Mrs Webb didn't live at Malvern, but at Bath. Henry Hammond rented rooms from her while visiting the area. She was from Kings Norton, and had learned her songs in Worcestershire; though county boundaries have changed since then and Kings Norton is now in Warwickshire. The Beautiful Landlady I come before you with a blush My beauty's thought so rare And from an infant such my charms They made the people stare Such a beauty I did grow Such a beauty I did grow. My shape was never match'd before Nor ever will be, poz And you may guess by what I am The kind of thing I was. I learnt my manners so complete That widows, maids and wives They all declar'd they never saw Such manners in their lives. Now of that house I'm landlady So you must suppose And double my attraction, for I draw both BEER and BEAUX. My beer I have from Golden Lane From Booth's too I have in That filthy stuff I cannot name Tho' you may call it Gin. All flock around me and admire I such a figure cut The BEAUX they calls me charms Intire The Ladies say all-butt. Permit me now to take my leave And judge from what you see And then you'll own that Venus was A different thing from me. Printed between 1802 and 1819 by J Pitts, Seven Dials, London. Madden Collection, Cambridge University Library. Quoted here from Roy Palmer, A Taste of Ale. Lechlade: Green Branch Press 2000, 67-68.
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