| AKA | |
| First Published | 1894 |
| Lyrics | Edgar Bateman | Music | George Le Brunn | Roud | RN24511 |
| Music Hall Performers | Gus Elen |
| Folk performances | Source Source Singers “A cockney family” 1930s-50s England : London Messenger, Alice 1975-80 England : Suffolk Modern performances David Kossoff and the Mike Sammes Singers, 1960s |
I've lost my pal, 'e's the best in all the tahn But don't you fink 'im dead becos ‘e ain't But since ‘es wed ‘e as ‘ad ter knuckle dahn Its enufter vex the temper of a saint ‘E's a brewer's dray-man, wiva leg of mutton fist ‘An as strong as a bullick or an ‘orse Yet in ‘er ‘ands e's like a little kid Oh I wish as I could get ‘im a divorce. It's a great big shame And if she belonged to me I'd let her know who's who Nagging at a fellow that is six foot three And her not four feet two. They hadn't been married for a month or more When underneath her thumb goes Jim Oh isn't it a pity that the likes of her Should put upon the likes of him. Now Jim was class-'e could sing a decent song And at scrappin ‘e ‘ad won some great renown It took two coppers for to make ‘im move along And anovver six to ‘old the feller dahn But today when I axes would he come an' ‘ave some beer To the door-step on tiptoe ‘e arrives “I dares't” says ‘e “Don't shout cos she'll ‘ear I've got ter clean the windows an' the knives. On a Sunday morn, wiv a dozen pals or more ‘E'd play at pitch and toss along the Lea But now she bullies ‘im a scrubbin' ‘o the floor Such a change, well I never did I see Wiv an apron on ‘im I twigged ‘im on ‘is knees A rubbin' up the old ‘arf stone Wot wiv emptying the ashes and a shelling of the peas I'm blowed if ‘e can call ‘is-self ‘is own.
Gus Ellen‘s song: It’s a great big shame follows a number of Music Hall songs which exploit the comedic potential of the “henpecked” husband, and which perhaps feel dated now. Written and composed by a prolific pair: Edgar Bateman and George Le Brunn, who are discussed elsewhere on this site.
The song was collected from a source singer in the 1970s, and recalled in a book detailing a Cockney family’s singing habits in the 1930s. These may be slender links, but nonetheless it’s a song that strictly speaking might be characterised as being part of the folk tradition.
Sources:
- Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A24511
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- Sheet music: personal copy, truncated scan – to be updated when I get back in to the office which has a bigger scanner!
Gus Elen sings it:
Last Updated on October 23, 2020 by John Baxter | Published: September 30, 2020
