"Abdul Abulbul Amir" is a poem written in 1877 (during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)) by Percy French and later set to music. It tells the story of two valiant heroes — a Russian, Ivan Skavinsky Skavar, and one of the Shah's mameluke

Mamluk

A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...

s, Abdul Abulbul Amir — who because of their pride end up in a fight and kill each other. The poem inspired an MGM

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

 cartoon in the 1940s and a series of beer ads by Whitbread

Whitbread

Whitbread PLC is a global hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company headquartered in Dunstable, United Kingdom. Its largest division is Premier Inn, which is the largest hotel brand in the UK with around 580 hotels and over 40,000 rooms. Its Costa Coffee chain has around 1,600 stores across 25...

 in the 1980s.

Frank Crumit

Frank Crumit

Frank Crumit was an American singer, composer. radio entertainer and vaudeville star. He shared his radio programs with his wife, Julia Sanderson, and the two were sometimes called "the ideal couple of the air."...

, 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".

Lyrics

Lyrics as recorded in The New Harvard Songbook (1896)

The sons of the Prophet Muhammad Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...  were hardy and bold And quite unaccustom'd to fear. But the bravest of all, at least so I am told— Was Abdullah Bul Bul Ameer. If you wanted a man to encourage the van Or to harass the foe from the rear Or to storm a redoubt, you had but to shout For Abdullah Bul Bul Ameer There were heroes in plenty, good men known to fame In the army then led by the Czar Tsar Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism... . But none of more fame than a man by the name Of Ivan Petrovski Skivar. He could imitate Irving Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as... , tell fortunes with cards He could play on the Spanish guitar In fact quite the cream of the Muscovite team Was Ivan Petrovski Skivar. One day this bold Russian Russians The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....  had shouldered his gun, And with his most cynical sneer, Was looking for fun when he happened to run Upon Abdullah Bul Bul Ameer. "Young man," said Bul Bul,"is existence so dull That you're anxious to end your career? For, infidel Infidel An infidel is one who has no religious beliefs, or who doubts or rejects the central tenets of a particular religion – especially in reference to Christianity or Islam.... , know you have trod on the toe Of Abdullah Bul Bul Ameer. "So take your last look upon sunshine and brook. Send your regrets to the Czar. By which I imply you are going to die Mr. Ivan Petrovski Skivar." Then the brave Marmaduke Mamluk A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...  drew his trusty skilbouk. Crying, "Allah, il Allah! Allah Takbir The Takbīr or Tekbir is the Arabic term for the phrase ' . It is usually translated "God is [the] Greatest," or "God is Great". It is a common Islamic Arabic expression... !" And on slaughter intent, he ferociously went For Ivan Petrovski Skivar. On a stone by the banks where the Danube Danube The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....  doth roll, Inscribed in characters clear, Is "Stranger, remember to pray for the soul Of Abdullah Bul Bul Ameer." A Muscovite maiden her sad vigil keeps In her home by the cold Northern Star And the name that she murmurs in vain as she weeps, Is Ivan Petrovski Skivar.

Cartoon

The song was adapted in 1941 into an MGM cartoon, Abdul the Bulbul-Ameer, with Fred Quimby

Fred Quimby

Frederick C. "Fred" Quimby was an American cartoon producer, best known as a producer of Tom and Jerry cartoons, for which he won seven Academy Awards...

 producing and direction by Hugh Harman. Voice acting for the nine minute cartoon was provided by Cliff Nazarro, Harry Stanton

Harry Stanton

Harry Andrew Stanton was a catcher in Major League Baseball. He played one game for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900.-External links:...

, Leon Belasco

Leon Belasco

Leon Belasco was a Russian-American musician and actor who had a 60-year career in film and television from the 1920s to the 1980s, appearing in more than 100 films.-Musical career:Belasco attended St...

 and Hans Conried

Hans Conried

Hans Georg Conried, Jr. was an American comedian, character actor and voice actor.-Early years:He was born on April 15, 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland to Hans Georg Conried, Sr. and Edith Beyr Gildersleeve. His mother was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna,...

, while Frank Crumit wrote new lyrics. It features caricatures of Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx

Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...

, Lou Costello

Lou Costello

Louis Francis "Lou" Costello was an American actor and comedian best known as half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott...

 and Al Ritz as news reporters. In this version, Abdul is depicted as a bully who picks on Ivan's dwarf friend, provoking Ivan into treading on the Turk's toe. He has many traits of 1930s and 1940s cartoon villains

Villain

A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...

, such as Bluto

Bluto

Bluto is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his Thimble Theatre comic strip . Bluto made his first appearance September 12 of that year...

, including thick lips, a beard and a big belly. There is a brief swordfight, which soon changes into a brawl, that ends with Ivan and Abdul literally "out cold". The more positive portrayal of the Russians could have been due to the newly formed alliance between Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and the USSR

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 following Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

 in the year of the cartoon's production and release.

Commercial

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, because they had forgotten that "the best best needs no etiquette". The commercials starred Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry

Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...

 as Ivan, Tony Cosmo as Abdul, Tim McInnerny

Tim McInnerny

Tim McInnerny is an English actor. He is known for his role as Percy in Blackadder and Blackadder II, and as Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth...

 and Roy Castle

Roy Castle

Roy Castle OBE was an English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician. He attended Honley High School, where there is now a building in his name...

, and were directed by Paul Weiland

Paul Weiland

Paul Weiland is an English motion picture and television director, writer and producer. Weiland is one of Britain's most successful directors and producers of television commercials having made over 500 commercials, including a popular and long-running series for Walkers crisps...

.

Pop Culture

In the Star Trek The Next Generation Episode Brothers the Character Lore is heard singing two slightly altered verses of the song, saying afterwards "I've always loved that old ditty".

Author Steven Millhauser

Steven Millhauser

Steven Millhauser is an American novelist and short story writer. He won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel Martin Dressler. The prize brought many of his older books back into print.-Life and career:...

, winner of the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, used a variation of the song in his first novel Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer 1943-1954 By Jeffrey Cartwright.

External links

• OldPoetry.com lyrics and a photo of French
• Koordinatoren lyrics and a MIDI of the tune
• http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Abdul_Abulbul_Amir lyrics and Star Trek reference