Burlington Bertie from Bow

DESCRIPTION: "I'm Bert, p'raps you've heard of me, Bert, you've had word of me, Jogging along, hearty and strong, Living on plates of fresh air." "I'm Burlington Bertie, I rise at ten thirty And saunter along like a toff." He he has no shirt, but he makes a good show
AUTHOR: William Hargreaves (source: FolkSongAndMusicHall)
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (FolkSongAndMusicHall)
KEYWORDS: hardtimes clothes poverty
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Pegler-SoldiersSongsAndSlangoftheGreatWar, pp. 256-258, "Burlington Bertie" (1 text)
FolkSongAndMusicHall, "Burligton Bertie from Bow"
Roud #31101
NOTES [183 words]: William Hargreaves wrote this for his then-wife, Ella Shields, who was noteworthy for doing her entire music hall routine dressed as a man.
Richard Anthony Baker, British Music Hall: An Illustrated History, 2014 (I use the 2020 Pen & Sword paperback edition), pp. 174-175, reports that Shields (Ella Catherine Buscher, 1879-1952) was an American by birth who had started out in blackface. She moved to Britain in 1904 and came to be regarded as English even though her American accent never entirely disappeared. She married William Hargreaves in 1906 (they would divorce in 1923) and started performing entirely in men's clothing in 1910. She first sang this song in 1914.
There was a parody sung by Vesta Tilley (another male impersonator, and one who had been dressing in boys' clothes since she was a five-year-old performer -- women pretending to be men was Thing in the British Music Hall. Tilley -- Matilda Alice Powles, 1864-1952 -- became one of the greatest of music hall performers). The parody was also called "Burlington Bertie," and it also became a hit; it was by Harry B. Norris. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.2
File: PSoS256

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