Don’t have any more, Mrs Moore

First published1929
LyricsHarry CastlingMusicJames Walsh Roud
Music Hall performersLily Morris 1920s, 30s
Folk performances??
Missus Moore, who lives next door, she's such a dear old soul
Of children she's a score or more, her husband's on the dole
I don't know how she manages to keep that lot I'm sure
I said to her today as she was standing at the door.

Don't have any more Missus Moore
Missus Moore, please don't have any more
The more you have the more you want, they say
But enough is a good as a feast any day
If you have many more Missus Moore
You'll have to rent the house next door
They're alright when they're here
But take my advice old dear
Don't have any more Missus Moore.

The local Inn she uses is called the wooden hut
She's first one in at opening time, and last out when they shut
And when she's had a few, its true, she can't go very far
And you can hear them singing this to her across the bar.

Don't have any more Missus Moore
Missus Moore, please don't have any more
The more you have the more you want, they say
But enough is a good as a feast any day
If you have many more Missus Moore
You'll never get to your street door
Too many double gins gives the ladies double chins
So don't have any more Missus Moore.

She's had no end of husbands that in love with her have fell
And this one is her seventh one and he don't look too well
She married him a year ago and on their wedding day
As they were walking down the isle I heard the parson say.

Don't have any more Missus Moore
Missus Moore, please don't have any more
The more you have the more you want, they say
But enough is a good as a feast any day
If you have many more Missus Moore
I don't know what we'll do I'm sure
Our churchyard is so small they'll be no room for them at all
So don't have any more Missus Moore.

Lily Morris (1882 to 1952) is perhaps most often remembered for two songs: “Why Am I Always The Bridesmaid” and this one. She was born in Holborn in central London, daughter of a tobacconist who originally came from Ireland . She began her professional career at 10 years old and as a teenager earned considerable money in pantomime. Later in life she tended to sing songs and play characters who had had a little too much to drink. She toured internationally and was a big hit throughout the English-speaking world. She appeared in several films in the 1930s. She is an interesting and important character in the late music halls, and if you want to investigate her further the fullest biography is the chapter in The Lost World of Music Hall by Derek Sculthorpe.

Don’t have all Mrs Moore was written by Harry Castling with music composed by James Walsh. The little I can find out about James Walsh appears below.

James Walsh (b?-1955) was a songwriter/composer active in the period immediately after World War I and the 1920s. He wrote a number of songs with Val Watson which were published by Feldman’s and Darewski’s, but also worked collaboratively with Thomas McGhee, Herbert Rule and others. Reading between the lines I suspect he was a member of Feldman’s in-house songwriting team at some point. In the late 1920s he worked as a performer in Bert Feldman’s Blackpool Companies – which operated out of song parlours and booths performing songs in order to sell Feldman’s sheet music. Other songs he contributed to include What Should We Do Without Gravy? and Fill ‘Em Up. Further research is needed to find out more about his later career,

Sources:

  • Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
  • Baker: British Music Hall
  • The Lost World of Music Hall, Derek Sculthorpe, 2021
  • Kilgariff: Sing us one of the Old Songs
  • British Newspaper Archives: The Stage and The Era, various adverts and articles.
  • Lucas Campbell (2018): The Lost history of Feldman’s Arcade

Lily herself:

Last Updated on May 3, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: February 24, 2020

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