It was Albert that started the problem,
With his ill-fated ‘osses ‘ead stick
And Wallace, the somnolent lion,
Who swallowed the lad double quick.
I grew up on Marriott Edgar,
And the musket Sam wouldn’t pick up,
And Lady Jane’s ghost with the cold dripping toast
Not to mention the Chippendale Mupp.
Dr Seuss was a firm childhood favourite,
Spike Milligan took up the rear,
But I always returned to young Albert
And the stick stuck in Wallace’s ear.
Yet it wasn’t a frivolous pastime,
As history seeped in as well
And I learned about t’ Battle of Hastings
In a way only Edgar could tell.
It isn’t from school I remember
All the glorious tales of my land,
But from reading of Harold at Hastings
“On his ‘oss with his ‘awk in his ‘and.”
And then there was Magna Carta
The first ever human rights bill,
That was signed there on Runnymede Island
With King John who was looking quite ill.
“And it’s through that there Magna Charter,
As were signed by the Barons of old,
That in England to-day we can do what we like,
So long as we do what we’re told.”
So I learned all the words to recite them,
And for Granddad and Grandma I’d stand
And tell of old Sam and his musket,
Then they’d smile and say, “Eeh, that were grand.”
‘Cause poetry’s rhyming and rhythm
Just takes up its home in your head,
And I’ll probably still recite Albert
On the day I’m supposed to be dead.
I’ll never be Wordsworth or Shakespeare,
But I notice a similar beat
In my verses to Marriott Edgar
And somehow that’s really quite neat.
For the bards would have always shared laughter
As well as the history and stuff.
And if one of my ditties can stick in a brain
For the poet in me… that’s enough.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
This is such a great poem, Sue. Struwwelpeter had a big influence on me as a child. I bought if for Greg and my MIL nearly had a heart attack but we still have it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter
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I can imagine… some of the early moral tales seem quite grim to modern eyes… but while adults might object,the children love them .
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The Magna Carta video is very funny!! Thanks for sharing it with us.
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I love these old pieces… all designed to be recited 🙂
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Oh how that takes me back to dad reciting
‘When Francis Drake was a warrior bold
The curse of the Spanish main…”
I went looking for it in 2016 and found it eventually but no idea where it really came from… (i even did a post on the hunt!)
And then there were the Ingolsby Legends from which he’d recite the Smuggler’s Leap, set around the villages of north Kent where we holidayed every year… thank you Sue for that memory trigger with your splendid poem
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Everyone could recite verses, once upon a time. I have fond memories of great grandad…
“I will admit ‘e ‘ad a nice black tie,
Black fingernails and a nice black eye;
But yer can’t see people orf when they die, In brahn boots!”
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Sue, that’s wonderful. I remember Albert and his stick, and can still recite it. The rhythm helps no end to remembering.
My Mum wrote humerous poems, too, and she often used that rhythm for them.
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It does stick, and influences future writing… and I am glad to carry a little of that forward 🙂
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I love a good poem… and these were wonderful!
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Thanks, Jaye…all special poems in my book 🙂
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Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie ~ Authors.
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
A History Lesson – Yorkshire style 😃
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😀
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We can do what we like as long as we do what we’re told…that’s just perfect. (K)
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That’s why I love these old poems… more than a grainof truth in their daftness sometimes 😉
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This was a fun post. I enjoyed it. Learned something, too! I didn’t know that the Magna Carta was signed in jam.
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Some versions of history are better than others 😉
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Yep! 😀
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🙂
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Brilliant, Sue. I remember Albert and his stick. When did kids stop learning to recite these?
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It was probably the advent of widespread TV ownership. The need to make your own entertainment disappeared. I bet my lads could still recite most of Albert though, purely from having listened to me so often as small boys 😉
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I love it. Stanley Holloway and his monologues are close to my heart as I grew up with my father reciting them. A long time ago I put together a show about life on the Home Front during WWII – Business as Usual – and we did Albert Evacuated. I say ‘we’ but it was one of the male actors although I would have adored doing it myself! I’m able to comment again by using Firefox.
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Lovely to see you pop up, Sarah!
I loved the monologues and my grandad and great grandad both recited them often… but then so did me and my Mum.
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Thank you for this amazing summary on poetry, Sue! I also learned a lot out of it. This with the jam and the Magna Carta is so funny. :-)) Have a beautiful weekend! Michael
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Thanks, Michael, glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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Thank you, Sue! I ‘d enjoyed very much.
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😀
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🤣
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I keep hearing about these wonderful childhood poems and stories that were unheard of in the U.S. We had good material too, mind you, but I think this would have been a winner for us, too.
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We all had to have our ‘party pieces’… things we could recite, like Alice reciting to the Caterpillar.
You can still find all the Marriot Edgar poems… as well as Stanley Holloway’s classic recordings of them… online and and Youtube 🙂
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I hadn’t seen this before – it reminds me of a Jumbly – we have a book of jumblies, nonsense rhymes that are fun. And I don’t blame that lion for swallowing young Albert double quick!
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Children love this kind of thing and it does stay with you… I learned lot from this kind of nonsense 🙂
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Love it!
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🙂
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