A London Diversion (part two)

The Lord Mayor's Coachman continues on his way...

"Up to Old Bailey then he goes on to the Viaduct,

Up Holborn and High Holborn, there was nothing to obstruct,

When 'Now you're going up Oxford Street',  the Lord Mayor shouts again,

But John said 'I don't go that way! I go down Drury Lane.'

Down Drury Lane, Long Acre, and St. Martin's Lane he drives,

And thus to keep out of a street he artfully contrives,

And when they reach Trafalgar Square, the Lord Mayor in a pet,

Said, 'Dash my wig and barnacles! I think he'll do it yet.'

John nearly drove into the Strand, then stopped as if in doubt,

And the Lord Mayor said, 'I'm not surprised to find that you're put out.

Through Parliament Street you must go, or else cross Cockspur Street,

It's very hard, but still you must acknowledge your defeat,'

But John turned back and said, 'My Lord, I don't much think I shall,

If you ask me, I think you'll find I'm going down Pall Mall',

Then round the Square the coachman goes and drives at racing rate,

Goes through Pall Mall, into the Park to Buckingham Palace straight.

Chorus:

The Coachman gave the Lord Mayor, the Lord Mayor, the Lord Mayor,

The Coachman gave the Lord Mayor a curious kind of treat,

He drove him from the Mansion House, the Mansion House, the Mansion House

From Mansion House to Buck'n'am Palace and didn't go through a street."

Song by Harry Hunter and David Day, 1896
Historians of London  Stanley Rubinstein

"The Lord Mayor's Coachman" -- a London diversion (part one)

"The Lord Mayor had a Coachman, and the Coachman's name was John,
Said the Lord Mayor to the Coachman, 'Take your wages and be-gone,
I want a better driver, for I'm going to see the Queen',
Said John, 'I am the finest Coachman that was ever seen,
And if you'll let me drive today I'll show I can't be beat,
For I'll drive to Buckingham Palace and I won't go through a street'.

'You must be mad',  the Lord Mayor said, 'but still I'll humour you,
But remember that you lose your place, the first street you go through'.

The Coachman jumped upon his box and settled in his seat,
And started up the Poultry, which we know's not called a street,
Then up Cheapside he gaily went, the bobbies cleared the course,
To the statue of the Bobby who first organized the force,
'Why you're going into Newgate Street', the Lord Mayor loudly bawls
But John said 'Tuck your tupp'ny in, I'm going round St. Paul's!'

'Well, round St. Paul's means Ludgate Hill and Fleet Street, John!' said he,
But John said, 'No! down Ludgate Hill and up the Old Bailey'. "

The Lord Mayor's Coachman  or,  the Man Who Knew How to Drive  (part I)

Lyrics by Harry Hunter,  music by David Day, 1896
(see  Historians of London  Stanley Rubinstein)