05. And for which I'm sure she'll go to Hell
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No. 5
Two women used to sing a song opposite a
public house the sign of the Crooked Billet, at the
back of St Clements when it Church in the Strand. it was an open space, between Holywell Street and Wych Street.
The song was a description of a married man
who had a lecherous wife, it described his being a
pale fellow reduced by her to a skeleton. I can only
remember the two last lines.
“And for which I’am sure she’ll go to Hell
For she makes me fuck her in church time.”
I remember these words in consequence of the shout which was always set up as the song closed with them.
Annotations
I have been unable to trace further details of this song. The two women that Place remembers performing this song are likely the same women that performed "Sandman Joe". The space at the back of St Clement's Church, between Holywell Street and Wych Street, was a notorious area known for its obscene prints and rag shops. It was also just across the Strand from Arundel Street, where Place's father was the landlord of the King's Arms, so Place would have known the area well.