Seymour Hicks, Vintage Years (London: Cassell, 1943), referring to the 1890s: “A wag wrote a wickedly cynical little six-line verse; but because it is extremely witty, and therefore obviously not of the drawing-room, let me rescue it from oblivion’s waste-paper basket and offer it to a confused world which is sadly in need of a smile. Here it is : When Lady Jane became a Tart, It almost broke her father’s heart. But blood is blood and race is race. And so, to mitigate disgrace, He bought a most expensive beat From Asprey’s up to Oxford Street.”
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