knees up, Mother Brownphr.

1939 Weston & Lee Knees up Mother Brown! 3 Ooh! Knees up Mother Brown! Well! Knees up Mother Brown!..knees up, knees up! Don't get the breeze up Knees up Mother Brown.

1945 Daily Mirror 8 May 1/2 We are dancing the Conga and the jig and ‘Knees up, Mother Brown’.

1958 Times 15 Aug. 9/4 ‘Knees up, Mother Brown’ is an injunction to apprehend nothing but jollity.

1961 A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo iv. 213 Matthew..was involved with a circle of old women out on the spree who were doing ‘Knees up Mother Brown’.

1963 P. Willmott Evol. Community vii. 75 We went to another house on the banjo for a ‘knees-up’.

1966 K. Martin Father Figures iv. 88 I happened to get leave on Armistice Day and crossed to London in time to witness the glorification in Trafalgar Square. We danced round and round all night long, singing ‘Knees up, Mother Brown’ and other fragments from English folklore.

1966 A. Prior Operators xvi. 259 He..turned to see Emmie doing a knees-up, her skirt held high.

1967 L. Deighton London Dossier 54 As indigenous to London as a Saturday-night knees-up in the boozer.

1969 Guardian 31 Jan. 22/3 An irrepressible bunch of girls chanted ‘Knees up Barbara Castle’.

1971 Guardian 18 Sept. 8/5 He and Mr [Harold] Wilson finished up doing Knees Up Mother Brown together.

1974 New Scientist 3 Oct. 39/1 Two new video discs were demonstrated last month during the annual video industry knees-up at Cannes.

1975 Oxf. Times 3 Jan. 16/5 (advt.) Saturday January 4th. 8 pm. (New Year's Knees-Up).