"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]
liceman, sometimes, given, want, know, time, policeman, music, hall, song, first, performed, 1888, english, comedian, james, fawn, written, edward, william, rogers, 1864, 1913, augustus, edward, durandeau, 1848, 1893, song, james, fawnpublished1888composer, du. 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 Ask a P liceman Song by James FawnPublished1888Composer s A E DurandeauLyricist s E W RogersFawn 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 edit a b Richard Anthony Baker British Music Hall an illustrated history Pen amp Sword 2014 ISBN 978 1 78383 118 0 p 41 Richard Jones If You Want to Know the Time Ask A Policeman Jack the Ripper Tour 22 March 2018 Retrieved 2 September 2020 James Fawn 1850 1923 Monologues co uk Retrieved 2 September 2020External links editLyrics at Monologues co uk nbsp This song related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ask a P 27liceman amp oldid 1150720144, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
