My page of snippets from Richard Murdoch's parodies on “Ballet Egyptien” is still bringing me versions that people remember, with a good deal of fondness it seems.

I thought I would see if any of Mr M's other poetic triumphs might surface, so here are a couple of starters — firstly, Edward White's “Runaway Rockinghorse” :

Aniseed balls are
Four for a penny
And it isn't very many
And they never do you any good.
A caraway seed costs less than a shilling
But it isn't half as filling
As a bread-and-butter pud

And another, this time to a tune I know well*, but for the life of me I can't remember the title! Oh well…

Mulligatawny soup is nice
Especially when it's made with ammonia
Isn't it strange
A Christmas Pud
Is never the place
To plant a begonia?

And later, to another strain:

Years ago I bought a joint of horse-meat
Mixed it up with force-meat
Balls…

* The tune turns out to be “Nola”, by Felix Arndt - Google is my friend…

Anybody know any more?

28th July, 2009

It took a while, but someone finally came up with a fragment! David Houston supplied:

Paddington Baths are where I learnt to swim on my back while sucking a peppermint.

David also supplied the final line:

That is the end of my song, and I think it's about time, too!

15th November 2011

Monica Jeffrey sent me an email message, in which she introduced another of Richard's tongue-twisting numbers: Khatchaturian's fast and furious Sabre Dance, from the ballet Gayane. There was a time when it was extremely popular in its orchestral form, cropping up frequently on record request programmes, so it's no surprise that our friend would have had a go at it! Sadly, Monica only recalls a fragment:

When I was very young I used to eat jam cakes and sponge….. and haricot beans and…
And all that I could do was go Urgh!

So — does anyone else have a couplet or two from Sabre Dance. lodged at the back of their brains?