My Old Man (Said Follow the Van)

My Old Man is an old music hall song written by Fred W. Leigh and Charles Collins, made popular by Marie Lloyd.

The chorus of the song is well-known.

My old man said "Follow the van,

And don't dilly dally^[1] on the way".

Off went the van wiv me 'ome packed in it,

I walked behind wiv me old cock linnet^[2].

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^[3]

An alternative to the fourth line is: "I followed on wiv me old cock linnet"

An alternative to the second to last line is

I stopped on the way to have me old half quarten

"Half quarten" was a slang expression for a measure of spirits (usually Gin) and was equal to 2½ Imperial ounces.

The chorus is the basis of a terrace chant popular among English football fans. The lyrics are changed to My old man said "Be a City fan", sang by Manchester United fans (about Manchester City) and Aston Villa fans (about Birmingham City) among others.

The song also appeared in Lemmings.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Notes and references

^ To dilly dally is to linger
^ Caged song birds were very popular in Victorian and Edwardian England, and the male, or cock, linnet was common. Cock linnet is also cockney rhyming slang for minute
^ My Old Man, lyrics accessed 21 Jan 2007