London Town from Burlesque by Bellowhead
London Town
Sung by Charlie Wills and chorus in The Sun, Powerstock, Dorset, in August 1957, this was recorded by Mervyn Plunkett and features on First I’m Going to Sing You a Ditty – Rural Fun and Frolics (Topic, TSCD 657) in the Voice of the People collection of source and field recordings. Wills was born in West Chinnock, Somerset, in 1877, and had a wide variety of agricultural and horticultural jobs throughout his life whilst staying in the Somerset and Dorset areas. He seems to have learnt some of his songs from his mother, and as a child would entertain the workmen in the pub, a location which continued to prove congenial to him for the rest of his life.
The song is on broadsides held at Cambridge and Oxford, the latter printed by C. Cronshaw of Coppergate, York, between 1814 and 1850. It was sung in various southern of English counties, as well as in East Anglia, Scotland and Ireland. Wills was also recorded by Peter Kennedy, who published the transcript in Folksongs of Britain & Ireland (London: Cassell, 1975), p.423.
Tracklist
| 4. | London Town | 3:53 |
Lyrics
London Town
Up London city I made my way
Up Cheapside I chanced to stray
Where a fair, pretty maid I there did meet
And I greeted her with kisses sweet
ch.
I was up to the rigs, down to the jigs
Up to the rigs of London town
She took me to some house of sin
And boldly then she entered in
Loudly for supper she did call
Thinking that I would pay for it all
The supper over, the table cleared
The waiter brought white wine and red
The waiter brought white wine and red
And the chamber-maid prepared a bed
Between the hours of one and two
She asked me if to bed I'd go
Immediately I did consent
And along with this pretty maid then I went
Her cheeks were white, her lips were red
I kissed her as she lay in bed
But as soon as she was fast asleep
Out of the bed I did creep
I searched her pockets and there I found
A silver snuff-box and ten pound
A golden watch and a diamond ring
I took the lot and then I locked her in
Come all young men and listen to me
If you meet a pretty girl you use her free
Use her free but don't get pied
Remember me when I was up Cheapside
Credits
License
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