"A Little Bit of Cucumber" is a
cockney
Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...
music hall song, written by T. W. Conner for the comedian and singer
Harry Champion, who first performed it in 1915; it was published by
Francis, Day & Hunter Ltd. the same year. The song is about the joys of certain types of food, which were popular at the time with the cockney
working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...
community of
East London; the words have also long been seen as containing a
double entendre
A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...
.
The song is intended to be sung at a fast
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
. The lyrics centre around the culinary preferences of the working-classes including
cucumbers; the vegetable is then compared to other types of food, but by the end of the song the cucumber is affirmed to be the preferable delicacy. It was the second song adopted into Champion's repertoire which centred on food, the first being "
Boiled Beef and Carrots" in 1909.
[''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd edition, vol. VIII, p. 471.]
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Bit of Cucumber
Music hall songs
Songs about plants
1915 songs