Old Bill & Drum
Posted by ESC on January 14, 2000
In Reply to: Old Bill & Drum posted by PAUL MCMAD on January 12, 2000
: I know what they both mean, Old Bill being an officer of the
law, presumably from the London area, and drum being a house, presumably
in the London area. However, I can't get any where in my quest for
their origins.
: Any ideas?
I didn't exactly understand the question, not being British, and
never having heard this expression. But I thought this might help:
OLD BILL - From the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins
(Second Edition, HarperCollins, 1977) by William and Mary Morris:
"The Bill Mauldin of World War I was a British cartoonist named
Bruce Bairnsfather. His most famous cartoon showed a pair of British
infantrymen (very like Mauldin's Willie and Joe) huddled in a shell
hole knee-deep in water. One of the soldiers, Bert, complains of
the inconvenience of their predicament and Old Bill replies, 'If
you know of a better 'ole, go to it.' The cartoon and its creator
became world famous and Old Bill became a household name throughout
the English-speaking world."