Come in the parlour, Charley

AKA Come in the parlour, Charlie
First Published 1909
Writer/composer Orlando Powell / JP Harrington Roud RN29962

Music Hall Performers Florrie Forde
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Buckingham, Billy; England : Gloucestershire; 1979

Charley was one of the boys, you know, Charley was one of the best
He loved a dear little thing in a skirt, awfully pert, Little Miss Burke
One night he waited outside her house, her father was down on him
In less than a second she said as she beckoned him into the doorway dim

Come in the parlour Charlie, come in the parlour do
Everybody is out tonight except myself and you
When they opened the door, love, it rings the electric bell
While as for the dear old sofa it squeaks but it never tells 

Charlie was fickle and proved untrue, Charlie was fickle sometimes
She got her own back and she took him to court, action she brought, damages sought
'What did he say to you? What did he do?' The judge asked the blushing Miss
She said 'Why the duffer, made my sofa suffer as soon as I murmured this:

Chorus x2

Florrie Forde sang this song in the period before World War 1 – it was written by Orlando Powell and JP Harrington. It was recorded both by Forde and in a shortened form, by Harry Kenrick.

Billy Buckingham sang it for Gwilym Davies in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire in the late 1970s.

Harry Kenrick’s version:

Sources: