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LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle
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Subject: Lyr Req: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbott From: MGM·Lion Date: 18 May 11 - 05:20 AM On the thread re Origins:Old Bazaar in Cairo, Will Fly and I found ourselves exchanging some of the words we remembered from Kenneth Horne and Richard Murdoch's nonsense song, oft-repeated with variations in their BBC Radio Programmes of 1940s-50s, to tune of Luigini's Ballet Egyptien. I have recalled some more words, given below with a few memory-blank omissions indicated. Can anyone fill in these gaps or supply any more words. I have a feeling that there should be a 2nd full 8-line verse reduplicating the tune of 1st one given here, before one gets to the "Flannel pyjamas" couplet. My aunt's name is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle She lives down in Burton-on-Trent When she goes out shopping on a bicycle She always gets the handlebars bent. Steak & kidney, seven and a tannersworth, A little bit of chicken & a marline-spike. Hutch and Ted Ray at the Metropolitan Doing even better than at Heckmondwike. Sabotage a pool in Dorset Camouflage my uncle's corset {or vice versa?} Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Flannel pyjamas, they are not what they're thought to be, Gentlemen farmers, they are not what they ought to be. Semolina pudding in a very old suitcase. [something something] on a very old fruitcake. Cabinet ministers shout "This is such a very silly song ~ I'm out!" Notes: the Metropolitan would be the name of a music-hall theatre on the same touring circuit as the one in Heckmondwike, near Huddersfield, Yorkshire, in a town where, presumably {if even so much rationale may be expected here}, the singer's aunt lived. Ted Ray (comedian) and 'Hutch' [Leslie Hutchinson](singer) were two popular music-hall and radio turns of the 1930s-50s. Any additions, suggestions, recollections, &c will be welcome. ~Michael~ |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbott From: Snuffy Date: 18 May 11 - 09:31 AM Michael, Have you looked here www.epicure.demon.co.uk/balletegyptien.html? And this page with other Murdoch adaptations.The things he did to Nola are also dicussed on Mudcat in this thread Lyr Req: mulligatawny soup |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbott From: MGM·Lion Date: 18 May 11 - 10:02 AM Many many thanks, Snuffy. That 1st ref exactly what I needed. Wonder why my own searches didn't find it; but c'est la vie 'n stuff. The "forecemeat balls are very indigestible Especially when they're covered in cheese" verse is precisely the #2 I was groping for. The 'Nola' tune which I found by googling is another of those familiar tunes, like Ballet Egptn, which everyone knows but nobody can put a name to. A perfect response to my needs, Snuffy. Enormous gratitude again. ~Michael~ |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbott From: Jim Dixon Date: 20 May 11 - 05:44 PM I found this in a blog: Sheer poetry... This fragment of verse is all I have of Richard Murdoch's "Ballet Egyptien" parody - it's from a gramophone record rather than a BBC recording. That's what I said when I first posted this article, back in 2003, and as it turns out many people did remember bits of it, and the additions they sent me are shown below. Richard 'Stinker' Murdoch seemingly used different versions for each performance. I think it's worth putting it up here again, in the hope of attracting more snips and snaps of poetic genius... My aunt's name is Ella Wheeler Waterbutton,(13th April 2005 - a kind lady named Julie Foster supplies me with this alternative verse) Late night final, put another penny onDave Allen (no, not that one) remembers the couplet: "Aberdeen has lovely houses, Gaberdine makes lovely trouse's!" (28th February, 2007) Mike Walker contributes: Corned beef and mustard are not the things to eat in bed,Thanks too for further variants to Keith Francis, who marshalls his memories in New York, and in April this year sent me: Climbing up Mount Popocatapetl21st October 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20120319034714/http://www.epicure.demon.co.uk/balletegyptien.html |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottl From: MGM·Lion Date: 21 May 11 - 03:53 AM Many thanks, Jim. I think this blog is the one linked above by Snuffy [his first link], by one Chris Hughes. It deals with this sort of music, old Goon Show material, &c. Interesting to browse in indeed. Anyone happen to know who this Chris Hughes is, or what his motivations are in running this sort of blog? Can't find this actual info in the blog itself, tho I daresay it might be buried in there somewhere. ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: Req: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,gill oliver Date: 18 Dec 11 - 10:14 AM Having known this nonsense song all my life, I thought I would see, via the web, how accurately I was singing it. Well I am delighted to say I appear not too far off. We have always sung Ellawena Waterbutt and we also sing the last few lines a little differently: 17 fiddles in a very old suitcase, Semolina pudding in an old violin case, That is the end on my little song I'm out - Goodnight |
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Subject: RE: Req: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: MGM·Lion Date: 18 Dec 11 - 01:57 PM It has to be Ella Wheeler (Some name beginning with a W), because is an obvious ref to the famous 'US poet of 'uplift', "Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850 – October 30, 1919) was an American author and poet. Her best-known work was Poems of Passion. Her most enduring work was " Solitude", which contains the lines: "Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone". Her autobiography, The Worlds and I, was published in 1918, a year before her death.... Ella Wheeler Wilcox's name provided the unlikely inspiration for doggerel by the English humorist Richard Murdoch, which he set to the opening bars of Alexandre Luigini's Ballet égyptien." Wikipedia ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: Req: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,graham howard Date: 15 Feb 13 - 02:48 PM thanks for putting this on your site my father sang it to me but all I could remember was the first few lines .thanks again |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,Bob Howells, Usk in Monmouthshire Date: 16 Jan 14 - 12:07 PM my recollection of the words are: My Aunt's name is Emlina Waterbottle She comes down from Stoke on Trent She goes out a riding on a bicycle and comes back with her handle bars bent. That's it, but when I 'sing' to my Grand Children I make a sound with my lips rather like a badly played trumpet to finish it off. When they were young, they loved this bit of nonsense. |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: Irene M Date: 16 Jan 14 - 04:28 PM It was sung to me as a child as Ella Wheeler Winterbottom. |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST Date: 16 Jan 14 - 05:09 PM http://www.epicure.demon.co.uk/balletegyptien.html More on it at that link. |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,Wendy Thompson Date: 26 Mar 14 - 05:50 PM Was sung this as a child. I think there is a second verse but only know the first four lines Bathroom taps need very little polish on Especially when they are covered in dough Tunbridge Wells looks pretty on a calendar especially when it's covered in snow Does anyone know the rest of this verse? Wendy |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,Helen D Date: 10 Jul 14 - 04:58 PM My father used to sing :- Sabotaged at Poole in Dorset Camouflaged my uncle's corset Do your Christmas shopping early To avoid the Hurley burley |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,Bruce Date: 29 Aug 15 - 11:32 AM From the back of my aging memory: Peanut vendors often spends as Much as ninepence on suspenders Rhubarb and custard is hardly the thing to eat in bed Cinnamon and mustard is really the thing to eat instead |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,Sinistral Date: 09 Sep 15 - 03:39 AM Ah....the speed of communication via the interwebby thingy. Four and a bit years on I have just seen the question asked, by MGM Lion, "Anyone happen to know who this Chris Hughes is?" Well I can tell you that this splendid gentleman (he says) is to be found broadcasting under the name 'Scorpion de Rooftrouser' on my very own forum, here...... http://sinsoriginals.proboards.com/ |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: MGM·Lion Date: 09 Sep 15 - 03:57 AM Well, well: talk of Mills Of God. Many thanks, friend Guest Sinistral. Shall follow up that ref with interest. Best regards ≈Michael≈ |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,pat clark Date: 17 Apr 16 - 02:28 PM Boots with elastic will never enhance your girlish charms, Cornflakes in aspic are not a good dish for babes in arms.... There's another verse which begins with Senna pods, but I cant recall the rest at the moment. also we used to sing 'Sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday...........the rest of the week' with a large gasping breath. |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,Pat Clark Date: 18 Apr 16 - 06:49 AM Got it ! senna pods are good for shrimpers Pedagogues on mount Olympus..... |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: MGM·Lion Date: 18 Apr 16 - 08:25 AM Good ones, Pat! |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,Cliff Date: 20 Jan 17 - 04:30 AM My parents used to sing: My aunt's name is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle She lives down in Burton-on-Trent She goes riding on her motor bicycle She comes back with the handlebars bent |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST Date: 15 May 17 - 05:00 AM as i remember it; my aunts name i Emilina Waterbutt and she lives down at Stoke on Trent stewed rhubarb is very indigestable if you eat it lying in bed cold boiled eggs are also indigestable i,d rather have rice pud instead |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,peterjohndean Date: 14 Jul 17 - 06:50 PM I remember it as Ella Wheeler Wilkinson. There was also a verse beginning "Forcemeat balls are very indigestible". |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: Richard Mellish Date: 15 Jul 17 - 05:32 PM > I remember it as Ella Wheeler Wilkinson. There was also a verse beginning "Forcemeat balls are very indigestible". That's how it was in my family too. |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: Jim Dixon Date: 20 Jul 17 - 07:44 PM You can hear the author of this doggerel, Richard Murdoch, singing his composition in this video on YouTube. It will be very difficult to transcribe, but maybe easier for some of you Brits than for me. |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: Jim Dixon Date: 22 Jul 17 - 02:55 PM OK, here's how it sounds to me. My transcription from the video I posted a link to earlier. Stanza breaks are arbitrary. My aunt's name is Ella Wheeler Waterbutton. She lives down at Burton-on-Trent. When she goes out shopping on her bicycle, She always gets her handlebars bent. When I find I've picked another winner out, And won(?) a little money on the football pool, Climbing up Mount Popocatepetl Is a little bit above a boy at boarding school. Sabotage at Poole in Dorset, Camouflage my uncle's corset, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, [cough]... Plastic pyjamas Are never quite what they ought to be. Gentlemen farmers Are never quite what they're taught to be. Seventeen fiddles in a second-hand suitcase, Semolina pudding in a very old flute-case, Cabinet ministers shout: "….(?)" - I'm out! |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,Dan in Maidstone Date: 20 Aug 17 - 06:02 AM Although now over 80 I was trying for no good reason to recall this wonderful silly song which I remember being sung by Dickie Murdoch but thought the opening line was Jennyliza Blazerbutton.....but I am delighted to see other memories are sharper and this icon of British humour lingers on. BUT to enjoy it to the full you MUST know the tune! Keep them coming and in short order we should have the marvellous whole eccentric masterpiece of poetic invention........ |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,Emma B Date: 02 Feb 19 - 03:03 PM "Forcemeat balls are very indigestible Especially when they're eaten in bed If you eat cold mutton on a Saturday Just be sure to cover your head" I think Richard changed the words occasionally to keep the song fresh. |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST,John in Brisbane, as he remembers it! Date: 20 Mar 20 - 07:25 AM My aunt's name is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle She lives down at Burton on Trent When she goes out riding on a bicycle She always gets her handlebars bent. Raw rump steak at seven and a tanners worth A little bit of butter on a marlin spike Chicken giblets in a hot potato salad They make just the sort of meal I like. Aberdeen has masny fine houses Gaberdine makes very fine trousers Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday All the rest of the days of the week Rhubarb and Custard Is not the right thing to eat in bed Corned beef and mustard is a very nice thing to have instead Seventy five fiddles in a second hand suitcase Uncle is raving cos he's broken his bootlace Oh what a silly song to sing at night Quite right |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST Date: 20 Apr 21 - 03:56 PM Thanks for this. I was looking for the lyrics on the interweb because my mum (now 87) used to sing this to me when I was a lad. I sang it to my daughter when she was small. |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST Date: 27 Oct 21 - 07:24 AM Instead of force meat balls the version my nan sang was "horses heads are very indigestible unless you eat them covered in cheese" |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST Date: 02 Feb 23 - 07:39 PM Gabardine makes lovely trousers, Gelatins makes lovely blouses……. Climbing up Mount Popacatapetl……… |
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Subject: RE: LyrReq: My Aunt's Name Is Ella Wheeler Waterbottle From: GUEST Date: 24 Nov 23 - 04:01 PM My Aunt's name is Emelina Waterbutt She lives down on Burton on Trent Every time she rides upon a bicycle She always gets her handlebars bent. Steak and kidney seven and a tanner's worth A little bit of chicken on a mauling spike Gentleman farmers are never what they're taught to be Plastic pyjamas are never what they ought to be Seventeen fiddles in a secondhand suitcase Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Oh what a silly, silly song! |
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