On the Benches in the Park

DESCRIPTION: "If I were a night policeman, You may bet I'd have a lark, Watching all the spooning couples On the benches in the park."
AUTHOR: unknown (see NOTES)
EARLIEST DATE: 1983 (Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood)
KEYWORDS: courting police
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, p. 23, "If I were a night policeman" (1 short text)
Roud #25349
NOTES [178 words]: Edith Fowke, in her notes to Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, says that an American singer, R. G. Knowles, wrote a song "On the Benches in the Park." Knowles (1857-1919) did indeed sing such a song -- but it's not this. The song does not mention any night policeman; it begins as follows:
On a Summer's evening when the sun goes down
And you're tired of strolling around the town
Seeking recreation ere the day grows dark
Go and watch the babies playing on the benches in the Park.
Chorus:
On the benches in the Park, children love to play
Sweet little girls, with their bright sunny curls
And cheeks like the dawn of a mid-summer day
Maiden shy and bashful youth, come each night to spark
The man in the moon watches them while they spoon
On the benches in the Park.
What is more, the song was sung by Knowles, but the sheet music in the New York Public Library digital collection credits both words and music to James Thornton.
I would not be surprised if the Thornton/Knowles song inspired Alice Kane's fragment, but without a tune, we can't really know. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: KSUC023C

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