"My Old Dutch" is an 1892

1892 in music

- Events :*April 28 - Kullervo by Jean Sibelius is premiered.*May 26 - A statue of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, by Werner Stein, is dedicated at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig...

 music hall

Music hall

Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

 and vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 song performed by Albert Chevalier

Albert Chevalier

Albert Onesime Britannicus Gwathveoyd Louis Chevalier was an English comedian and actor.-Early life:Albert Chevalier was born in the Royal Crescent, in London's Notting Hill...

. The lyrics were written by Chevalier, with music composed by his brother Auguste under the name Charles Ingle

Charles Ingle

Charles Ingle was an English composer. Ingle was the brother and manager of performer Albert Chevalier. Ingle was one of six children. He had two brothers, Albert and Bertram; and a sister, Adéle...

. Described as one of Chevalier's most popular works, the song was possibly written as a tribute to Chevalier's wife Florrie.

Background

The song's title refers to a 1880s colloquialism

Colloquialism

A colloquialism is a word or phrase that is common in everyday, unconstrained conversation rather than in formal speech, academic writing, or paralinguistics. Dictionaries often display colloquial words and phrases with the abbreviation colloq. as an identifier...

 for a partner or friend. The phrase has a number of etymologies; two Cockney rhyming slang

Cockney rhyming slang

Rhyming slang is a form of phrase construction in the English language and is especially prevalent in dialectal British English from the East End of London; hence the alternative name, Cockney rhyming slang...

 explanations identify the phrase as coming from "dutch plate" ("mate") or "Duchess of Fife" ("wife"). Chevalier, however, claimed that his wife's face reminded him of the clock face of a Dutch clock.

As with many music hall songs, the lyrics dealt with poverty and social or gender differences. When introducing the song, Chevalier would enter dressed as an elderly Cockney

Cockney

The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...

 man with his elderly partner. They would head towards a workhouse, whereupon the porter would separate them under the sexual segregation law. Chevalier's character would cry out in refusal, "you can't do this to us; we've been together for forty years!" The porter and woman then exited the stage, and Chevalier would begin the song.

Reception

Henry Chance Newton

Henry Chance Newton

Henry Chance Newton was a British author and theatre critic for The Referee magazine.Newton, in conjunction with Richard Butler, wrote libretti for musical comedy under the joint collaborative name of Richard Henry...

 described the song as a "famous domestic monologue". Laura Ormiston Chant

Laura Ormiston Chant

Laura Ormiston Dibbin Chant was an English social reformer and writer.Chant was born on 9 October 1848, in Woollaston, Gloucestershire, the daughter of Francis William Dib­bin , a civil engineer and Sophia Ormiston , who managed a girls institution. Her parents were highly disciplinary and she...

 commented that the song outlined "the finest sentiments of the human heart [...] in a language understood by the people". Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...

 said that the song influenced public taste "towards refinement and purity".

Lyrics

I've got a pal,

A reg'lar out an' outer,

She's a dear good old gal,

I'll tell yer all about 'er.

It's many years since fust we met,

'Er 'air was then as black as jet,

It's whiter now, but she don't fret,

Not my old gall

We've been together now for forty years,

An' it don't seem a day too much,

There ain't a lady livin' in the land

As I'd "swop" for my dear old Dutch.

I calls 'er Sal,

'Er proper name is Sairer,

An' yer may find a gal

As you'd consider fairer.

She ain't a angel — she can start

A-jawin' till it makes yer smart,

She's just a woman, bless 'er eart,

Is my old gal!

We've been together now for forty years,

An' it don't seem a day too much,

There ain't a lady livin' in the land

As I'd "swop" for my dear old Dutch.

Sweet fine old gal,

For worlds I wouldn't lose 'er,

She's a dear good old gal,

An' that's what made me choose 'er.

She's stuck to me through thick and thin,

When luck was out, when luck was in,

Ah wot a wife to me she's been,

An' wot a pal!

We've been together now for forty years,

An' it don't seem a day too much,

There ain't a lady livin' in the land

As I'd "swop" for my dear old Dutch.

I sees yer Sal —

Yer pretty ribbons sportin'

Many years now, old gal,

Since them young days of courtin'.

I ain't a coward, still I trust

When we've to part, as part we must,

That Death may come and take me fust

To wait... my pal!

We've been together now for forty years,

An' it don't seem a day too much,

There ain't a lady livin' in the land

As I'd "swop" for my dear old Dutch.

Legacy

In his later career, Chevalier performed a dramatised version of the song. In 1915, a film version was produced which starred Chevalier and Florence Turner

Florence Turner

Florence Turner was an American actress, who became known as the "Vitagraph Girl" in early silent films.Born in New York City, she was pushed into appearing on the stage at age three by her ambitious mother...

. In 1926, a remake of the film was directed by Universal's

Universal Studios

Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

 Laurence Trimble

Laurence Trimble

Laurence Trimble was an American silent film actor, writer and director. Trimble began his career as an actor in the 1910 silent Saved by the Flag. He made 100 silent films between 1908 and 1926...

. Turner attended a screen test

Screen test

A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a camera to see if they are suitable...

, but the lead role was given to May McAvoy

May McAvoy

May McAvoy was an American actress, who worked mainly during the silent film era. She starred in Hollywood's revolutionary part talking film, The Jazz Singer.-Career:...

. A third film based on the song was released in 1934, which was written by Arthur Shirley and directed by Sinclair Hill

Sinclair Hill

Sinclair Hill was a British film director and screenwriter. He directed nearly fifty films between 1920 and 1939. He was born as George Sinclair-Hill in London in 1894...

.