Lyr Add: She Was Poor But She Was Honest

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: She Was Poor But She Was Honest
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Feb 14 - 12:59 PM

Kim, there is a thread on this well-known song. Your version should be transferred there.
There are also two versions in the DT.

While the Rich Man Rides By... is another title.

Subject: Lyr Add: She Was Poor But She Was Honest
From: GUEST,Kim
Date: 20 Feb 14 - 05:12 AM

She Was Poor But She was Honest

She was poor but she was honest,
Victim of the squire's whim;
First 'e loved 'er, then 'e left 'er
And she lost 'er name through 'im.

Then she ran away to London
For to 'ide 'er grief and shame;
But she met another squire
And she lost 'er name again.

See 'er rridin' in 'er carriage
In the park and all so gay
Where the nibs and nobby persons
Come to pass the time o' day.

See a little old world cottage
Where the aged parents live;
Drinking the Champagne she sends them
But they never can forgive.

In the rich man's arms she flutters,
Like a bird with broken wing;
But then callously he left 'er
And she 'asn't got a ring.

See 'im in the 'Ouse of Commons
Makin' laws to put down crime,
While the girl that 'e 'as ruined
Trails'er way through mud and slime.

See 'er at the bridge at midnight
Whispering: "Farewell, blighted love!"
Then a scream, A splash, Good 'Eavens!
What is she a'doin' of?

Then they fished 'er from the river,
From 'er clothes the water rung,
And they thought that she'd been drownded
But the corpse got up and sung:

It's the same the 'ole world over;
It's the poor what gets the blame;
It's the rich what gets the pleasure;
Ain't it all a bloody shame!
** Note to the reader: I heard the lyrics from a woman when a member of a folk club. It's sung in a sort of cockney dialect, hence the letter H is dropped. Words like "shame and blame should be sung with a long I as in the word chime. The word "ruined" should also be sung with the long I. Should the word "away". The music for the text is the same which you might see in the digital tradition. The only difference is that the last verse which might be considered as a chorus between verses wasn't sung that way by the woman who sang it. This is the most complete version of the song I've heard, though I did hear another one on an album by Elsa Lanchester.