thing And they caught that handsome clerk Doing "this" with his diamond ring (chorus) Well they had him up in court Before a judge he was tried, oh Since the case was plain His guilt was not denied So they sent him for his health To the village of sing-sing To play checkers with his nose Without any diamond ring (chorus) Any bells? Anyone? Help!! And –– Andrus
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