Well, if whatever "free-thinkers" in Verse Two lure maidens to, rhymes with "as well," then it may as well be "to he - ell!"

Villein! It is a long time since I learned and forgot that word. Naturally that is the word...no wonder I was stumped on Chorus Three.

And I never would have known keel-hauling.

Bring back the stocks? Fair enough. For some reason I thought that word, on the recording, had a French nasal vowel in it, so it might not even be English....fanciful of me. Your suggestion is better.


So, Charmion, now you know where to find this song....on the "Hat-Trick" set. Must personally admit that although "Bring Back the Birch" is a find, I love, amongst the set's four discs, the fourth "bonus" disc which has lousy sound quality but is like an aural version of home-movies, with home-made recordings done by the song-writing team themselves. But then I am delighted to hear an actual live performance of Max Adrian et al. in "Guide to Britten" from "Airs on a Shoestring."

This is Flanders without Swann, but have you come across "Foie Gras," also referred to as "Gluttony"? When it was set to music, it was by Joseph Horowitz, he of "Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo." I can't find the song. Comments have it that this lyric is "savage."