I would like to learn more about the meaning of the phrase: There's a good fellow. All that I know is that it is used for praising or encouraging a child or an animal. Is it right?
Learn English – There’s a good fellow [Phrase]
british-englishphrases
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Best Answer
Functionally, it performs the same role in discourse as the phrase "if you don't mind": The point of it is to indicate that the person speaking isn't ill-disposed toward the person being addressed and doesn't wish to come across as dictatorial, and yet is serious about having that person cooperate with the requested action.
The problem is that, without the softening phrase, the framing of the requested action sounds very much like a command. So the speaker is trying to maintain a delicate balance between amicability and imperative voice—at least in the OP's example ("Cut out cheap wit and listen to me, there's a good fellow") and in WS2's example ("Stop swinging from the chandelier, there's a good fellow").
I share WS2's interpretation of the words "there's a good fellow" under these circumstances as being something along the lines of "By performing the action I request, you will be acting the part of a good fellow, and will qualify for pointing out as such."