The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #51888 Message #792223
Posted By: Steve Parkes
27-Sep-02 - 04:14 AM
Thread Name: Help: Origin of Villikins&Dinah tune
Subject: Origin of Villikins&Dinah tune
The tune is described in the American Book of Penguin Folk Songs as "ubiquitous", which it certainly is (Sweet Betsy from Pike, if you were wondering, btw). It obviously so well-known that it does for all manner of humorous and mock-serious songs and parodies all over the English-speaking world. But did Sam Cowan (author of Villikins and his Dinah, sung by music hall star George Leybourne) write the tune himself, or did he pinch it?
Steve