Ask a P'liceman

"Ask a P'liceman"
Cover of sheet music
Song by James Fawn
Published1888
Composer(s)A. E. Durandeau
Lyricist(s)E. W. Rogers

"Ask a P'liceman" (sometimes given as "If You Want to Know the Time Ask a Policeman") is a music hall song. It was first performed in 1888 by English comedian James Fawn and was written by Edward William Rogers (1864–1913) and Augustus Edward Durandeau (1848–1893).[1]

Fawn was known as one of the best comedic impersonators of a drunken person. The song was "filled with references that reflected the Victorian working-class mistrust of the officers of the law",[2] and made fun of the frequent claim that, if arrested for drunkenness, one's pocket watch was likely to go missing at the police station,[3] with the line "Every member of the force / Has a watch and chain, of course." The sheet music of the song reportedly sold some half a million copies within three years of its publication.[1]

The song's title was used for Will Hay's 1939 comedy film Ask a Policeman.

References

  1. ^ a b Richard Anthony Baker, British Music Hall: an illustrated history, Pen & Sword, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78383-118-0, p.41
  2. ^ Richard Jones, "If You Want to Know the Time Ask A Policeman", Jack the Ripper Tour, 22 March 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2020
  3. ^ "James Fawn (1850-1923)", Monologues.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2020


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