This was one of my father's party pieces too. I still have a copy - in terrible condition, I'm afraid, of the book of Recitations from which it comes. I'm interested in the different attitudes displayed above. Obviously the Reddish fire brigade saw the funny side. My father's family were from the same area - Romiley. So maybe it was known locally rather than nationally.

I'll give it an airing at our next folk night on the 17 March! We are a very unpolitically correct audience. Imagine delinquent geriatrics or your grandma's palour and you'll get the idea.

Thanks for all the information - Frances