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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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