Oops. I take that back

I know about the band, but where did the phrase come from,a poem? Thanks for any help.

In Familiar Quotations by John Bartlett, it is attributed to Noel Coward (1899-1973) from Mad Dogs and Englishmen. The full quote is "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun." I don't know if the phrase is original with Mr. Coward. I thought it was a comment by the natives, who knew how to sensibly deal with the heat.

The full title to the song is "Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen Go Out in the Mid-day Sun."

I was mis-remembering the lyrics from my youth. The title of the clever little patter song actually IS "Mad Dogs and Englishmen." I found a website where you can hear Noel Coward singing it in his inimitable fashion:
members.aol.com/ noelcow2/maddogs.wav
it takes a while to upload, but it's a lot of fun.