Origins: Early or pre-music hall song-Vagabond

Subject: RE: Origins: Early or pre-music hall song-Vagabond
From: GUEST,Billy Weeks
Date: 02 Oct 20 - 12:23 PM

Hi Steve. No, I don't know either of those songs. The only one that comes to mind is 'Goodnight' c.1935, first line 'I'm only a strolling vagabond' sung by Cavan O'Connor, not a great favourite of mine and too late by at least 60 years!

I'll email you in reply to your kind thoughts.

John (BW)

Subject: RE: Origins: Early or pre-music hall song-Vagabond
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 01 Oct 20 - 11:31 AM

Hi John
Hope you and Val are keeping safe. Our Oli has moved to IluvDogs so I no longer get to Lee, but we can and do easily walk into Greenwich under the tunnel.

Do you know anything about the other Vagabond songs?

Luv
Steve

Subject: RE: Origins: Early or pre-music hall song-Vagabond
From: GUEST,Billy Weeks
Date: 01 Oct 20 - 08:05 AM

Roused from my (now) customary torpor by Steve Gardham I have to admit that I know less than he does about possible origins for 'I'm a Vagabond'. It's a long time since I last saw the movie, Champagne Charlie, but if there is any chance (which I am inclined to doubt) that this is a Leybourne song, the authority to be consulted is Chris Beeching, now resident in Crete, the author of 'The Heaviest of Swells' 2011, a monumental biography of Leybourne. Nowhere in the book does he mention a song with even a vaguely similar name, but as it is only Vol.1, there is, maybe, a faint possibility.

'Even the title song wasn't exactly as performed by Leybourne'. I can, at least, confim that. The second line of the chorus was amended in the film to 'Champagne drinking is my game'.

Sorry. Lots of words. Not much use.

Subject: RE: Origins: Early or pre-music hall song
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 12:57 PM

IIRC even the title song wasn't exactly as performed by Leybourne

Subject: RE: Origins: Early or pre-music hall song
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 10:08 AM

Hi, you really need Billy Weekes on this one.

However, there is no song with that specific title in Kilgarriff, but there is at least one song called 'The Vagabond', written in 1871 by Charles Lamb Kenney (1821-81) with music by J L Molloy.

Sir Charles Santley (1834-1922) sang a song of this title as did Nellie Richards of The Haverley Minstrels (1864-1932), but these could easily be 2 different songs.

The only Burley in Kilgarriff is Joe B but his dates are much later c1907-13.

Subject: RE: Origins: Early or pre-music hall song
From: keberoxu
Date: 26 Sep 20 - 06:52 PM

I don't suppose this is what you want --

I'm Just an Old Vagabond
by Harriet Nevada (Hicks) Woodbury,
pen-name Hattie Nevada
dated 1898, Kansas City, Mo.


"i'm just an old vagabond strolling
from city to town with this song
and if you will give me a penny
't will, kindly sir, help me along ... "

Subject: RE: Origins: Early or pre-music hall song
From: keberoxu
Date: 26 Sep 20 - 06:30 PM

The BFI webpages, at
screenonline.org.uk ,

have a page for Champagne Charlie, concluding with the statement:

The title tune was a genuine Victorian favourite,
while other [songs] were specifically written for the film by
Lord Berners
and T. E. B. Clarke.



There is also an English-language Wikipedia article
with links to other online sources.

Subject: Origins: Early or pre-music hall song
From: GUEST,Len Kennington
Date: 26 Sep 20 - 04:18 PM

The 1944 British film "Champagne Charlie" is a fictionalised rendition of the career of Victorian music hall star George Leybourne. Some of the songs are authentic, many are specially composed. One has got me foxed. The young George (Tommy Trinder) sings a mournful ditty "I'm a Vagabond" - I believe it to be a genuine parlour ballad of the 1860s or thereabouts. The Internet Movie Database credits the composer as Burley - but none of the standard musical databases - particularly the British Library - have it catalogued. Does anyone know of an early Vagabond song by Burley (or could it be Hurley or Burleigh or....)