Lyr Add: The Bee Proffers Honey but Bears a Sting

25 Mar 05 - 11:42 AM (#1443530)
Subject: Lyr Add: The Bee Proffers Honey but Bears a Sting
From: Jim Dixon

I found this while searching for DON'T TOUCH THE BUMBLE BEE (requested in another thread). There are enough similarities to make me think there might be a connection between this song and the one requested, but enough differences to deserve its own thread.

Transcribed from an image at Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, which has several imprints that are quite consistent in wording. The number of imprints, and the existence of a parody, testify to its popularity. They are all from the early 19th century. I have modernized the spelling and punctuation.

THE BEE PROFFERS HONEY BUT BEARS A STING

A knight of a gay and a gallant mien
On a milk-white courser came.
In his hat was a lady's favour seen,
For innocence knows no shame.
And he tapped at the fair lady's bower with glee.
She heard, but impatience to mar.
When he cried, "Fair lady, come ride with me,"
She answered him with her guitar:
"Tink-a-tink, tink-a-tink, tink-a-tink, ting,
The bee proffers honey, but bears a sting."

A knight with a dark and a scowling brow
On a coal-black steed came by.
He heard the two lovers exchanging a vow,
And fury gave fire to his eye.
But he courteously said, "If you're crossed in love,
And would bear the fair lady afar,
My sword and my service are yours to prove,"
But the lady she played her guitar:
"Tink-a-tink, tink-a-tink, tink-a-tink, ting,
The bee proffers honey, but bears a sting."

The knight so gallant disappeared that day
And never was heard of more,
And the sable knight made a proud display
Of the favour that gallant knight wore.
The lady he wooed, but he gained no grace,
And joy from his bosom went far,
For the honey of hope to guilt's sting gave place,
And conscience still played the guitar:
"Tink-a-tink, tink-a-tink, tink-a-tink, ting,
The bee proffers honey, but bears a sting."

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25 Mar 05 - 11:47 AM (#1443535)
Subject: Lyr Add: PARODY ON THE BEE PROFFERS HONEY
From: Jim Dixon

The Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads has this both as a typeset broadside and as an engraving. I wish I understood the slang better.

PARODY ON THE BEE PROFFERS HONEY
(London, 1812)

A kid of a boozy staggering mien
On a long-eared donkey came.
In his hat was a slaughter-house candle seen,
For slaughtermen knows no shame.
And he tapped at a fish-lady's door with glee,
Who'd been crying of sprats near and far,
And cried, "Moll Dab, come get drunk with me,"
But she promised his singing to mar
With "Fol-de-rol, tol-de-rol, hubbaboo, whack,
If you don't make a bolt, I'll tip you a crack."

A kid with his eyes beat black in a row
On his shoeless feet came by,
And he saw the fair damsel fulfilling her vow
By bunging the slaughterman's eye,
But he roguishly said, "If a lark you love,
And would morrish the fish-fag afar,
My bottom and science I'm willing to prove,
And the phiz of a scout quickly scar.
With fol-de-rol, tol-de-rol, hubbaboo, whack,
Oh, I am the boy for a mill or a crack!"

The boozy kid got milled that day,
If he never got milled before,
And the black-eyed kid cut a swell, they say,
With the apron the slaughterman wore.
The fish-fag he wooed, but she smacked his face,
And he to St. Giles's went far,
Where the song and the dance at midnight gave place
To a row and a general spar.
With fol-de-rol, tol-de-rol, hubbaboo, whack,
Oh, they are the boys for a mill or a crack!"

[Phiz = physiognomy = face.]

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25 Mar 05 - 01:38 PM (#1443642)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The Bee Proffers Honey but Bears a Sting
From: Malcolm Douglas

A song from the Sadlers Wells stage show The Council of Ten, or, The Lake of the Grotto (c.1806). Words by Charles Dibdin junior, music by William Reeve. Sheet music is at Lester Levy:

The Bee Proffers Honey. A Favorite Ballad.

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