/ · John S. Farmer’s Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes
The Nutty Blowen
The Nutty Blowen
1841
By BON GAULTIER in Taits Edinburgh Magazine.
I
She wore a rouge like roses, the night when first we met,
Her lovely mug was smiling o’er mugs of heavy wet;
1 face; porter
Her red lips had the fullness, her voice the husky tone,
That told her drink was of a kind where water is unknown.
I saw her but a moment, yet methinks I see her now,
With the bloom of borrowed flowers upon her cheek and brow.
II
A pair of iron darbies, when next we met, she wore,
2 handcuffs
The expression of her features was more thoughtful than before;
And, standing by her side, was he who strove with might and main
To soothe her leaving that dear land she ne’er might see again.
I saw her but a moment, yet methinks I see her now,
As she dropped the judge a curtsey, and he made her a bow.
III
And once again I see that brow no idle rouge is there,
The dubsman’s ruthless hand has cropped her once luxurious hair;
3 gaoler’s
She teases hemp in solitude, and there is no one near,
To press her hand within his own, and call for ginger-beer.
I saw her but a moment, yet methinks I see her now,
With the card and heckle in her hand, a-teasing of that tow.
Notes
“Bon Gualtier” was the joint nom-de-plume of W. E. Aytoun and
Sir Theodore Martin. Between 1840 and 1844 they worked together in the
production of The Bon Gualtier Ballads, which acquired such
great popularity that thirteen large editions of them were called for
between 1855 and 1877. They were also associated at this time in
writing many prose magazine articles of a humorous character, as well
as a series of translations of Goethe’s ballads and minor poems,
which, after appearing in Blackwood’s Magazine, were some years
afterwards (1858) collected and published in a volume. The four pieces
above mentioned appeared as stated in Tails Edinburgh Magazine
under the title of “Flowers of Hemp, or the Newgate Garland,” and are
parodies of well-known songs.
Taken from
Musa Pedestris,
Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes
[1536―1896], collected and annotated by John S. Farmer.
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