Songs, sketches and monologues of Dan Leno
# Songs, sketches and monologues of Dan Leno

Dan Leno (20 December 1860 – 31 October 1904) was an English comedian and stage actor, famous for appearing in music hall, comic plays, pantomimes, Victorian burlesques and musical comedies, during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. He originated and popularised many songs, sketches and monologues in his music hall acts and made both sound and visual recordings of some of his work shortly before he died. Although brief, Leno's recording period (1901–1903) produced around thirty recordings on one-sided shellac discs using the early acoustic recording process. They were released by the Gramophone and Typewriter Company, one of the early recording companies, which became the parent organisation for the His Master's Voice (HMV) label.

Before Leno's recording debut, music hall comedian Harry Bluff had recorded a number of Leno's songs, which were marketed by the Edison Bell Company in London in 1898. Leno was initially reluctant to adopt the new medium of sound recording, but he was eventually enticed into the studio with a lucrative commission of one shilling (£4.15 in 2012) per dozen discs sold. His records sold for five shillings each (£20.75 in 2012) and ran for three minutes. Some of the recorded songs differed from Leno's music hall versions by being condensed to incorporate part of the sketch from which the song was taken. It is unknown how many discs were sold, because no record was ever kept of their sales. Despite the success of the recordings and the praise he received from the record distributors, Leno felt uncomfortable in the recording studio. In an interview for Pearson's Magazine in 1903, he stated: "How the dickens can I patter and warble to that thing. Can't a few of you come round and smile and clap a bit?"

In his music hall acts, Leno created characters based on observations mostly about life in London, including shopwalkers, grocer's assistants, beefeaters, huntsmen, racegoers, firemen, fathers, henpecked husbands, garrulous wives, pantomime dames, a police officer, a fireman and a hairdresser. For his London acts, Leno purchased songs from the foremost music hall writers and composers, including Harry King, who wrote many of Leno's early successes, Harry Dacre and Joseph Tabrar. From 1890, George Le Brunn composed the music to many of Leno's songs and sketches, including "The Detective", "My Old Man", "Chimney on Fire", "The Fasting Man", "The Jap", "All Through a Little Piece of Bacon" and "The Detective Camera". Le Brunn also wrote the music for three of Leno's best known sketches that depicted life in everyday occupations: "The Railway Guard" (1890), "The Shopwalker" and The Waiter" (both from 1891). Leno made 14 short films towards the end of his life, most as himself, and four as an actor. He generally portrayed a bumbling buffoon who struggles to carry out everyday tasks, such as riding a bicycle. In An Obstinate Cork (1902), one of Leno's few surviving films, he struggles to pull a cork out of a champagne bottle while on a picnic with his wife Lydia.

## Discography

| Recording number | Title | Year recorded | Issue number | Description |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1066 | "Who Does the House Belong To?" | 1901 | GC–2–2518 | Sketch |
| 1067 | "The Mocking Bird" | 1901 | GC–1204 | Sketch |
| 1082 | "The Tower of London" | 1901 | GC–2435 | Sketch |
| 1084 | "The May Day Fireman" | 1901 | GC–2436 | Sketch |
| 1091 | "Where Are You Going To, My Pretty Maid?" | 1901 | GC–2436 | Song |
| 1092 | "My Wife's Relations" | 1901 | GC–1205 | Monologue |
| 1093 | "The Huntsman" | 1901 | GC–2–2515 | Sketch |
| 1094 | "The Grass Widower" | 1901 | GC–2–2516 | Sketch |
| 1095 | "Clever Mr. Green" | 1901 | GC–2–2517 | Sketch |
| 1096 | "McGlockell's Men" | 1901 | GC–1206 | Sketch |
| 1127 | "Poppies" | 1901 | GC–2–2530 | Song |
| 1128 | "Mrs. Kelly" | 1901 | GC–2–2531 | Sketch |
| 1129 | "The Tower of London" (re-recorded) | 1901 | GC–2435 | Sketch |
| 3222/3 | "The Hard Boiled Egg and the Wasp" | 1903 | GC–2–2807 | Song |
| 3224/5 | "Going to the Races" | 1903 | GC–2–2808 | Monologue |
| 3462/3 | "Spiritualism" | 1903 | GC–1243 | Monologue |
| 3478/9 | "The Shopwalker" | 1903 | GC–2–2830 | Sketch |
| 3480/1 | "The Muffin Man" | 1903 | GC–2–2831 | Song |
| 3484/5 | "Wait Till I'm His Father" | 1903 | GC–2–2832 | Sketch |
| 3486/5 | "The Lecturer" | 1903 | Unissued | Sketch |
| 3487/8 | "The Fortune Teller" | 1903 | GC–2–2854 | Sketch |
| 3489/90 | "The Diamond Ring" | 1903 | GC–2–2833 | Sketch |
| 3491/2 | "The Swimming Master" | 1903 | GC–2–2855 | Sketch |
| 3496/7 | "Dan Leno's Clog Dance" | 1903 | Unissued | Monologue |
| 43–R | "I Am Waiting for Him Tonight" | 1903 | 02006 | Sketch |
| 46–R | "The Robin" | 1903 | 01000 | Monologue |
| 47–R | "Going to the Races" (re-recording) | 1903 | 02001 | Monologue |
| 50–R | "The Huntsman" (re-recording) | 1903 | 02005 | Sketch |
| 23117 | "Young Men Taken In and Done For" | 1903 | Unissued | Sketch |

    Note: Leno's recordings are listed in Gyles Brandreth's 1977 biography, The Funniest Man on Earth: The Story of Dan Leno.

## Unrecorded songs, sketches and monologues

| Year performed | Title | Notes | Description |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1876 | "Pity the Poor Italian Boy" | First performed in Ireland under his stage name The Great Little Leno, the Quintessence of Irish Comedians. | Song |
| 1878 | "Pongo the Monkey" | First presented at Pullan's Theatre of Varieties, Brunswick Place, Bradford. | Sketch |
| 1878 | "Torpedo Bill" | Follow up sketch to Pongo the Monkey, first presented at Pullan's Theatre of Varieties, Brunswick Place, Bradford. | Sketch |
| 1881 | "A Nobleman in Disguise" | Performed alongside The Leno Family at the People's Music Hall in Manchester. | Sketch |
| 1882 | "I'm the Champion Still" | First performed at the Scotia Theatre, Glasgow. | Song |
| 1884 | "Sweet Black Pairs" | Performed during the Christmas pantomime Dick Whittington. | Song |
| 1885 | "Don't Lean Against a House that's Pulled Down" | Written by Leno. First performed at the Parthenon Theatre, Liverpool. | Song |
| 1885 | "Gaffer Goliker" | Written by Leno and first performed at Parthenon Theatre, Liverpool. | Song |
| c.1885 | "When Rafferty Raffled His Watch" | First performed in Leno's London debut. | Song |
| 1886 | "I'm Off to Buy Milk for the Twins" | First performed at the Oxford Theatre, London. | Song |
| 1887 | "It's More Than a Fellow Can Stand" | First performed at the Forester's music hall, London. | Song |
| 1886 | "The Fish Shop" | First performed at the Oxford Theatre, London. | Song |
| 1888 | "Young Men Taken In and Done For" | Written and composed by Harry King. | Song |
| 1888 | "I'll Be Waiting for Him Tonight" | Written by Leno. | Song |
| 1888 | "Has Anyone Seen a Moving Job?" | First monologue, written by Leno. | Song |
| 1888 | "My Old Man" | Composed by George Le Brunn, words by Harry King. | Song |
| 1889 | "The Muffin Man" | Written and composed by Harry King. Leno's first "trade song". | Song |
| 1889 | "Dear Old Mike" | First performed at the Empire Theatre, London. | Song |
| 1890 | "Never More" | Sketch written by Leno based on his early life touring. Leno sung the title song as the character Mr. Girkling. Words by Harry King, music by George Le Brunn. | Sketch |
| 1890 | "Her Mother's at the Bottom of It All" | Written by Leno and sung in the character of Mr. Pipkins. | Song |
| 1890 | "The Railway Guard" | Composed by George Le Brunn. Leno's second "trade song". | Sketch |
| 1890 | "Mother Nature" | Performed during the Christmas pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk. | Song |
| 1891 | "The Shop Walker" | Composed by George Le Brunn, words by Walter de Frece, another "trade song". | Sketch |
| 1891 | "The Waiter" | Trade song, composed by George Le Brunn. | Sketch |
| 1891 | "The Grass Widower" | Composed by J.H. Woodhouse. | Sketch |
| 1892 | "All Through a Little Piece of Bacon" | Composed by George Le Brunn. | Song |
| 1892 | "Chimney on Fire" | Composed by George Le Brunn. | Song |
| 1892 | "The Detective" | Composed by George Le Brunn. | Sketch |
| 1892 | "The Detective Camera" | Composed by George Le Brunn. | Song |
| 1892 | "The Fasting Man" | Composed by George Le Brunn. | Song |
| 1893 | "The Doctor" | Featuring Leno's character Dr. McFabback. | Sketch |
| 1893 | "The Recruiting Sergeant" | Words by Harry Wright, music by Fred Eplett. Leno performed as the character Sergeant Smirks. | Sketch |
| 1893 | "The Midnight March" | Performed during the production Little Bo-Peep, Little Red Riding Hood and Hop O' My Thumb. | Song |
| 1893 | "My Sweet Face" | Written and composed by Herbert Darnley for the Christmas pantomime Robinson Crusoe. | Song |
| 1895 | "Mary Anne's Refused Me" | Written by Leno about how to avoid marriage. | Sketch |
| 1897 | "Courting the Widow" | Written by Leno for his American audiences. | Song |
| 1897 | "The Horseshoe on the Door" | Written by Leno for his American audiences. | Song |
| 1897 | "The North Pole" | Written by Leno for his American audiences. | Song |
| 1897 | "Our Nineteenth Century Stores" | Sung in the style of Leno's inspiration Joseph Grimaldi. Leno dedicated this song to him. | Song |
| 1898 | "I'll Marry Him" | Featuring Leno's character Mrs. Kelly. | Song |
| 1898 | "The Swimming Instructor" | Written by Leno. Later recorded as "The Swimming Master" in 1903. | Song |
| 1898 | "The Beefeater" | Written by Leno. Capitalising on the success of this, Leno recorded "Tower of London" in 1901. | Sketch |
| 1899 | "The Diamond Ring" | Written by Leno about a manual worker who came into a lot of money. Later recorded in 1903. | Song |
| c.1899 | "The Jap" | Composed by George Le Brunn. | Sketch |
| c.1899 | "McFarlane's Men" | Written by Leno about Scotland. | Song |
| 1899 | "The Red Poppies" | Written by Leno. Later recorded as "Poppies" in 1901. | Sketch |
| 1899 | "The Bandit" | First performed at the London Pavilion. | Song |
| 1899 | "The Red Robin" | Written by Leno. Later recorded as "The Robin" in 1903. | Monologue |
| 1899 | "The Funny Little Nigger" | Performed on a single occasion at the London Pavilion as part of the Doo-da-Day Minstrels; an act composed of Johnny Danvers, Herbert Campbell, Bransby Williams, Joe Elvin, Eugene Stratton, Fred McNaughton and Harry Randall. | Song |
| 1900 | "The Huntsman" | The last of his "trade songs", performed at the Empire Theatre, London. | Sketch |
| 1901 | "My Wife's Relations" | Written by Leno about his family. | Monologue |
| 1902 | "The Wasp and the Hardboiled Egg" | Written by Leno, performed during Mother Goose in 1903. Inspired by "The Honeysuckle and the Bee" as performed by Ellaline Terriss. | Song |
| 1904 | "The Widow with Memories of Friday Nights" | First performed at the London Pavilion. | Song |
