Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)

Subject: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 03:33 PM

CHARLOTTE THE HARLOT LAY DYING
(Tune - Eton Boating Song)

Charlotte the Harlot lay dying,
A penis supporting her head,
Around her three poofters lay crying,
As she rose on her left tit and said:

"I've been fucked by the League of All Nations
The Japs and the Germans and Jews,
Come ten thousand miles to Australia,
To be fucked by three poofters like you.

So roll back your dirty old foreskins,
And give me the juice of your nuts."
So they rolled back their dirty old foreskins,
And filled her right up to her guts.

Recorded 7 May 2004, listen to the original recording here. The tune is the Eton Boating Song.   The tune is also use for the bawdy songs "The Sexual Life of the Camel" and "We're All Queer's Together".

Tune variants, references, and variant texts to follow.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 03:41 PM

THE DYING HARLOT (Three versions)

Oh, a strapping young harlot lay dying,
A pisspot supporting her head,
And all the young bludgers were 'round her,
As she leaned on her left tit and said,
"I've been stuffed by the Dutchies and Negroes,
I've been stuffed by the Spaniards so tall,
I've been stuffed by the English and Irish,
In fact, I've been fucked by them all.
So wrap me in foreskins and Frenchies,
And bury me deep down below,
Where all those young bludgers can't catch me,
The place where all good harlots go."

A dirty old harlot lay dying,
A pisspot supporting her head,
All around her the bludgers were crying,
As she leant on her left tit and said,
"I've been fucked by the French and the English,
The Germans, the Japs, and the Jews,
And now I've come back to Australia,
To be buggered by bastards like you,
So haul back your filthy old foreskins,
And give me the pride of your nuts."
So they hauled back their filthy old foreskins,
And played Home Sweet Home on her guts.

The dirty old harlot lay dying,
A cunt-rag supported her head,
The blowflies around her were buzzing,
As she turned on her left tit and said,
"I've been fucked by the army and navy,
By a bull-fighting toreador,
By Abos and dingoes and dagos,
But never by blowflies before."

Melody: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
@bawdy @death
filename[ DYHARLT
TUNE FILE: MYBONNIE
CLICK TO PLAY
PW

Retrieved from http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=6209

The tune listed is "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" and it was put into the Digital Tradition song database by "PW".   Does anyone know who "PW" is?   Can we ask where the versions where learned / heard ?

I have never heard a recording of this song to the tune of "My Bonnie".

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 03:48 PM

I'm going to place over some the texts from the Charlotte the Harlot thread.

Subject: RE: Charlotte the Harlot
From: GUEST,Parthenon - PM
Date: 23 Apr 00 - 07:17 AM

Methinks there is some confusion here!

"Charlotte the Harlot" and "The Harlot of Jerusalem" are not the same lady.

In my student and rugby playing days I came across both ditties. "The Harlot of Jerusalem" was the most common by far. Charlotte the Harlot I heard infrequently, but the words were published, as a previous correspondent said, in one of the series of Rugby Songbooks, in the late sixties.

If my beer befuddled memory still works, the first verse of Charlotte goes something like:-

Charlotte the Harlot lay dying
A pisspot supporting her head
As the blowflies were buzzing around her
She leaned on her left tit and said-

I've been had by the army and navy
By a bullfighting toreador
By *****'s and dagoes and drongoes
But never by maggots before.

Not the song to sing over your Sunday brunch!

A link to the post here: https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=216465

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 03:52 PM

Subject: RE: Charlotte the Harlot
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 12:58 AM

Aussie version:

Charlotte the harlot lay dying,
A pisspot supporting her head.
She rolled on her left tit a-dying.
She rolled on her left tit and said,
"I've been fucked by the Japs and the Germans.
I've been raped by the Arabs and Jews.
Now I come back to sunny Australia
To be fucked by three bastards like you."

Retrieved from here: https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=1374990

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 03:56 PM

Subject: RE: Charlotte the Harlot
From: Bob Bolton - PM
Date: 09 Jan 05 - 01:51 AM

G'day ...

GUEST's version (VERSION ... ?) is clearly related to what I learned around Sydney in the late 1950s:

Charlotte the harlot lay dying,
A pisspot supporting her head.
Around her three poofters* were lying, as she
Rolled on her left tit and said:

"I've been fucked by the League of all Nations,
The Irish, the Scotch and Jew -
And now I have come to Australia,
To be fucked by three bastards like you!".

* As kids we didn't quibble about this inconsistency!

However, the local tune of choice seems to have been Botany Bay, rather than Villikins. Possibly starts out post WW I (League of Nations, rather than United Nations) ... but, by no stretch of the imagination, Renaissance!

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Retrieved from https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=1374996

So we are up to 3 tunes: Eton Boating Song, My Bonnie, and Botany Bay.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 04:05 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Charlotte the Harlot
From: Abby Sale - PM
Date: 14 Sep 05 - 08:51 AM

I finally have "Charlotte the Harlot Lay Dying" on a record (on which it's called "Charlotte the Harlot," just to keep us confusd.) It's on the superb Salty Dick's Uncensored Sailor Songs (available at Camsco & Immortalia) which is not only excellently sung but the CD for the first time gives good text & background on a bunch of these songs.

It's Australian, of course, and seems to have no connection at all with "Charlotte the Harlot" except the title & being a tragic song of her death. Enough new songs (and Art in general) are created with no more reliance on an old idea that the two songs could derive one from the other.

Here are "Richard Docker's" words - a few extra over those posted.

Charlotte the Harlot lay dying, a pisspot supporting her head,
Surrounded by six horny sailors, she rolled on her left tit and said,

"I've been fucked by the Pohmmies and Irish, I've been fucked by the
                            Yanks and the Jews,
Now I've come over here to Australia to be fucked by bastards like you.

So out with your dirty old organs, and gimme the juice of your nuts.
Out with your dirty old organs and I'll tattoo my name on your guts."

(Notice that she has not been fucked by cowboys.)

Retrieved from https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=1563460.

In a later post Abby Sale confirms that the tune is "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean".

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 04:09 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Charlotte the Harlot
From: GUEST,actionmanmelb - PM
Date: 20 Oct 08 - 10:24 PM

Here is another slightly different aussie version I learnt as a schoolboy 50 years ago.

Charlotte the Harlot lay dying, a pisspot supporting her head,
Three bastards lay round her crying so she rolled on her left tit
and said,

"I've been fucked by the Pohmmies and Irish, I've been fucked by the
Arabs and the Jews,
Now I've come to the shores of Australia to be fucked up by bastards like youse.

So roll down your greasy old foreskins, and give me the juice of your nuts.
So we rolled down our greasy old foreskins and whitewashed the walls of her guts.

Retrieved from https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=2471389

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 04:12 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Charlotte the Harlot
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Jan 11 - 08:00 PM

This is the version they're singing up at Jindabine, its to the tune of Botany Bay:

I've been fucked by the whole british army
the Japs and the Germans and Jews
But I'll always come back to Australia
To be fucked by two red Kangaroos

Singing hey jiggy jiggy
fuck guineapig's arsehole
I'll give you the juice of my nuts
So open your piss-flaps and fuck me
And I'll whitewash the walls of your guts

(there was probably a few more verses).

https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=3070216

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 04:15 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Charlotte the Harlot
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Feb 20 - 01:20 AM

Charlotte the Harlot lay dying, a pisspot supporting her head,
Surrounded by six horny sailors, she rolled on her left tit and said,
"I've been fucked by the Pohmmies and Irish, I've been fucked by the Yanks and the Jews,
Now I've come over here to Australia to be fucked by bastards like you.
So out with your dirty old organs, and gimme the juice of your nuts.
Out with your dirty old organs and I'll tattoo my name on your guts."

Retrieved from here: https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=4034913

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 04:31 PM

Subject: ADD Version: Charlotte the Harlot
From: aussiebloke - PM
Date: 19 Mar 07 - 03:51 AM

Offensive lyric alert:
As learned in the school ground Melbourne circa 60's


Charlotte the Harlot

Charlotte the harlot lay dying
A piss-pot supporting her head
Two poofters around her were crying
As she rose on her left tit and said:

I've been fu**ed by the Japs and the Germans
I've been raped by the Krauts and the Jews
Now I've come o'er to sunny Australia
To be fu**ed by some red kangaroos


The PC parody mentioned in my post above goes:
(Words strung together with hyphens need to be sung very fast)

Charlotte the oppressed-sex-worker lay dying
A receptacle-for-urine-that-goes-under-the-bed supporting her head
Two heterosexually-challenged-individuals around her were crying
As she rose on her left-mammary-protuberance and said

That is as far as I got, and that was probably too far anyway...

Cheers all

aussiebloke

Retrieved from
https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=2000807

In a later post, auussiebloke reports that the tune used is The Dying Stockman.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 04:50 PM

The song is marked as Roud #10130. Charlottle the Harlot Lay Dying (The Dying Harlot) is mistakenly mixed with "Life Presents a Dismal Picture".

https://www.vwml.org/roudnumber/10130

"Charlotte the Harlot Lay Dying ". Green, Rugby Songs (1967). p 185

"The Dying Harlot". Edwards, Australian Bawdy Ballads 1986, p.41 (version 1). Associated Source: Snatches & Lays (1962).

"The Dying Harlot". Edwards, Australian Bawdy Ballads 1986, p.41 (version b). Associated Source: Snatches & Lays (1962).

"The Dying Harlot". Edwards, Australian Bawdy Ballads 1986, p 41 (version c).Associated Source: Snatches & Lays (1962).

"Charlotte the Harlot". Tate, Bastard from the Bush (1982), pp.37-40 (version c). Performer John Burgess, collected by Brad Tate in 1958, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.   

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 04:54 PM

Charlotte the Harlot Lay Dying (The Dying Harlot)
DESCRIPTION: "Charlotte the Harlot lay dying, A piss-pot supported her head." She declares, "I've been had by the army, the navy..." and many other things, although, until now, not maggots. She tries to repent, but her ghost haunts the town, repeating her refrain
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967 (Morgan/Green-RugbySongs)
KEYWORDS: whore death humorous bug sex
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Morgan/Green-RugbySongs, p. 185, "Charlotte the Harlot Lay Dying" (1 text)
Cray-EroticMuse, p. 165, "(no title) (1 excerpt)
Roud #10130
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Charlotte the Harlot I, II, III, IV"
cf. "Charlotte the Harlot (V) (Carolina)"
NOTES [14 words]: Roud seems to lump this with "Life Presents a Dismal Picture." I'm not sure why. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: RuSoChHD

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2023 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

Retrieved from here: https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/RuSoChHD.html

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 07:46 PM

Les Cleveland in his 1959 book The Songs We Sang has a list of titles of unpublishable songs sung during WWII. He lists the song "A Drunken Old Harlot Lay Dying."

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 07:53 PM

A recording of Les Cleveland singing the song can be found on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_80pBlIKcc

A DRUNKEN OLD HARLOT LAY DYING

Oh, a dirty old harlot lay dying
A pisspot supporting her head
The bees and the flies were all buzzing
And these are the words that she said

I've been fucked by the English, the Irish,
The Yanks and the Maori boys too
Now that I'm in Kapacura [sp?]
I'm fucked by a bastard like you

So he pull out his greasy olf foreskin
He gave her the weight of his nuts
He rested his gob on her head-lamps
He played home sweet home on her guts

He says this was sung during in the New Zealand and Australian Armies during WWII and that the tune is a variant of "The Tarpaulin Jacket"

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 08:21 PM

The Dying Harlot

Though it bears little resemblance to its weepy forebearer, the ballad of the sailor dying at sea known variously as "(Wrap Me up in My) Tarpaulin Jacket," in fact, "The Dying Harlot" has a long history.

The probably 19th Century "Tarpaulin Jacket" was modified during the first world war to become a lament for a dying aviator. Two generations later, Australian, New Zealand, British and American fighter pilots had turned the pilot into a prostitute, and the lament had become screed like "Sam Hall."

These three versions are given as Number 136 in Paul Woodford's anthology of "Hash Hymns II," collected around the Pacific Basin, and printed in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1994, for use by hashers.

All three are sung to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.Squot;

[ A ]


Oh, a strapping young harlot lay dying
A pisspot supporting her head;
And all the young bludgers were 'round her;
As she leaned on her left tit and said;

"I've been stuffed by the Dutchies and Negroes^
I've been stuffed by the Spaniards so tall;
I've been stuffed by the English and Irish;
In fact; I've been fucked by them all.

"So wrap me in foreskins and FrenchieS;
And bury me deep down below;
Where all those young bludgers can't catch me;
The place where all good harlots go."

[ B ]

A dirty old harlot lay dying;
A pisspot supporting her head;
All around her the bludgers were crying;
As she leant on her left tit and said;

"I've been fucked by the French and the English;
The Germans; the Japs; and the Jews;
And now I've come back to Australia;
To be buggered by bastards like you;

"So haul back your filthy old foreskins;
And give me the pride of your nuts."
So they hauled back their filthy old foreskins;
And played "Home Sweet Home" on her guts.

[C]

The dirty old harlot lay dying;
A cunt-rag supported her head;
The blowflies around her were buzzing;
As she turned on her left tit and said;

"I've been fucked by the army and navy;
By a bull-fighting toreador;
By Abos and dingoes and dagoS;
But never by blowflies before."

From the Ed Cray collection: https://archive.org/details/ed-cray-collection-aka-erotic-muses-iii/page/n487/mode/2up?q=%22dying+harlot%22&view=theater

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 09:10 PM

One of the most popular Australian bush ballads was
THE DYING STOCKMAN, a local re-make of a British song
WRAP ME UP IN MY TARPAULILN JACKET or THE OLD STABLE
(SABLE) JACKET. The text lent itself to parody, and so we have also
had THE DYING SHEARER, THE DYING SETTLER, THE DYING BAGMAN,
THE DYING AVIATOR, THE DYING SLEEPER CUTTER and so on.

I first heard the DYING HARLOT in Geelong, c.1940 in a version
closest to that given here as No.l. It was very popular among
the lads of the area.

From Ron Edwards Australian Bawdy Ballads 1973. He quotes the three versions from Snatches and Lays.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 23 - 09:34 PM

CHARLOTTE THE HARLOT LAY DYING

Charlotte the harlot lay dying
A piss hat supported her head
The blowfloies were buzzing around her
She rolled o her left tit and said.

Chorus: I've been fucked by the army the navy
By a bullfighting toreador
By dingoes and drongoes and dagoes
But never by maggots before.
So roll back your dirty old forlskins
And give me the cream of your nuts
So they rolled back their dirty old foreskins
And played "Home sweet Home" on her guts.

Charlotte the harlot repented
She'd never have another bang
She wanted to go to heaven
She lay on her right tit and sang.

Chorus:

Charlotte the harlot was buried
The town was quieter than befoe
But one night at the local brothel
Her ghost it appeared at the door.

Chorus:

From the S.C.I.I.A.E.S. CENSORED SONGBOOK. May 1962, Melbourne.

Note: SCIIAES is the "Society for the Confinement of Immoral Impulses Amongst Engineering Students".

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 06 Mar 23 - 10:24 AM

Wasn’t there one of these bawdy ballads sung to the tune of ‘Sweet Betsy from Pike’, the last line of the chorus being “Charlotte the Harlot, the cow puncher’s whore”?

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 06 Mar 23 - 12:17 PM

Charlotte the Harlot the girl we adore
Charlotte the Harlot the cow puncher's whore.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 06 Mar 23 - 01:40 PM

Way down in Wyoming where the bullshit lies thick,
I was walking along with my hand on my prick,
When down from the mountains came the girl I adore,
Twas Charlotte the harlot the cowpuncher's whore.

This is from Hull, England, 1960s. Tune as said 'Sweet Betsy/Villikins'

There might have been a chorus
I had her, I had her, I had her, I-ay etc.

There are probably more verses but I'd need prompting.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: GUEST,Jerry
Date: 07 Mar 23 - 02:59 PM

Yes, that’s the one I was thinking of, and with that chorus.

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Mar 23 - 06:03 PM

Directly from the Mudcat lyrics list (I heard approximately this version 50 years ago.)


Way down on the prairie where cow plop is thick,
Where women are women and cowpokes cum quick;
There lived pretty Charlotte, the girl we adore,
The pride of the prairie, the cowpunchers' whore.

Cho: It's Charlotte the harlot,
The girl we adore,
The pride of the prairie,
The cowpunchers' whore.

She's dirty, she's vulgar, she spits in the street,
Why whenever you see her, she's always in heat.
She'll lay fur a dollar, take less or take more,
The pride of the prairie, the cowpunchers' whore.

One day in the canyon, no pants on her quim,
A rattlesnake saw her and flung himself in,
Charlotte the harlot gave cowboys the frights,
The only vagina that rattles and bites.

One day on the prairie, while riding along,
My seat in the saddle, the reins on my dong,
Who should I meet but the girl I adore
The pride of the prairie, the cowpunchers' whore.

I got off my pony, I reached for her crack,
The damn thing was rattling and biting me back
I took out my pistol; I aimed for its head
I missed the damned rattler and shot her instead.

Her funeral procession was forty miles long,
With a chorus of cowpunchers singing this song:
"Here lies a young maiden who never kept score
The pride of the prairie, the cowpunchers' whore."

From The Whorehouse Bells were Ringing, Logsdon
@bawdy @cowboy @death @animal
filename[ CHARLTT
TUNE FILE: VILDINAH
CLICK TO PLAY
RG

Subject: RE: Origins: The Dying Harlot (Charlotte the Harlot)
From: Lighter
Date: 07 Mar 23 - 07:13 PM

Oscar Brand. He recorded it on "Bawdy Western Songs" (1960).

His tune wasn't "Villikins," however.