"Abdul Abulbul Amir" is a folk song written in 1877 by Percy French and later set to music. It tells the story of two valiant heroes — a Russian and one of the Shah's mamelukes — who because of their pride end up in a fight and kill each other. Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... William Percy French (May 1, 1854–January 24, 1920) was one of Irelands foremost songwriters and entertainers in his day. ... An Ottoman Mamluk, from 1810 Mamluks (or Mameluks) (the Arabic word usually translates as owned, singular: مملوك plural: مماليك) comprised slave soldiers used by the Muslim Caliphs and the Ottoman Empire, and who on more than one occasion seized power for...

Frank Crumit, who was famous for his renditions of it, wrote three sequels: "The Return of Abdul Abulbul Amir", "The Grandson Of Abdul Abulbul Amir", and "Minnie Skavinsky Skavar". Frank Crumit Frank Crumit (September 26, 1889 - September 7, 1943) was a popular United States singer and songwriter. ...

It is said that the song was a favorite of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower redirects here. ...

In the 1980s Whitbread adapted the song using their own lyrics for a series of commercials on British television, suggesting that the two protagonists were great fans of their beer who squabbled over trivialities. This article is about the Whitbread company. ...

Lyrics

Being that it is a folk song, many variations on the lyrics exist. This is a more common variation:

The sons of the Prophet are many and bold
and quite unaccustomed to fear,
But the bravest by far in the ranks of the Shah,
Was Abdul Abulbul Amir.

If you wanted a man to encourage the van,
Or harass the foe from the rear,
Storm fort or redoubt, you had only to shout
for Abdul Abulbul Amir.

Now the heroes were plenty and well known to fame
in the troops that were led by the Tsar,
And the bravest of these was a man by the name
of Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.

One day this bold Russian, he shouldered his gun
and donned his most truculent sneer,
Downtown he did go where he tred on the toe
of Abdul Abulbul Amir.

"Young man," quoth Abdul, "has life grown so dull
That you wish to end your career?
Vile infidel know, you have trod on the toe
Of Abdul Abulbul Amir.

So take your last look upon sunshine and brook
And send your regrets to the Tsar
For by this I imply, you are going to die,
Count Ivan Skavinsky Skavar."

Then this bold Mameluke drew his trusty chibouk,
Singing, "Allah! Il Allah! Al-lah!"
And with murderous intent he ferociously went
for Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.

They parried and thrust, they side-stepped and cussed,
Of blood they spilled a great part,
The philologist blokes, who seldom crack jokes,
Say that hash was first made on the spot.

They fought all that night neath the pale yellow moon;
The din, it was heard from afar,
And huge multitudes came, so great was the fame,
of Abdul and Ivan Skavar.

As Abdul's long knife was extracting the life,
In fact he was shouting, "Huzzah!"
He felt himself struck by that wily Kalmuck,
Count Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.

The Sultan drove by in his red-breasted fly,
Expecting the victor to cheer,
But he only drew nigh to hear the last sigh,
Of Abdul Abulbul Amir.

Tsar Petrovich, too, in his spectacles blue
Rode up in his new crested car.
He arrived just in time to exchange a last line
With Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.

There's a tomb rises up where the Blue Danube rolls,
And graved there in characters clear,
Is, "Stranger, when passing, oh pray for the soul
Of Abdul Abulbul Amir."

A splash in the Black Sea one dark moonless night
Caused ripples to spread wide and far,
It was made by a sack fitting close to the back,
of Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.

A Muscovite maiden her lone vigil keeps,
'Neath the light of the cold northern star,
And the name that she murmurs in vain as she weeps,
is Ivan Skavinsky Skavar. Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Shah is a Persian term for a monarch (king or emperor) that has been adopted in many other languages. ... Monomakhs Cap symbol of Russian autocracy, the crown of Russian grand princes and tsars Czar and tzar redirect here. ... An Ottoman Mamluk, from 1810 Mamluks (or Mameluks) (the Arabic word usually translates as owned, singular: مملوك plural: مماليك) comprised slave soldiers used by the Muslim Caliphs and the Ottoman Empire, and who on more than one occasion seized power for... A CHIBOUK (or Ciunoux or Chibouque) is a long-stemmed Turkish tobacco pipe with a clay bowl, often ornamented with precious stones. ... For other uses, see Allah (disambiguation). ... Philology is the study of ancient texts and languages. ... The Republic of Kalmykia (Russian: Респу́блика Калмы́кия; Kalmyk: Хальм Тангч) is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). ... Sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. ... The Danube (ancient Danuvius, ancient Greek Istros) is the longest river of the European Union and Europes second-longest[3] (after the Volga). ... Map of the Black Sea. ...

In popular culture

• In Follow That Camel, part of the Carry On series of films, Bernard Bresslaw plays the part of Abdul Abulbul, leader of the Riffs.

• In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Brent Spiner's character, the android Lore, sings the first verse of this song in the episode Brothers.

Follow That Camel is the fourteenth Carry On film (and, like its predecessor, does not have the words Carry On in its original title). ... The Carry On films were a long-running series of British popular low-budget comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. ... Bernard Bresslaw (February 25, 1934 - June 11, 1993) was an English actor who was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. ... The title as it appeared in most episodes opening credits. ... Spiner during his time as a member of the Next Generation cast. ... In the fictional Star Trek universe, Lore is the name of a prototype for the android Data, often referred to as his evil brother and was played by the same actor: Brent Spiner. ... Brothers is the title of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, from the fourth season, written by Rick Berman. ...

See also

The plot of the song resembles that of Alexander Pushkin's much shorter poem Delibaş (Russian: Делибаш) written in 1829, and inspired by the Russo–Turkish War (1828–1829). Aleksandr Pushkin was a Russian poet and a founder of modern Russian literature Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Пу́шкин) (June 6 (May 26, O.S... The Russo–Turkish War of 1828–1829 was sparked by the Greeks struggle for independence. ...

External links

• OldPoetry.com lyrics and a photo of French
• Koordinatoren lyrics and a MIDI of the tune
• Memory Alpha lyrics and Star Trek reference
• Immortalia 35th TAC Fighter Wing (1966) Songbook -- minor variant lyrics and pornographic variant