Somebody would shout out shop

AKA

Lyrics

Weston and Lee

Music

Weston and Lee

Roud

21924

Ebenezer Johnson kept a grocery store
He'd a little lady that he used to adore
She would call around in the afternoon
In his small back parlour they would sit and spoon
He would entertain her in a lover-like way
But here is the mystery
Though he hadn't taken any money all day
The minute she sat on his knee.

Somebody would shout out shop
Somebody would shout out shop
Just as he was kissing her and making good
Somebody would come in for a bundle of wood
Just as he was giving Mabel a squeeze
Somebody would come in for a quarter of cheese
Oh gee, it makes him feel so funny
He'd clean forget to take the money
Back he'd go again and try to cuddle his honey
And somebody would shout out shop, shop, shop
Somebody would shout out shop.

In the middle of a moment really sublime,
In would come a customer to ask him the time
Back he'd go once more and say, "Darn the shop!"
Once again the question he'd try to pop
He would softly whisper in her dear little ear 
"Oh marry me, Mabel, do!" 
Then she'd hear a customer and answer, "No fear!"
If I went honeymooning with you..

This is not a song that has been widely adopted by many recording artists during the folk revival, at least not that I’m aware of – though it still appears in the repertoire of many Music Hall enthusiasts. It has been collected from the singing of Wicketts Richardson, one of a number of famous traditional singers based at the Old Blaxhall Ship pub.

A World War 1 Music Hall song (published 1915) written by Weston and Lee and performed by  Stanley Kirkby & Harry Hudson, a popular Music Hall act during the war and in the 1920s.

Sources:

• VWML entries
• Lyrics: Monologues.co.uk
• Sheet music: Musescore uploaded by Trevor Coard
• Keith Summers’ writings on E.Sussex Country Music Part 1 and Part 2

Performed as a monologue by my friend Monologue John Bartley:

Last Updated on October 27, 2020 by John Baxter | Published: May 16, 2020