Some bawdy songs in the British Army, 1914

[Jonathan Lighter]

At the outbreak of war in 1914, S. F. Hatton was serving with the Middlesex Yeomanry. His memoir, The Yarn of a Yeoman (London: Hutchinson, 1930), includes the folowing remarks (p. 23):

   "[We] stayed in the canteen, paid less for more, and sang in chorus songs of praise to Bill, a nautical gentleman of great physical prowess."

  And on p. 33:

   "There should be an anthology - not an emasculated one - of all soldiers' ballads. Those chiefly in favour at this time concerned a tinker of abnormal physical proportions and procreative powers, a charming ballad of one 'Nellie' who was not as good as she should have been, a celebrated 'Ram of Derbyshire,' 'A monk of high renown,' and the nautical gentleman previously mentioned."

  JL


---------------------------------
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org