My father knew an RN version of "They're Moving Father's Bones to Build a Sewer" that probably dated from about 1918. There was also the following ditty, most likely sung to a music-hall tune (Dad was tone-deaf), which can be dated to the tag-end of the Great War by the slang -- Jago's Mansion was Portsmouth Naval Barracks. "I was walking through the Dockyard in a panic, When I met a matelot old and grey. On his back he had his kitbag and his hammock, And this is what I heard him say. "I wonder, yes I wonder, Has the Jossman made a blunder, When he made this draft chit out for me, I've been a barrack stanchion, The pride of Jago's mansion, And I do not want to go to sea. "Oh I like my tiddy oggie , And I like my figgy duff, And I always say good morning to the Chief. (Chorus, very loud: GOOD MORNING, CHIEF) Oh, I wonder, yes I wonder, Has the Joss-man made a blunder, When he made this draft chit out for me." Another variant: "I was wand'ring through the Dockyard bright and early, When I met a sailor old and grey. On his back he bore his bag and hammock, And this is what I heard him say: "Oh, I wonder, yes, I wonder if the Jaunty made a blunder When he sent this draft chit down to me. I've been a barracks stanchion in the house of Jago's mansion, And I do not want to go to sea."
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