“His Lordship Had a Coachman”
Description
His Lordship discharges coachman John. John claims to be the finest coachman alive. To demonstrate, "I'll drive you all around Belfast town, And I won't go through a street." His Lordship agrees John can keep his job if he succeeds. John keeps his job.
Notes
Leyden: "The song dates from 1888 when the Lord Mayor was Sir James Horner Haslett." The trick to the song is that it "takes us all around Belfast without going through a single street!" So, the tour goes up Rugby Road, down Agincourt Avenue, South Parade, Carrickfergus Way, King Street Mews, Glengall Place, and the like. - BS
Jonathan Bardon, _A History of Ulster_, Blackstaff Press, 1992, first mentions Haslett on pp. 382-383 as MP for West Belfast, defeated in the "home rule" election of 1886 by Catholic votes. He became Lord Mayor not too long after, for he greeted Queen Victoria when she visited the city in 1888. He later went back to parliament as the member from North Belfast, and died in office in 1905. - RBW
References
- Leyden 9, "His Lordship Had a Coachman" (1 text, 1 tune)
- BI, Leyd009