The Albert Chevalier song My Old Dutch is a British classic. Chevalier was born in 1861 and was a stalwart of Music Hall. Chevalier was married to the daughter of music hall's original Champagne Charlie George Leybourne.
I mentioned who Chevalier was married to as the dutch in the title refers to his wife, 'dutch' being Cockney rhyming slang for wife, 'duchess of fife' = wife.
I doubt I could write a better entry than this one about Chevalier and the song, so I won't.
The song was written in 1892 by Chevalier and his brother (billed as Charles Ingle), possibly the first song to be made into a film in 1915 and then again in 1926 and 1934, it has been recorded by countless artists, a Peter Sellers' version is excellent.
However we turn to my old friends the Muppets for this version which appeared in the UK edition of The Muppet Show.
So 3 reasons to be cheerful, rhyming slang, a song and the Muppets.
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