Good Ship Kangaroo, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer goes to sea on the Kangaroo. His sweetheart gives him a token to remember her by. On his return home, he learns the she has run off with another man. He vows to go to a foreign shore and "throw [him]self away" on a foreign girl
AUTHOR: Harry Clifton (source: FolkSongAndMusicHall)
EARLIEST DATE: 1865 (BishopBuckleysComicSongs)
KEYWORDS: love separation sailor return infidelity
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber)) Ireland Australia
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Greig/Duncan6 1211, "On Board of the Kangaroo" (5 texts, 3 tunes)
OCroinin/Cronin-TheSongsOfElizabethCronin 109, "On Board the Kangaroo" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hugill-ShantiesFromTheSevenSeas, pp. 473-476, "Aboard the Kangaroo," "On Board the Kangaroo" (2 texts, 2 tunes) [AbEd, pp. 351-353]
Meredith/Anderson-FolkSongsOfAustralia, p. 60, "Aboard of the Kangaroo" (1 text, 1 tune)
BishopBuckleysComicSongs, pp. 4-5, "On Board of the Kangaroo" (1 text)
FolkSongAndMusicHall, "On board o' the Kangaroo"
DT, SHPKNGR*
Roud #925
RECORDINGS:
Elizabeth Cronin, "On Board the Kangaroo" (on IRECronin01)
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.22(95)[some words illegible], "On Board of the Kangaroo" ("Once I was a waterman, and lived at home in ease"), H. Disley (London), 1860-1883; also Harding B 11(2845), "On Board of the Kangaroo"; Firth c.12(365), 2806 c.14(48), "On Board of the 'Kangaroo'"
NLScotland, L.C.Fol.178.A.2(087), "On Board the 'Kangaroo,'" unknown, c.1875
NOTES [347 words]: According to Peter Davison, Songs of The British Music Hall, Oak, 1971, pp. 28-29, Harry Clifton (1824-1872) was a British music hall performer who wrote more than 500 songs. Davison, p. 28, describes his "handsome but rather parsonical countenance"; although he worked in music halls, he managed to also perform in more upscale settings. Many of his songs used tunes by Charles Coote.
His most famous is said to have been "Pretty Polly Perkins" (the tune of which was also used for "Cushie Butterfield"); Davison also mentions "Paddle Your Own Canoe," "Pulling Hard Against the Stream," "Work, Boys, Work, and Be Contented," "Barclay's Beer," and "The Weepin' Willer" and prints "A Motto for Every Man" (with music by Charles Coote).
In addition, the 1868 sheet music of "The Dark Girl Dressed in Blue" is attributed to Clifton -- but Spaeth-ReadEmAndWeep does not mention his authorship, and there is a broadside which very likely precedes the 1868 publication; it is likely that Clifton modified an existing song. This may be the case with "Paddle Your Own Canoe" also (see the notes to that song).
Few other music hall writers could vie with Clifton in terms of creating songs that were remembered (the only ones that strike me as comparable are R. P. Weston and Bert Lee), and few other sang as many songs that were remembered. To be both the singer and the writer is a rare feat indeed.
Songs thought to be by Clifton that are in the Index include (note that these are the names used in the Index, not necessarily Clifton's titles):
- The Bowl of Green Peas
- The Calico Printer's Clerk
- The Good Ship Kangaroo
- A Motto for Every Man
- Polly Perkins of Paddington Green
- Pulling Hard Against the Stream
- Punctuality
- Shabby Genteel
- The Unfortunate Tailor
- Up a Tree
- Watercresses
- The Waterford Boys
- The Weeping Willer
- Where the Grass Grows Green
Others that may be by, or modified by, Clifton include:
- Bring Back My Johnny to Me
- The Dark Girl Dressed in Blue
- My Rattlin' Oul' Grey Mare
- Paddle Your Own Canoe
- Where There's a Will There's a Way
- RBW
Last updated in version 7.0
File: MA060

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