Down At The Old Bull And Bush Song Lyrics And Guitar Chords

The Easy ukulele chords are included for version in D plus the 5 string banjo chords in the same key of D Major. Music composed by Harry von Tilzer; lyrics by Andrew B. Sterling sung by Florrie Forde. Also recorded for The Muppet Show. An English music hall song written around 1905. Guitar chords are suitable for the mandolin / banjo. My Old Man Said Follow The Van Song is also is also in the same tradition as being a music hall song.​Down at the old bull and bush sheet music with tin whistle notes included.

Easy Guitar Chords Key of D Major
[D]Talk about the shade of the [G]sheltering palm
[A]Praise the bamboo tree
with it's [D]wide spreading charm,
[D]There's a little nook
down near [G]old Hampstead Town,
You [A]know the place it has one great renown,
[D]Often with my sweetheart on a [G]bright Summers day,
To [A]the little pub there my [D]footsteps will stray,
[D]If she hesitates when she [G]looks at the [A]sign,
Promptly I whisper, [A7]"Now do not decline."

[D]Come, come, come and make eyes at me
[A]down at the Old Bull and Bush,
Da, da, da, da, da,
[A]Come, come, drink some port wine with me,
[G]Down at the Old Bull and [D]Bush,
[D]Hear the little German Band,
Da, da, da, da, da,
Just let me[G] hold your hand [D]dear,
[D]Do, do come and have a drink or two
[A]down at the Old Bull and [D]Bush.

Down at the old bull and bush sheet music with tin whistle notes

An Old English music hall

​Down at the old bull and bush guitar tab and chords

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Down at the old bull and bush lyrics

The gramophone record was beginning to be treated as more than just a toy by the late 1890s and it was fortunately able to capture many of the songs and patter of some of our most famous (and not so well-known) music hall performers. Unfortunately several of these stars and their managers or agents were suspicious of the new medium, mistakenly thinking that the public would no longer turn out to see their favourites in the flesh if they could hear them on disc.
The 1850s were the formative years for music hall as we know it. From its origins in pubs, taverns and supper rooms it progressed (due mainly to the introduction of stringent safety regulations in 1878) to the larger but less intimate atmosphere of Theatres, Palaces, Hippodromes and the like under the control of powerful managers like Edward Moss and Oswald Stoll. The golden age of music hall was already in the throes of its existence by the time of the first Royal Command Variety Performance in 1912 at the London Palladium. Glaringly absent from this bill were Marie Lloyd and Albert Chevalier to name just two omissions I which were the topic of considerable comment at the time. The introduction of ragtime and the increasing popularity of revue, to say nothing of the Great War all hastened the inevitable demise of music hall. Those artists who couldn't adapt opted out of the scene, in later years often appearing with conspicuous success in various revival shows ranging from the "Veterans Of Variety" presentations of 1922 through to Don Ross's fondly-remembered "Thanks For The Memory" shows which ran intermittently for some years from February 1948.

Here then are 23 selections by a collection of well-loved artists, nearly all performers who had established themselves during the heyday of the halls.
Mark Sheridan (1867-1918) was one of a small band of comedians who deliberately wore a ludicrous garb. In his case it comprised a tall black top hat, tight coat and absurd bell- bottom trousers. His great song successes included "I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside" and "Who Were You With Last Night?". Despite his continuing popularity, it appears that he took his own life in a public park the day after opening in revue at the Glasgow Coliseum,

Another music hall star who met an untimely end was Harry Fragson (1869-1913). Anglo-French entertainer known as "The Entente Cordiale Singer". Although born in Richmond, Surrey he achieved his greatest triumphs in France where he ranked with the greatest French comedians of the time. His infatuation with a pretty young dancer from Marseilles aroused feelings of blind jealousy in his elderly father who shared his Paris flat, and in a fit of rage the old man shot him in the head on December 30th 1913. Fragson's greatest song "Hello! Hello! Who's Your Lady Friend?" was considered important enough to include here despite sounding as if it was recorded during a hailstorm! The original Pathe disc, recorded using the "hill and dale" system, starts in the centre and ends on the outside edge of the record.

It is generally accepted that the two brightest stars in the history of music hall were Dan Leno and Marie Lloyd. Of the two, the reputation of Dan Leno (1860-1904) has fared less well as by the time of his recordings (1901 and 1903) he was sadly past the peak of his powers and one has to rely on contemporary accounts to appreciate the full measure of his indisputable genius. Even so, his"Beefeater" sketch conveys a surprisingly zany humour which wouldn't have been out of place over half a century later. Much has been written about Marie Lloyd (1870-1922). "The Queen Of The Halls" and the legend justifiably persists. Lauded by many. including leading poet and dramatist T.S. Eliot, Marie recorded surprisingly little. Among the glaring omissions in her record listings are "Oh.Mr. Porter", "Don't Dilly Dally On The Way" and "One Of The Ruins That Cromwell Knocked About A Bit". A star from her teens, one can now only guess at the sheer delight of audiences present at her 1890s pantomime appearances alongside Dan Leno, Herbert Campbell and Little Tich.

Harry Relph alias Little Tich (1867-1928) is nowadays best remembered for wearing very long pointed boots which he could use like stilts and also lean over at a startling angle. In addition the slang word "titch", derived from Little Tich has entered common usage in describing per- sons of a small stature. Aside from all this, Little Tich was by all accounts a comic genius in his lifelike characterisations combined with his dancing, acrobatic and mime skills. He was lionised and respected in America and France as well as in Britain.

Albert Chevalier (1861-1923) was virtu- ally unique in successfully crossing over from the legitimate theatre to the halls. Although frequently billed as "The Coster Laureate", his on-stage Cockney portraits frequently bordered on the mawkish and were from the standpoint of an outsider. But, often in collaboration with his brother and manager Charles Ingle, he wrote some great songs like "The Future Mrs. "Awkins", "Knocked 'em In The Old Kent Road" and of course "My Old Dutch".
Shoreditch-born Cockney comedian Harry Champion (1866-1942) was renowned for his quick-fire patter and songs which he belted out with great aplomb. His best-known offerings were "Any Old Iron", "Boiled Beef And Carrots" and "I'm Henery The Eighth".

Time has dealt kindly with the reputation of Gus Elen (1862-1940) who now emerges as probably the greatest of the select band of coster comedians. Elen lived his characterisations and this sincerity comes across the years. We are indeed fortunate that he re-recorded several of his best-known songs, his powers undiminished, in his seventieth year.
Popular Northern dialect comedians in- cluded Morny Cash, Jack Pleasants and George Formby Senior. Jack Pleasants (1874-1923) hailed from Yorkshire and was known as the "shy" comedian. A popular pantomime attraction, his best-known songs were "I'm Twenty- One Today" and "I'm Shy, Mary Ellen, I'm Shy". George Formby Senior (1877-1921), also a great pantomime star, came from Lancashire and was the first Northern dialect comedian to gain popularity in the South. Ludicrously referred to as "The Wigan Nightingale", he deliberately epitomised the gormless Northerner and was the victim of a hacking. bronchial cough which he passed off as a gimmick. But it was the cough which finally carried him off at the age of 44.
"Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me A Bow-Wow" and "Waiting At The Church" are two ever- greens which regularly crop up even today. They are amongst the most famous numbers introduced by Vesta Victoria (1874-1951), one of the earliest deadpan comediennes who specialised in songs where she was the subject of ridicule or misfortune. "Look What Percy's Picked Up In The Park" is a typical example.

Unlike many stars of the music hall, Billy Williams (1878-1915). "The Man In The Velvet Suit" didn't shun the gramophone and recorded prolifically during his short career. Born in Melbourne, he arrived in England in 1900 and soon became a firm favourite with his clear diction and infectious laugh. "When Father Papered The Parlour" was his best-known song but there were plenty of others of merit, including "Little Willie's Woodbines". Fellow Antipodean Florrie Forde (1876-1940), also a prolific recording artist, was initially known as "The Australian Marie Lloyd". A firm favourite in Britain for over forty years, she would give lusty voice to her infectious songs whilst patrolling up and down the stage, keeping time with her jewelled stick. Foremost amongst her formidably impressive list of popular chorus songs is the immortal "Down At The Old Bull And Bush".

By general consensus, the greatest male impersonator on the halls was Vesta Tilley (1864-1952). On stage from the age of four she enjoyed an uninterrupted series of triumphs right up to her retirement in 1920. Her swan song was the number "Jolly Good Luck To The Girl Who Loves A Soldier". By this time, on account of her husband's knighthood the previous year, she had become Lady de Frece.

The song that most strongly conjures up almost everyone's picture of the male impersonator must surely be "Burlington Bertie From Bow", introduced by American-born Ella Shields (1879-1952) in 1914. It was written by her husband William Hargreaves (whom she divorced in 1923) and such was its popularity that she made six commercial recordings of this song over the years. With her clear diction and compelling stage presence it helped sustain her career to the very end and was the last number she sang at a Morecambe holiday camp two days before her death. As the bandleader Nat Younkman recalled, she was obviously in distress during her turn and when it came to the final number, instead of beginning the song with the usual "I'm Bert" she said "Yes, I was Burlington Bertie." Five minutes after her performance she became unconscious and remained so to the end.
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Our third great male impersonator is Hetty King (1883-1972), more brash in her character studies than the other two, her act being based on her painstakingly detailed observations of the real thing. Two of her greatest hits were "Piccadilly" and "Ship Ahoy!" (also known as "All The Nice Girls Love A Sailor"). In the year of her death she had been before the public for a remarkable 75 years
.
George Robey (1869-1954). "The Prime Minister Of Mirth" was that most versatile of music hall comedians who readily adapted to new developments as they came along. These included revue, film appearances, radio and television. In later years he also distinguished himself in the legitimate theatre. Like Mark Sheridan, he usually wore an eccentric stage costume-in his case it comprised a bowler hat and frock coat, and he carried a small cane. Most striking of all however were the heavily accentuated eyebrows. The Queen honoured him with a knighthood in 1954, just eleven months before his death.

The very popular double act Clarice Mayne (1886-1966) and James W. Tate (1876-1922) alias "That" became man and wife in 1912. She was radiantly beautiful; he was avuncular, squat and wore a monocle. James W. Tate acted as his wife's accompanist and wrote many fine songs, among them "Broken Doll" and "I Was A Good Little Girl Till I Met You". A younger sister was the distinguished soprano Maggie Teyte (the spelling of her sumame being amended from Tate). After James W. Tate's death, Clarice Mayne continued to appear in pantomime, variety, revue and straight plays until her retire- ment in 1942. In 1934 she married again, her second husband being Teddy Knox of Nervo and Knox.
Sir Harry Lauder (1870-1950), the first music hall star to receive a knighthood was also the first Scottish comedian to make the big time in England. Blessed with a fine singing voice and great charisma, Lauder was also a canny businessman with a meticulously thought out and well-honed act. His tuneful, lilting songs included such numbers as "I Love A Lassie", "Keep Right On To The End Of The Road" and "Roamin' In The Gloamin"". The other prominent Scottish comedian featured in this collection is Will Fyffe (1885-1947) who only turned to the halls after a number of sketches he had submitted to Harry Lauder and others were turned down. He was also a first-rate character actor, having served an invaluable