She stood behind the parlour door

This song reflects racist, misogynist and/or colonial ideas that were commonplace at the time it was first written and performed but are no longer acceptable today

A certain girl once courted me called Mary Ann Maloney
Who simply talked of nothing else but love and matrimony
And tho' I often told her that to marry would not suit me
She swore unless I named the day, she'd have revenge and shoot me.

She stood behind the parlour door, then began to lock it
Glared at me. looked at the key, and placed it in her pocket
Held a pistol near my nose, gave a tiny snigger
And swore unless I married her that she would pull the trigger.*

While she stood there arms in hand, I pictured my poor mother
And thought with grief the many times I'd whacked my little brother
I closed my eyes, sank on my knees, Oh, how I craved for pardon
Expecting every moment to be blown into the garden.

'Marry me,' said she, 'Or else this weapon I will use it.'
I said, 'My dear, if that's your love, I really must refuse it
Fire away whene'er you like,' but lor, how I did shiver
Said she, 'Consent or in a trice, I'll pop it through your liver!'

I rushed and seized her tiny hand, but all my strength was needed
I tried to grasp the weapon, and at last I just succeeded
And oh, the joy I felt to think, the thing had not exploded
But when I came to look, I found the darn'd thing wasn't loaded.

* Coles Funniest Song Book in the world (c1890) has:
Held a pistol near my nose, and jumped just like a nigger
And swore unless I married her that she would pull the trigger.

A song first performed by the comedian Harry Freeman (whose brief biography appears below) in 1888 in London:

In versions of the song published in the late 19th century the chorus featured a word which we now would consider racist (see note above in the lyrics).

The song has been collected from two traditional singers based in Yorkshire and Oxfordshire: Jack Beeforth (collected by David Hillery) and Mr Springhall (collected by Bill Crumley).

Harry Freeman (1858-1922) was a highly successful comedian and songwriter, first performing in Walsall in the English Midlands in 1877, debuting in London in 1881. He regularly appeared in the Birmingham Halls and often appeared in pantomime there. His hit songs, like Can’t Stop and They’re After Me were extremely popular at the time, but are no longer well-known today. He was still performing at the time of his death in 1922. Freeman was a founding member of The Grand Order of Water Rats and the first “King Rat”. The Order was founded by a group of friends from the Halls who gambled on horses, using their winnings to support fellow artistes suffering hard times. The Order evolved into a formal charitable organisation which still exists today.

As yet I have been unable to source any available recordings of the song.

Sources:

• VWML entry
• Kilgarrif Sing Us
• Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
• Sheet Music: https://search.worldcat.org/title/50230653
• Harry Freeman:
  • Death Of Harry Freeman. | The Era | 02 August 1922 | British Newspaper Archive.
    • Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer | 03 August 1922 | British Newspaper Archive.
    • The Walsall’ Observer ; August 5 1922 | British Newspaper Archive.

Last Updated on December 19, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: November 26, 2023