"Burlington Bertie" is a music hall

Music hall

Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

 song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 composed by Harry B. Norris in 1900 and sung by Vesta Tilley

Vesta Tilley

Matilda Alice Powles , was an English male impersonator. At the age of 11, she adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley becoming the most famous and well paid music hall male impersonator of her day...

. It concerns an aristocratic

Aristocracy (class)

The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...

 young idler who pursues a life of leisure in the West End of London

West End of London

The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...

.

This song was parodied in the now-much-better-known "Burlington Bertie from Bow" (1915) credited to William Hargreaves

William Hargreaves

William Hargreaves was an English composer, mainly of songs for the music hall. His most famous composition was Burlington Bertie From Bow in 1916 but he also wrote Delaney's Donkey, I Know Where the Flies Go , PC 49, We All Went Marching Home Again, They Built Piccadilly For Me and Give My...

 and sung by his wife, Ella Shields

Ella Shields

Ella Shields was a music hall singer and male-impersonator. Her famous signature song, "Burlington Bertie from Bow", written by her manager and first husband, William Hargreaves, was an immediate hit. Though American-born, Ella achieved her greatest success in England.-Biography:Ella Shields was...

, who performed the song whilst dressed in male attire

Drag king

Drag kings are mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of their performance. A typical drag king routine may incorporate dancing and singing, live as in the Momma's Boyz of San Francisco's performances or lip-synching...

. Unlike the original song, Bertie's pretensions to gentility are belied by his residence in Bow

Bow, London

Bow is an area of London, England, United Kingdom in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a built-up, mostly residential district located east of Charing Cross, and is a part of the East End.-Bridges at Bowe:...

, in the poverty-stricken East End of London

East End of London

The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...

, though his status as an idler ironically links him to the leisured aristocratic class, who reside in the West End

West End of London

The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...

.

Betty Grable

Betty Grable

Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...

 in the part of vaudevillian Myrtle McKinley Burt performed the song in the musical film Mother Wore Tights

Mother Wore Tights

Mother Wore Tights is a 1947 musical film starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey as married vaudeville performers. This was Grable and Dailey's first film together, based on a book of the same name by Miriam Young. It was the highest grossing film of Grable's career up to that time, earning more...

(1947).

Julie Andrews

Julie Andrews

Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...

, also dressed in male attire, gave another rendition of the song in the film Star!

Star! (film)

Star! is a 1968 American musical film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by William Fairchild is based upon the life and career of British performer Gertrude Lawrence.-Plot:...

(1968).

It was sung on episode 201 of The Muppet Show

The Muppet Show

The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...

 by a custom Bertie Muppet performed by Jerry Nelson

Jerry Nelson

Jerry Nelson is an American Muppet puppeteer, known for his wide range of characters, singing abilities, and his frequent partnership with Richard Hunt.-Early years:...

.

At the Royal Variety Performance

Royal Variety Performance

The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance...

 in 1981, it was performed in the customary male evening dress by Anita Harris

Anita Harris

Anita Harris is an English actress, singer and entertainer....

, who brought the house down with the line "I've just had a banana with Lady Diana" from the Buckingham Palace verse of the song. Although the Diana was originally Lady Diana Cooper

Lady Diana Cooper

Lady Diana Cooper, Viscountess Norwich was an English socialite and actress.-Birth and youth:Born Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners, she was officially the youngest daughter of the 8th Duke of Rutland and his wife, the former Violet Lindsay, but Lady Diana's real father was widely supposed...

, Prince Charles had married Lady Diana Spencer earlier in the year.

The two songs about Burlington Bertie are both predecessors of Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...

's song "A Couple of Swells". In all three songs, a woman dressed in a ragged form of male finery brags about how well connected in society "he" is, while clearly demonstrating an actual state of poverty.

Recordings

A CD transfer recording of "Burlington Bertie from Bow" performed by Ella Shields is available from Windyridge.

Lyrics of "Burlington Bertie from Bow"

I'm Bert

P'raps you've heard of me

Bert

You've had word of me,

Plodding along

Hearty and strong

Living on plates of fresh air

I dress up in fashion

And when I am feeling depressed

I shave from my cuff all the whiskers and fluff

Stick my hat on and toddle up West

I'm Burlington Bertie I rise at ten thirty

and saunter along like a toff

I walk down the Strand

Strand, London

Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...

 with my gloves on my hand

Then I walk down again with them off

I'm all airs and graces, correct easy paces

Without food so long, I've forgot where my face is

I'm Bert, Bert, I haven't a shirt

But my people are well off you know.

Nearly everyone knows me from Smith to Lord Rosebr'y

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, KG, PC was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny.Rosebery was a Liberal Imperialist who...

,

I'm Burlington Bertie from Bow

Bow, London

Bow is an area of London, England, United Kingdom in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a built-up, mostly residential district located east of Charing Cross, and is a part of the East End.-Bridges at Bowe:...

.

I stroll

With Lord Hurlington,

Roll

In The Burlington

Call for Champagne

Walk out again

Come back and borrow the ink

I live most expensive

Like Tom Lipton I'm in the swim

He's got so much 'oof' he sleeps on the roof

And I live in the room over him.

I'm Burlington Bertie I rise at ten thirty

And saunter along Temple Bar

Temple Bar, London

Temple Bar is the barrier marking the westernmost extent of the City of London on the road to Westminster, where Fleet Street becomes the Strand...

As round there I skip

I keep shouting "Pip Pip!"

And the darn'd fools think I'm in my car

At Rothschild's

Rothschild banking family of England

The Rothschild banking family of England was founded in 1798 by Nathan Mayer von Rothschild who first settled in Manchester but then moved to London. Nathan was sent there from his home in Frankfurt by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild...

 I swank it

My body I plank it

On his front door step with The Mail for a blanket

I'm Bert, Bert, and Rothschild was hurt

He said "You can't sleep there" I said "Oh"

He said "I'm Rothschild, sonny!" I said "That's damn'd funny,

I'm Burlington Bertie from Bow"

I smile

Condescendingly

While they're extending me

Cheer upon cheer

When I appear

Captain with my polo team

So strict are my people

They're William the Conqueror's strain

If they ever knew I'd been talking to you

Why they'd never look at me again

I'm Burlington Bertie I rise at ten thirty

And reach Kempton Park

Kempton Park Racecourse

Kempton Park Racecourse is a horse racing track in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, which is a western suburb of London 16 miles from the city centre. The site is set in of land....

 around three

I stand by the rail, when a horse is for sale

And you ought to see Wooton watch me

I lean on some awning while Lord Derby

Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby

Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby KG, GCB, GCVO, TD, PC, KGStJ, JP , known as Lord Stanley from 1893 to 1908, was a British soldier, Conservative politician, diplomat and racehorse owner. He was twice Secretary of State for War and also served as British Ambassador to...

's yawning

Then he bids two thousand and I bid "Good Morning

I'm Bert, Bert, I'd buy one, a Cert

But where would I keep it you know

I can't let my man see me in bed with a gee-gee

I'm Burlington Bertie from Bow!

My pose,

Tho' ironical

Shows

That my monocle

Holds up my face, keeps it in place,

Stops it from slipping away.

Cigars, cigars,

I smoke thousands,

I usually deal in The Strand

But you've got to take care when you're getting them there

Or some idiot might step on your hand.

I'm Burlington Bertie I rise at ten thirty

And Buckingham Palace I view.

I stand in the yard while they're changing the guard

And the queen shouts across "Toodle oo"!

The Prince of Wales' brother along with some other

Slaps me on the back and says "Come and see Mother"

I'm Bert, Bert, and royalty's hurt,

When they ask me to dine I say no.

I've just had a banana with Lady Diana

Lady Diana Cooper

Lady Diana Cooper, Viscountess Norwich was an English socialite and actress.-Birth and youth:Born Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners, she was officially the youngest daughter of the 8th Duke of Rutland and his wife, the former Violet Lindsay, but Lady Diana's real father was widely supposed...

I'm Burlington Bertie from Bow.

Gambling terminology

In gambling terminology, or Tic-tac

Tic-tac

Tic-tac is a traditional method of signs used by bookmakers to communicate the odds of certain horses. It is still used in on-course betting in the UK...

, "Burlington Bertie" is rhyming slang for the fractional odds of 10/3, which is normally referred to as "one hundred to thirty".