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Lyr Req: Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines
DigiTrad:
CAPTAIN JINKS OF THE HORSE MARINES
Related thread:
Lyr Req: I'm Captain of the Army(?) (9)
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Subject: captain jinx of the horse marines From: GUEST,katewilson@compuserve.com Date: 24 Sep 01 - 10:33 AM Anyone have the full lyrix to an old song which begins "I'm Captain Jinx of the horse marines" ? Thanks |
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Subject: RE: captain jinx of the horse marines From: Sorcha Date: 24 Sep 01 - 10:38 AM Kate, the white search box on the main forum page is your friend. If you type in horse marines, you will get Captain Jinks. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: CAPTAIN JINKS OF THE HORSE MARINES From: Jeri Date: 10 Aug 03 - 09:11 AM I refreshed an OLD THREAD - it seemed better than starting a new one just to do a "Lyr Add:" This is nearly the same as the version in the DT. There are variations in text plus a last verse that's NOT in the DT and spoken text. CAPTAIN JINKS OF THE HORSE MARINES I'm Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines; I often live beyond my means; I sport young ladies in their teens, To cut a swell in the army. I teach young ladies how to dance, How to dance, how to dance; I teach young ladies how to dance, For I'm their pet in the army Chorus: I'm captain Jinks of the Horse Marines; I give my horse good corn and beans Of course 'tis quite beyond my means, Tho' a Captain in the army I joined my corps when twenty-one, Of course, I thought it capital fun; When the enemy came, then off I run; I wasn't cut out for the army When I left home, Mamma she cried Mamma she cried, Mamma she cried, Whe I left home, Mamma she cried, "He ain't cut out for the army." [spoken:] No; she thought I was too young; but then I said, "Ah, Mamma..." [Chorus] The first day I went out to drill, The bugle-sound made me quite ill; At the balance-step, my hat it fell, And that wouldn't do for the army. The officers they all did shout; They all cried out, they all did shout: The officers they all did shout, "Oh! that's the cure for the army." [spoken:]Of course, my hat did fall off; but ah! nevertheless: Chorus] My tailor's bills came in so fast, Forced me one day to leave at last; And ladies too no more did cast Sheep's eyes at me in the army. My creditors at me did shout, At me did shout, at me did shout, My creditors at me did shout "Why kick him out of the army!" [spoken:]I said, "Ah, gentlemen, ah! kick me out of the army! Perhaps you are not aware that; [Chorus] From Weep Some More, My Lady, Sigmund Spaeth, 1927, Doubleday, Page & Company Spaeth's noted that Ethel Barrymore made her debut in a play titled "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines," and "The original song was made famous by William Lingard." @army @musichall filename[ TUNE FILE: CAPTJINK CLICK TO PLAY JC |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 10 Aug 03 - 01:23 PM Wow! Another flood of memories. A favorite of ours as children, when sung by our mother as we rocked in her lap on a platform rocker. - given the 1868 copyright - my guess is she learned it from the "The Civil War Grandpa."
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: GUEST,Q Date: 10 Aug 03 - 06:12 PM The Bodleian Library has a Glasgow broadside dated May 28, 1866; the song may be a little earlier than that. The 1868 sheet music at American Memory (see gargoyle, above) is listed as composed and sung by William Lingard. No composer is shown on the Glasgow broadside. Where is Lingard from? In the third verse of the broadside (hat fell off), the line at the end of the verse is "Oh, that's the "cure" of the army" (as posted by Jeri from Spaeth. In the 1868 sheet music, this reads "Oh, that's the curse of the army." The horse was fed grain (corn) in the Glasgow song, but was fed maize (U. S. corn) on this side of the water. Where did this vaudeville song originate? |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: denise:^) Date: 10 Aug 03 - 06:53 PM This song is one that Laura Ingalls Wilder mentions in her books; it's also included in "The Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook," with lyrics and music. The book is out of print, but it's available in many libraries. It turns up on e-Bay and in Amazon auctions from time to time, too. Denise:^) |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: masato sakurai Date: 10 Aug 03 - 07:23 PM At American Memory: Captain Jinks. Serio comic songs written, composed & sung by William Lingard. By T. MaclaganAt Levy: Title: Album Comic Songs. Captain Jinks.At Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads: captain jinks [title] (the Poet's Box ... Monday Morning, May 28, 1866) |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: GUEST,Q Date: 10 Aug 03 - 07:51 PM "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines" first appeared as a cat in 1861, a black and white Maine Coon cat. This from the website of "The Maine Coon Breeders and Fanciers Association": Captain Jinks Coon Cat Some websites claim that the song was popular during the Civil War. Did the song inspire the words jinx and hijinks? No one knows. |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: Jeri Date: 10 Aug 03 - 07:51 PM I'm impressed by how many people (three and counting) wrote this song! Denise, the Laura Ingalls Wilder songbook is indirectly responsible for me finding the song and refreshing the thread. A kid sang this in our seasongsession in July and said she'd got it from the book. I remembered and thought I'd see if it was in the Spaeth book. In the book, it said that Lingard performed the song and that he'd also written comic songs. To me, this appears to mean he did NOT write this one. Spaeth also mentioned that Lingard liked to perform in women's clothing. (See the sheet music cover at the American Memory site linked to in .gargoyle's and Masato's posts.) I didn't know drag queens were that popular back then! |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: GUEST,Q Date: 10 Aug 03 - 08:48 PM A little more to add to the pot. This from Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, vol. 3, # 547. "This piece is derived from a popular song of the Civil War period. G. M. Miller (Dramatic Element in the Popular Ballad, 1905, p. 31) observes that the tune is of comparatively recent origin." Lingard was English. Spaeth (Read 'Em and Weep, 1927, p. 63) remarks that the song was made popular by William Horace Lingard, an English music-hall singer who came to America in 1871. I believe that Spaeth was wrong and that Lingard first came to America before 1868. Much of Spaeth's material was compiled by "helpers," and there are a number of errors in his work. Several play party texts have developed from the song. Description of the game: "The players 'ring up' to form one large circle, made up of alternate boys and girls so that each girl stands at her partner's left. All girls step to the right as the first line is sung, and at the second line each stands still while her partner dances around her. When the third line is sung everybody swings and at the fourth they all promenade to their original positions in the circle." Randolph, # 547A, from Mrs Marie Wilbur, Pineville, MO, 1930. Her verses: I'm Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, I feed my horse on corn and beans [some sing chile and beans], Although it's quite beyond the means Of a captain in the army. Well Captain Jinks got drunk last night, So pass your lady to the right, An' swing her round with all your might, For that's the style of the army. Other verses in Randolph are the same as those previously posted. "Sound Off" states that Lingard introduced the song to the United States. Not an army song, but frequently sung by soldiers. Nothing different in the lyrics in this book. Not clear when the piece was introduced, although it was copyrighted in the United States in 1868, one of seven character songs sung by Lingard. "On the Beach at Long Branch" was also quite popular. The 1868 sheet music clearly states "Written, Composed and Sung by William Lingard." Claims by Pratt and others are also 1868 or later, but apparently Lingard was singing "Captain Jinks" in England before then. Theatre ephemera and newspapers may contain more information. |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: masato sakurai Date: 10 Aug 03 - 09:11 PM Quoted from Lester S. Levy, Flashes of Merriment: A Century of Humorous Songs in America 1805-1905 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1971, pp. 321-22): Among the biggest English successes in the 1860's were "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines" and "Up in a Balloon." "Captain Jinks" was written by T. Maclagan and popularized in America by a great monologist and comic artist, William Horace Lingard. Lingard, an Englishman who came to the United States in the late 1860's, attained favor on the American stage at once. His repertoire included no character who was more appealing than Captain Jinks. Captain Jinks was a smooth army man who lived handsomely off an income much too small and who in consequence was forever in debt. He tells his story in such a matter-of-fact fashion that he develops in his audience a grudging kind of sympathy on which Lingard capitalized. Captain Jinks relates frankly, for example:The Levy collection has the music sheet of "Lady Jinks."I give my horse good corn and beans;And later: Title: Comic Songs. Lady Jinks of the Foot Dragoons. Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: By E.N. Slocum. Publication: Philadelphia: R. Wittig & Co., No.1021 Chestnut St., 1868. Form of Composition: strophic with chorus Instrumentation: piano and voice First Line: I'm Lady Jinks of the Foot Dragoons, I promenade Saturday afternoons First Line of Chorus: Lady Jinks of the Foot Dragoons, I promenade Saturday afternoons Engraver, Lithographer, Artist: L.N. Rosenthal, 327 Walnut St.Charles E. Pratt was named an arranger of "Captain Jinks" in Heart Songs (1910; rpt. Cleafield, 1997, p. 54), where there's no mention of the lyricist & composer. |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: masato sakurai Date: 10 Aug 03 - 09:49 PM Spaeth later gave the date as "1868" (Sigmund Spaeth, A History of Popular Music in America, Random House, 1948, p. 167): On August 17th, 1868, the Lingard Comedy Company headed by William Lingard, opened the Theatre Comique at 514 Broadway. In the troupe, direct from London, was Joseph K. Emmet, the great "Dutch" comedian (composer and singer od a famous Lullaby), the orchestra was conducted by Dave Braham, later associated with Harrigan and Hart as both composer and conductor. But Lingard himself was the star, perhaps the first successful female impersonator, a singer and a comedian, important also as a songwriter. He was responsible for the words of Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (T. Maclagan wrote the music) and this song, which Lingard introduced to America, became an immediate sensation. It was brought out by a number of publihers, with or without copyright notice, and had maintained a certain populrity ever since. (It was sung not so long ago in Lawrence Langner's successful revival of The Streets of New York.) |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: GUEST,Q Date: 10 Aug 03 - 09:51 PM Thanks, Masato- the comments by Levy put a much better time frame on the song. If "Lady Jinks" came on the scene in 1868, then the Captain was around before then, as the Glasgow broadside of 1866 indicated. I am still curious about the Maine Coon cat supposedly named Captain Jinks in 1861. If true, this would place the song at the start of or just before the Civil War, and would verify the statements that the song was "popular during the Civil War." A number of websites, including Bluegrass Messengers, call the song American, but there is no evidence to support this that I can find. A UK site says the words are by a T. Maclagan and song by Lingard, for the British Lingard Company in 1868 performing at a theatre in New York; "it was sung by a chorus of girls in military costume" (this may help explain the Dame Edna get-up Lingard is shown wearing on the cover of the 1868 sheet music). This from a book by Donald Clarke that may or may not be well-researched. Certainly the song was performed before 1868. (http://www.musicweb.uk.net/RiseandFall/three.htm) |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: GUEST,Q Date: 10 Aug 03 - 10:07 PM Pond used the same cover picture of Lingard for "Bitter Beer" and "Walking Down broadway" in 1868 as they did for "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines." I haven't checked the others, but probably all of the seven "Serio Comic Songs" by Lingard were published in the same format (see Levy Sheet Music). There is a broadside of "Bitter Beer," dated 1865, in the Bodleian, but the enlarged view is not available. |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: masato sakurai Date: 10 Aug 03 - 10:37 PM That info ("American (originally)") at Bluegrass Messengers -- Captain Jinks Of The Horse Marines seems to be taken from Ceolas: The Fiddler's Companion -- Result of search for "captain jinks". |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: masato sakurai Date: 10 Aug 03 - 11:03 PM Russell Sanjek wrote (in his American Popular Music and Its Business: The First Four Hundred Years, Vol. II (From 1790 to 1909), Oxford UP, 1988, p. 308): There was also his [i.e., Joseph K. Emmett's] awareness of the experience of J.W. Lingard, one of the first famous female impersonators, a Briton who introduced his song "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines" to America. Emmett had worked with him in the first years of the song's popularity and had seen how American publishers took advantage of the copyright laws to capitalize on public demand for Lingard's song. As a non-American, Lingard could not secure copyright. Twelve of the twenty members of the Board of Music Trade violated their own self-imposed "courtesy of the trade" agreement and simultaneously brought out Lingard's fellow Englishman George Leybourne's "Champagne Charlie," in 1867, when it was being sung in concert saloons and by street singers and heard from all the thousands of street hand organs. |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: masato sakurai Date: 10 Aug 03 - 11:55 PM Another sequel to "Captain Jinks" at Levy: Title: Mistress Jinks of Madison Square. Mistress Jinks--Wife of Capt. Jinks. |
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Subject: RE: captain jinks of the horse marines From: GUEST,Q Date: 11 Aug 03 - 12:02 AM J. P. Shinhan, in North Carolina Folklore, The Music of the Folk Songs, notes that the first four measures of the tune are those of the German folksong, "Zu Lauterbach hab I mein Strumpf verlorn." This seems to be coincidental. (84, Captain Jinks). |
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Subject: Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines From: GUEST,Helen Bingleman Date: 25 Jul 04 - 11:05 PM I have just been reading "With Sherman to the Sea" the story of a thirteen year old drummer from Flint, Michigan who enlisted with the Michigan Tenth Infantry at the beginning of the American Civil War. The story was told by Coridon "Cord" Edward Foote to Olive Dean Hormel who wrote the book in 1960, so long after the actual fact. In Chapter VII, this is noted, and would have been in October of 1864. It may just be she added this herself knowing the song had been popular about that time, or Cord may have told her they sung the song: IT WAS NOON OF the next day when Companies F and D came up with their regiment, sloshing along through the mud and singing one of their favorite songs: "I'm Captain Jinks, of the Horse Marines; I feed my horse on corn and beans, And sport young ladies in their teens, Though a captain in the army. I teach young ladies how to dance, How to dance, how to dance, I teach young ladies how to dance, For I'm the pet of the army." Slogging along the road by the river, sometimes waist-deep in water, they were a muddy looking horde but a hilarious one and they roared out the chorus with gusto: "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines; I feed my horse on corn and beans, And often live beyond my means, Though a captain in the army." It was because of this mention I came searching, and found this forum. Not that this is significant, just thought it interesting. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: captain jinks of the horse marines From: Billy Weeks Date: 26 Jul 04 - 02:28 PM Just for the record, Kilgarriff gives the writers as Tom Maclagan, Harry Rickards and W Lingard (all of them, as it happens, singers) and the publication date in Britain, by Metzler of London, as 1862. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: captain jinks of the horse marines From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 26 Jul 04 - 03:36 PM Thanks, Billy Weeks. This may be the origin. Maclagan's name appears on at least one printing of American sheet music. Such songs spread rapidly, the ocean no barrier, and 1862 is early enough that is could become well-known during the Civil War. Could you give us the Kilgarriff reference? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: captain jinks of the horse marines From: Billy Weeks Date: 27 Jul 04 - 06:07 AM Q: The full reference is Michael Kilgarriff, 'Sing Us One of the Old Songs', OUP 1998. This is a monumental listing of popular songs published between 1860 and 1920 and is the first place to look for anything that has the slightest sniff of English music hall about it. There are several references in the index, but the key entry is on page 15. The British Library catalogue shows Maclagan as the writer of half a dozen songs, but I don't think of him primarily as a songwriter. He was an importsant music hall performerof the 1860s. The publication date 1862 does seem to be the earliest yet located but doesn't, of course, settle the question beyond argument. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines From: GUEST,Ryan Date: 12 Jul 10 - 08:58 PM I have an original of this. Anyone know what the value would be? It has a color illustration as well. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines From: GUEST,Lakes Date: 23 Dec 12 - 04:30 PM My dad is looking for a songbook he sang from in high school that had this song in it Anyone have any idea what songbook it would have bin circa 1952? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 23 Dec 12 - 10:11 PM Hellen B - The "civil war" grandfather I mentioned above...was also with Sherman's March to the Sea...he drove a wagon. Sincerely, Gargoyle When asked if he ever killed anyone during the war? He replied, "No...at least intentionaly.... A drunk climbed onto my wagon, he fell asleep...and later fell off ...he was crushed by the wagon wheel." |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines From: Desert Dancer Date: 24 Dec 12 - 01:16 AM As with many popular songs, the tune was used for a square dance. Here's a YouTube with the audio Floyd Woodhull and his Old Tyme Masters. It's not a singing square, so the song lyric does not show up in the calling. (There's a transcription of the calls at the link.) Recorded in 1941. RCA Victor Album C36. Record 36401. side A Captain Jinks This was one of the ones my parents used to do. ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines From: GUEST,Anonymous Date: 16 Apr 17 - 08:40 PM (This is what I remember singing in school a LONG time ago) I'm Captain Jinks of the horse marines I feed my horses corn and beans I like the ladies in their teens For that's the style of the army; I teach the ladies how to dance, how to dance, how to dance I teach the ladies how to dance, For that's the style of the army; (then the dancing part -- chorus): Serenade your partner, hold them tight And swing your partner with all your might Then promenade around to the right For that's the style of the army. I joined the corps at twenty-one Because it I thought it lots of fun When the enemy charged, of course I run I'm not cut out for the army When I left home Mama she cried, Mama she cried, Mama she cried When I left home Mama she cried, "You're not cut out for the army!" (chorus) The first time I went out to drill The bugle sounding made me ill Of battlefields I've had my fill I'm not cut out for the army The officers they all did shout, they all did shout, they all did shout The officers they all did shout, "Let's throw him out of the army!" (chorus) There may have been more verses but I don't remember |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines From: GUEST,GUEST.Anonymous Date: 21 May 17 - 03:07 PM Correction: In the first line of the chorus, change "serenade" to "salute". Salute makes more sense since the song is about the army. I think the chorus went like this: Salute your partner, hold them tight And swing your partner with all your might Then promenade around to the right For that's the style of the army. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines From: Lighter Date: 08 Aug 22 - 08:29 AM The Civil War reference above is probably correct. The song appeared in 1862. New York Herald (Oct. 11, 1862): "CAPTAIN JINKS OF THE 'HORSE MARINES,' New song, with colored lithograph, 40c....'Paradise Alley,' 25c...F. BLUME, music store, 206 Bowery." |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines From: Mrrzy Date: 13 Aug 22 - 03:02 PM Late, late teens, one hopes... |
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