My Old Man (Said Follow the Van)

My Old Man is a music hall song. It was written in 1919[1] by Fred W. Leigh and Charles Collins. Marie Lloyd made the song popular.

Chorus

The chorus is known the most:

My old man[2] said "Foller[3] the van,
And don't dilly dally[4] on the way".
Off went the van wiv me 'ome packed in it,
I followed on wiv me old cock linnet.
But I dillied and dallied, dallied and I dillied
Lost me way and don't know where to roam.
Well you can't trust a special like the old time coppers
When you can't find your way 'ome.[5]

References and notes

  1. [1] "The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations" by Elizabeth M. Knowle, 1999
  2. The singer's father or husband
  3. follow
  4. To dilly dally means to linger
  5. My Old Man, lyrics accessed 21 Jan 2007

Other websites