| Ask a P'liceman | |
| Cover: | Ask A P'liceman.jpg |
| Alt: | Cover of sheet music |
| Artist: | James Fawn |
| Published: | 1888 |
| Composer: | A. E. Durandeau |
| Lyricist: | E. W. Rogers |
"Ask a P'liceman" (sometimes given as "If You Want to Know the Time Ask a Policeman") is a music hall song. It was first performed in 1888 by English comedian James Fawn and was written by Edward William Rogers (1864 - 1913) and Augustus Edward Durandeau (1848 - 1893).
Fawn was known as one of the best comedic impersonators of a drunken person. The song was "filled with references that reflected the Victorian working-class mistrust of the officers of the law",[1] and made fun of the frequent claim that, if arrested for drunkenness, one's pocket watch was likely to go missing at the police station,[2] with the line "Every member of the force / Has a watch and chain, of course." The sheet music of the song reportedly sold some half a million copies within three years of its publication.[3]
The song's title was used for Will Hay's 1939 comedy film Ask a Policeman.