All the ladies fell in love with Sandy, for why I don't know, but I'll tell you all about it in a song, folks. Come along with us. Ha, ha, ha.
I heard you. Sandy was a healin' man, quite a dandy healin' man, left his fields at home one night and put some trousers on. To a healin' ball he went, such a lovely time he spent, no mistake about it, Sandy looked a perfect don.
They all danced and played their games as well, Sandy was the big attraction with his charming bell. All the ladies fell in love with Sandy, Sandy seemed to captivate them all, no mistake he looked upon the dandy. At the old golf ball, at hiding the button, then they all played, Sandy thought it just a thing.
When going home that night, Sandy felt his looks a sight, tied up with a little bit of string. Ha, ha, ha, ha. You'll see some more old Sandy.
He did look a sight, too, mother. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Sandy searched upon the ground with the ladies all around, looking for the buttons in the corners everywhere.
Someone let the gas go out, that made all the ladies shout, all the room was dark but Mr. Sandy didn't care. Off his trousers each old button came, and all the pretty ladies there, they seemed to like the game.
For all the ladies fell in love with Sandy, Sandy seemed to captivate them all, no mistake he looked upon the dandy. At the old golf ball, at hiding the button, then they all played, Sandy thought it just a thing. When going home that night, Sandy felt his looks a sight, tied up with a little bit of string.
Ha, ha, ha, ha. That's funny. Ha, ha, ha, ha.
You know what I mean, don't you? Ha, ha, ha. Poor old Sandy had to roam with a lot of ladies home, not a single button on his trousers, too.
Suddenly, oh, what a joke, that one piece of string there broke. One young girl said, Sandy lad, you're looking bad, it's true. Sandy said, I've trouble to the hilt, I've just been thinking, lassie, that I wish I brought my kilt.
For all the ladies fell in love with Sandy, Sandy seemed to captivate them all, no mistake he looked upon the dandy. At the old golf ball, at hiding the button, then they all played, Sandy thought it just a thing. When going home that night, Sandy felt his looks a sight, tied up with a little bit of string.
Come on me lass, all the ladies fell in love with Sandy. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha.
No mistake he looked, ha, ha, ha. At the old golf ball, at hiding the button, then they all played, ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha.
Ha, ha, ha, ha. For all the ladies fell in love with Sandy, Sandy seemed to captivate them all, no mistake he looked upon the dandy. Ha, ha, ha, ha.
He looked a bit of a sight, I'll tell you that.
Transcribed by AI from the recording above. These are noisy hundred-year-old cylinders, so expect misheard words and the occasional invented line — trust your ears over the text.
Audio public domain, courtesy of the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive. Transcript CC BY 4.0. Free to reuse, including commercially, with credit.
Billy Williams 1878–1915
Born Richard Isaac Banks in Melbourne, Williams reached England in 1899 and became, in the years before the First World War, probably the most popular recording artist in the British Empire. From 1906 he was billed as “The Man in the Velvet Suit” and wore one on stage, coming off wringing wet each night. The song everyone knew him for was “When Father Papered the Parlour”. His career peaked around 1912, when he appeared in the first Royal Command Performance; he was taken ill late in 1914 and did not recover from surgery, dying in Sussex in March 1915 at the age of 37.
Written from Wikipedia. Corrections welcome.