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Bald Fisherman. Written and composed by G. W. Hunt
Dad sung the song “Twinkly-doodle-dum” to Zachary Hudson (1979). Zachary said he was told this song is a Newfoundlander tune. But Zachary has only heard it from his father.
Zachary’s version sounded like this:
There once was a fisherman who sailed out from Pimbeco,
To catch the great marlin and the bold mackerel.
When he sailed out from Pimbeco the stormy seas did fiercely blow.
His little boat went wiggle-waggle and he fell overboard.
Twinky-doodle-dum, twinky-doodle-dum,
Was the highly interesting song he sung.
Twinky-doodle-dum, twinky-doodle-dum,
Sang the bald fisherman.
He wiggled and he wiggled in the water so briny-oh,
He helloed and bellowed but alas, no avail.
Then finally he did glide to the bottom of the silvery tide,
But previous to this he cried, “Fare-thee-well, Mary Jane.”
Twinky-doodle-dum, twinky-doodle-dum,
Was the highly interesting song he sung.
Twinky-doodle-dum, twinky-doodle-dum,
Sang the bald fisherman.
Zachary did not know the origin of this song. So, I started to do my research and found out this song was written and composed by G.W. Hunt.
GEORGE WILLIAM HUNT
G.W. Hunt was a prolific composer of music hall songs, most notably MacDermott's War Song, Dear Old Pals and Up In A Balloon, both made successful by George Leybourne and Nelly Power.
THE SONGS THAT G. W. HUNT composed:
A SOLDIER'S BRIDE; A GOOD JOB TOO; SERVE HIM RIGHT; AM I RIGHT OR ANY OTHER MAN? ANGELINA BROWN; THE AUCTIONEER'S DAUGHTER; AWFULLY AWFUL; AWFULLY CLEVER; THE BELLE OF THE BALL; BELL GOES A-RINGING FOR SARRAH; BILLY JOHNSON'S BALL; BLIND MAN'S BUFF; BLOOMSBURY SQUARE; BROWN THE TRAGEDIAN; CAPTAIN CUFF; CERULA THE BEAUTIFUL; CHARMING ARABELLA; COOK'S EXCURSION; THE CUSTOM OF THE COUNTRY; DEAR OLD PALS; DOCTOR'S BOY; DON'T MAKE A NOISE OR ELSE YOU'LL WAKE THE BABY; DOWN AMONG THE COALS; THE DUTCH CLOCK MAN; FELLOW THAT LOOKS LIKE ME; GOLD! GOLD! GOLD! GONE TO SMASH; I ALWAYS TAKE IT EASY; JOE'S BIRTHDAY; JOHNNY THE ENGINE DRIVER; THE LONDON, CHATHAM AND DOVER; MACDERMOTT'S WAR SONG; MAJOR K. N. PEPPER; OLD BROWN'S DAUGHTER; ON THE CONTINONG; POLLY CROW; POLLY DARLING; POOR CHINEE; ROLLING ON THE GRASS; SHE DOES THE FANDANGO; SOURKRAUT'S RETURN; SUGAR SHOP; TIMID LOVE; TURN THE MANGLE JOE; THE FRENCHMAN; THE GAL FROM PENNSYLVANIA; THE GERMAN BAND; THE PIANO GIRL; THE ORGAN GRINDER; THE ALPINE HAT; THE NAUTICAL SWELL ; THE NICE LOOKING GIRL; UP IN A BALLOON; WAIT TILL MY SHIP COMES HOME; WHEN THE BAND BEGINS TO PLAY; ZAZEL
From website:
http://www.themusichallguild.com/artist.php?id=258
https://books.google.com/books?id=8do-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA35&dq=the+bold+fisherman+ballad&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjKxKnVuO3JAhWHuB4KHQQvCIwQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=the%20bold%20fisherman%20ballad&f=false
Written and composed by G. W. Hunt
Performed by George Leybourne (1842-1884)
From monologues.co.uk Music Hall Lyrics Collection
https://books.google.com/books?id=abAQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA53&dq=dinkle+doodle&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7trzkzO3JAhWDGx4KHdDLDjUQ6AEILzAB#v=onepage&q=dinkle%20doodle&f=false сама песня с нотами
Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum we call Musical Onomatopoeia. “Some musical onomatopoeia is associated with specific music instruments — the twang of a banjo or guitar, for example, or oompah for a tuba, or plunk for a keyboard. Others imitate a metallic sound, and these often end in ng: ting, ding, ring, ping, clang, bong, brrrring, jingle, and jangle. Then there are some that clearly evoke wind instruments, like blare, honk, and toot; and another group that seem percussive, like rap, tap, boom, rattle, and plunk. A person making music without an instrument might hum or clap or snap. From: https://kh057.k12.sd.us/onomatopoeia%20examples.htm)
Original text of the “Bald Fisherman” by G.W. Hunt:
There was once a bold Fisherman,
Who sailed forth from Billingsgate,
To catch the mild bloater
And the gay mackerel,
But when he arrove off Pimlico,
The wind it did begin to blow.
And his little boat it wibble-wobbled so,
That slick overboard he fell.
CHANT: All among the Conger eels, and the Dover soles, and the kippered herrings, and the Dutch plaice, and the Whitebait, and the Blackbait, and the Tittlebats and the Brickbats—
Chorus: Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,
That's the highly interesting song he sung,
Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,
Oh! the bold fisherman.
First he wriggled, then he striggled,
In the water so briny;
He bellowed, and he yellowed
Out for help, but in vain;
Then down did he gently glide,
To the bottom of the silv'ry tide,
But previously to that he cried,
"Farewell, Mary Jane."
CHANT: On arriving at the terra firma, at the bottom of the aqua pura he took a cough lozenge, and murmured,
Chorus: Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,
That's the refrain of the gentle song he sung,
Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,
Said the bold fisherman.
His ghost walked that night
To the bedside of his Mary Jane,
He told her how dead he was;
Then says she, "I'll go mad.
For since my love's dead," says she,
"All joy from me's fled," says she,
"I'll go a raving luniack," says she,
And she went, very bad.
CHANT: She thereupon tore her best chignon to smithereens, danced the "Can-can" on top of the water-butt, and joined "the woman's rights association," and frequently edifies the angelic members by softly chanting,
Chorus: Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,
That's the kind of soul-inspiring song she sung,
Dinkle doodle dum, dinkle doodle dum,
Oh! the bold fisherman.
“We have long had "There was a bold Fisherman..." in my family as a song to sing to babies when bouncing them on the knee. In fact I sing it to my baby son most days just now, as it is a brilliant song for bringing the wind up and a lot of fun too.
It was a pleasure to find it on the internet as a known song.
We know that it goes back at least 4 generations in our Anglo-Australian family as my father remembers his grandfather Aaron Blashki of Australia singing it to him as a child.
Our version is slightly different:
"There was a bold Fisherman who sailed forth from Billingsgate,
(ACTION swaying baby gently side to side all the time)
to catch the fine bloater and the gay mackerel,
but when he go to Pimlico,
then the wind it did begin to blow (ACTION blow babies hair)
and the little boat wibble-wobbled so, (ACTION wobble baby here!)
that OVERBOARD he did go... (ACTION here suddenly let baby fall between your knees and catch him)
'midst the blue-bait and the yellow-bait and the grey-bait and the white-bait (HERE the singer can improvise any number of colours of -bait as they want)
...and the grey mackerel
singing "Dinky-doodle-dum, Dinky-doodle-dum"
that's what the bold fisherman sang.
"Dinky-doodle-dum", sang the bold fisherman."
Note:
The curious reference to Pimlico (which is a land-locked part of central London) had always seemed to me to be my great-grandfather's little joke, however following the post by Abby Sale on folkinfo.org, I got out an old atlas and looked up Pimbeco.
Pimbeco appears not to exist as a placename. However there IS a Pimlico in New South Wales, Australia, on the coast, North of Sydney near Ballina.
On the web site of the TRAILERBOAT FISHERMAN boating magazine it says:
"Pimlico Island (near Ballina) produces top fishing and is as successful from the bank, reachable only by boat. Whiting, flathead, bream and mulloway (school) are all caught here."
At last "Pimlico" in the song makes perfect sense!
As for "Billingsgate" - well, that must have been my great grandfather Blashki's joke, I guess, as he would certainly have known of both "Pimlico"s.
Jonathan from the website:
http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/forum/60.html
Again, this song belongs to G.W.Hunt. It is not folk song.
Written and composed by G. W. Hunt
Performed by George Leybourne (1842-1884)
From monologues.co.uk Music Hall Lyrics Collection
The song with notes can be found here:
https://books.google.com/books?id=abAQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA53&dq=dinkle+doodle&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7trzkzO3JAhWDGx4KHdDLDjUQ6AEILzAB#v=onepage&q=dinkle%20doodle&f=false
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