Comments on: Caught Bending at Hastings

By: dw

dw — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 01:03:55 +0000

Knees down, Mother Brown!I always liked this version from the Scaffold. Bit of class comemntary. Oops.

http://www.myspace.com/scaffoldbelgrade/music/songs/knees-down-mother-brown-1998-digital-remaster-35887840

By: Malcolm Jude

Malcolm Jude — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 23:55:31 +0000

Knees up, Mother Brown!

By: Linda

Linda — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:04:47 +0000

It was a popular catch phrase, appeared in Edwardian music hall songs. Originally sexual in meaning it was later adopted more widely and used innocently and in humour to mean ‘just give me the opportunity and I’ll take advantage of you’. You’ll find countless comic postcards of the era with the phrase illustrated.

Now, here’s a verse that you should remember..

Knees up Mother Brown!

Knees up Mother Brown!
Knees up Mother Brown!
Under the table you must go
Ee-i-ee-i-ee-i-oh!
**If I catch you bending**,
I’ll saw your legs right off,
Knees up! Knees Up!
Don’t get the breeze up,
Knees up Mother Brown!

Oh My! What a rotten song!
What a rotten song!
Oh, What a rotten song!
Oh My! What a rotten song!
What a rotten singer too!

Knees up Mother Brown!
Knees up Mother Brown!
Under the table you must go
Ee-i-ee-i-ee-i-oh!
If I catch you bending,
I’ll saw your legs right off,
Knees up! Knees Up!
Don’t get the breeze up,
Knees – up – Mother – Brown!
Ow’s yer farver? All right!

By: Sue

Sue — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:18:01 +0000

Hmm. I don’t get that either. What did bending used to mean? Is it related to “bender” now (either to be one or to go on one)?

But I too have a collection of old postcards where the joke is difficult to find. There’s a whole series where if you don’t know one particular popular song from the 1870s, they make NO SENSE WHATSOEVER – and others where I just think “that used to be funny?!” It’s like old editions of Punch: I don’t think we necessarily have the same sense of humour now.