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'I Like to be a Swell'

Lions Comiques were the heart throbs of the Victorian era. They had the same cult status as the boy bands of the 1990s. Known as ‘swells’ these character singers dressed as fashionable, swaggering young men and sang songs about high life and drinking champagne. While their songs boasted about being seen at the most fashionable places, their attitude was distinctly laddish. A critic in the late 19th century remarked that Lions Comiques were men who set women just a little higher than their bottle.

'Walking in the Zoo'

'Lounging in the Aq'

George Leybourne was the most famous Lion Comique. He sang the song ‘Champagne Charlie’. Another such swell was Arthur Lloyd. Leybourne’s greatest rival, The Great Vance, sang songs about fashionable places to be seen, including the Zoological Gardens. It was his song ‘Walking in the Zoo’ that popularised the word Zoo. However, George Leybourne’s song ‘Lounging in the Aq’ failed to do the same for the word aquarium.

'Champagne Charlie'

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