FROM MARBLE ARCH TO LEICESTER SQUARE
(Kenneth Lyle (m) Charles Knight (l) 1914)





I'm never the one to boast about the aristocrats I know;
In fact, I should be disgraced
For showing such beastly taste,
If ever I meet a Lord or Earl, I pass serenely by,
It isn't because I'm vain or proud, I'll tell you thev reason why.
Since I came down from Oxford, I've been aiming at higher things,
And now amongst my friends, I number Princes, Dukes, and Kings!

I know the Prince of Monaco;
He's a bosom friend of mine.
I've had cigars and ginger ales 
With the Duke of Baden Baden,
And the Prince of Wales.
I know the Emperor of Japan,
I've met the King of Spain, I do declare!
In fact, I know ev'ry public house
>From Marble Arch to Leicester Square.

Whenever a noble Lord goes down to open a church bazaar,
They greet him in regal state
As if he was someone great!
Supposing he condescends to shake the hand of someone there,
The johnnie whose hand he shook refrains from washing it for a year!
I've never open'd church bazaars it's awfully "infra dig",
But I'm nearly always present when they're closing the "Old Blue Pig"!

I know the Prince of Monaco;
He's a bosom friend of mine.
I've had cigars and ginger ales 
With the Duke of Baden Baden,
And the Prince of Wales.
I know the Emperor of Japan,
I've met the King of Spain, I do declare!
In fact, I know ev'ry public house
>From Marble Arch to Leicester Square.

My pater, they say, was just the same when he was as old as me.
He used to drink quarts of "cham"
With the fellow who ruled Siam!
They tell me that with the Duke of York his friendship was sublime,
He'd call at the house each morning yes and left there at closing time!
I like to do what father did, whenever the Duke's about.
I was there just after daybreak and they've only just thrown me out!

I know the Prince of Monaco;
He's a bosom friend of mine.
I've had cigars and ginger ales 
With the Duke of Baden Baden,
And the Prince of Wales.
I know the Emperor of Japan,
I've met the King of Spain, I do declare!
In fact, I know ev'ry public house
>From Marble Arch to Leicester Square.



(Contributed by Peter Akers - February 2016)