From the Grenadier to the Beer Shop (via Mickey Mouse and Pussy Cat) February 5, 2014
Author: Beach Combing | in : Contemporary, Modern , trackback
***Thanks to Mike L for drawing my attention to this classic series***
In Henry Carey’s Namby Pamby published in 1726 there is the following verse
Now he acts the Grenadier,
Calling for a Pot of Beer:
Where’s his Money? He’s forgot:
Get him gone, a Drunken Sot.
Now consider, instead, this rhyme collected two hundred years late in 1954 in York, where it was used for skipping.
I had a little beer shop
A man walked in.
I asked him what he wanted.
A bottle of gin.
Where’s your money?
In my pocket.
Where’s your pocket?
I forgot it.
Please walk out.
What is the connection between the two? Well, there is, at first glance, no connection, save for that line about the money, but actually they are the same poem mutated through almost fifty generation of children. (One of the observations of the Opies, British collectors of children’s lore, from whose publication these poems and the subsequent ones are taken, is that there is a constant turnover of children of age ready to sing skipping rhymes. The result is that if there are four generations in a century there are twenty generations of children over the same period.) Now watch the evolution of ‘Now he acts the Grenadier’ as it ricochets down the centuries like a silver shilling bouncing down the sides of a well. Remember that what happened to the grenadier happens to stories, anecdotes and, most terrifyingly, history.
1774
Whoes there
A Granidier
What dye want
A Pint of Beer.
Whoes there
A Granidier
What dye want
A Pint of Beer.
1780
Who comes here?
A Grenadier.
What do you want?
A Pot of Beer.
Where is your Money?
I’ve forgot.
Get you gone you drunken Sot.
[tragically the nineteenth century is a blank]
C. 1907
Eenty, teenty, tuppenny bun,
Pitching tatties doon the lum;
Who’s there ?
John Blair.
What does he want?
A bottle of beer.
Where’s your money? I forgot.
Go downstairs, you drunken sot.
C. 1910
Far are ye gaein’?
Across the gutter.
Fat for?
A pund o’ butter.
Far’s yer money?
In my pocket.
Far’s yer pocket?
Clean forgot it!
1916
Rat a tat tat, who is that?
Only grandma’s pussy-cat.
What do you want?
A pint of milk.
Where’s your money?
In my pocket.
Where is your pocket?
I forgot it. O you silly pussy-cat.
1939
A frog, walked into a public house
And asked for a pint of beer.
Where’s your money?
In my pocket.
Where’s Your pocket ?
I forgot it.
Well, please walk out.
1943
Rat tat tat, who is that ?
Only Mrs. Pussy Cat.
What do you want?
A pint of milk.
Where’s your penny?
In my pocket. Where’s your pocket?
I forgot it.
Please walk out.
1950
Mickey Mouse In a public house
Drinking pints of beer.
Where’s your money?
In my pocket.
Where’s your pocket?
I forgot it.
Please walk out.
1952
A monkey came to my shop
I asked him what he wanted.
A loaf, sir. A loaf, sir.
Where’s your money?
In my pocket.
Where’s your pocket?
I ain’t got it.
Well, out you bunk.
1952
A pig walked into a public house
And asked for a drink of beer.
Where’s your money, sir ?
In my pocket, sir.
Where’s your pocket, sir?
In my jacket, sir.
Where’s your jacket, sir ?
I forgot it, sir.
Please walk out.
And then finally to the York poem.
1954
I had a little beer shop
A man walked in.
I asked him what he wanted.
A bottle of gin.
Where’s your money?
In my pocket.
Where’s your pocket?
I forgot it.
Please walk out.
Other examples of oral wear and tear? drbeachcombing AT yahoo DOT com It would also be interesting to see if there are any more recent versions of this rhyme featuring Harry Potter or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
