I do like a s’nice s’mince s’pie

AKA Oh I do like a nice mince pie
First Published 1914
Writer/composer Worton David and Bert Lee Roud RN29712

Music Hall Performers Jay Laurier
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Bentall, Brenda; England; 1970		 

I'm so fond of what I like,
And what I like, I like it
Some like this, and some like that
Some like lean, and some like fat
Some like pudding, some like pie
With which to fill their phiz
But there's one thing I like best
I'll tell you what it is

Oh I do like s'nice s'mince s'pie
Oh I do like s'nice s'mince s'pie
Don't like lamb, ham or jam
And I don't like roly-poly
But when I see a s'nice s'mince s'pie
Then I ask for a helping twice
For I do like a s'nice s'mince s'pie
'Cos it's s'nice, s'nice, s'nice

I've a sweetheart all my own,
There's no one else would have her
Her face I've not tasted yet
It's so slobbery and so wet
We sat in the Park, last night
She nudged my arm and sighed
'What do you like the best of all?'
I grinned, and then replied


Once I went to Parliament
I'd been sent there to dust it
Found a meeting on inside
One young member loudly cried
'Matters we'll no longer mince
Our country must be led
We can't mince matters' I said 'No
Lets all mince pies instead'

A war-time hit for Jay Laurier in 1914, written and composed by the prolific Worton David and Bert Lee. In 1970 a fragment of the chorus was collected from the singing of Brenda Bentall by Roy Palmer, whose version can be found on the British library website

As pointed out by a Mudcat contributor, it was a popular song amongst the troops in the trenches. In his autobiography, the poet Robert Graves recalled the humour and horror of waiting hours to go over the top:

We waited on the fire-step from 4 to 9 o’clock with fixed bayonets, for the order to go over. My mind was a blank except for the recurrence of

…s’nice s’mince s’pie
Don’t like lamb, ham or jam
And I don’t like roly-poly

The men laughed at my singing. The acting CSM said “It’s murder Sir”. “Of course it’s murder I agreed, but there’s nothing else for it…”

But when I see a s’nice s’mince s’pie
Then I ask for a helping twice…

Robert Graves, Goodbye to all that, 1957, p144

A modern version on Zoom by the London Music Hall Choir:

Sources: