Brummy Dustcart Song

This song was found in a rather wonderful book called "A Walk Down Summer Lane" by
John Douglas. Summer lane was one of the roughest back to back slum roads in
Birmingham in the early 1900's. Today we tend to ridicule the high rise blocks of flats in
Birmingham, this book provides a reminder of the awful slum conditions that they
replaced.

This song goes to the famous skiffle tune of My old mans a dustman, and was probably
sung as an addendum to the normal words.

The Corporation dustcart
Was full up to the brim
The corporation driver
Fell in and could not swim
He sank right to the bottom
Just like a lump of stone
Yo' could here the fishes singing
There ain't no place like 'ome

Down in Summer Lane
There are some dirty wimmin
If yo' want to go with them
Yo' ave ter pay a shillin
Soldiers 'alf a crown
Sailors 'alf a guinea
Big fat men, two pound ten

From the following PDF: www.willowsfolk.co.uk/archive/Brummy Dustcart Song.pdf which was retrieved 27 August 2004. The link is no longer valid.

The book mentioned in this PDF is A Walk Down Summer Land, 1977, by John Douglas. I haven't been able to verify reference in the book for the song & tune.