Origins: When Lady Jane Became a Tart

Subject: Origins: When Lady Jane Became a Tart
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Jul 24 - 02:16 PM

Gwyneth Try talking about this piece before the Singaround Monday. Here are the DT lyrics. Gwyneth knows it as a much longer recitation.

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WHEN LADY JANE BECAME A TART

It fairly broke the family's heart,
When Lady Jane became a tart,
But blood is blood and race is race,
And so to save the family face,
They bought her an expensive flat,
With "Welcome" written on the mat.

It was not long ere Lady Jane,
Brought her patrician charms to fame,
A clientele of sahibs pukka,
Who regularly came to fuck 'er,
And it was whispered without malice,
She had a client from the Palace.

No one could nestle in her charms,
Unless he wore ancestral arms,
No one to her could gain an entry,
Unless he were of the landed gentry,
And so before her sun had set,
She'd worked her way through Debrett.

When Lady Anne became a whore,
It grieved the family even more,
But they felt they couldn't do the same,
As they had done for Lady Jane,
So they bought her an exclusive beat,
On the shady side of Jermyn Street.

When Lord St. Clancy became a nancy,
It did not please the family's fancy,
And so in order to protect him,
They did inscribe upon his rectum,
"All commoners must now drive steerage,
This fucking hole is reserved for peerage."

Melody:Those in Peril on the Sea
@royalty @bawdy
filename[ JANETART
TUNE FILE: PERILSEA
CLICK TO PLAY
PW

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And the Ballad Index entry:

When Lady Jane Became a Tart

DESCRIPTION: "It fairly broke the family's heart When Lady Jane became a tart," but family is family, so they support her vocation and arrange a fine location for her; she attracts many clients. When other family members follow in her path, the family has more trouble
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1967 (Morgan/Green-RugbySongs)
KEYWORDS: whore work family nobility
FOUND IN: Britain(England)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Morgan/Green-RugbySongs, pp. 176-177, "When Lady Jane Became a Tart" (1 text)
Roud #10152
File: RuSoWhLJ

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Anybody have the version from the rugby book?

Subject: RE: Origins: When Lady Jane Became a Tart
From: Lighter
Date: 22 Jul 24 - 03:54 PM

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.”