You’ve ‘eard ‘ow young Albert Ramsbottom,
In the zoo up at Blackpool one year,
With a stick with an ‘orse’s ‘ead ‘andle,
Gave a lion a poke in the ear.

The name of the lion was Wallace,
The poke in the ear made ‘im wild;
And before you could say "Bobs your Uncle",
‘E’d up and ‘e’d swallered the child.

‘E were sorry the moment ‘e’d done it,
With children ‘e’d always been chums,
And besides, ‘e’d no teeth in ‘is nodle,
And ‘e couldn’t chew Albert on't gums.

‘E could feel the lad moving inside ‘im,
As ‘e lay on ‘is bed of dried ferns,
And it might ‘ave been little lads birthday,
‘E wished ‘im such ‘appy returns.

But Albert kept kickin' and fightin',
Till Wallace arose feeling bad,
And felt it were time that ‘e started
To stage a come-back for the lad.

So with ‘is ‘ead down in a corner,
On ‘is front paws ‘e started to walk,
And ‘e coughed and ‘e sneezed and ‘e gargled,
Till Albert shot out like a cork.

Old Wallace felt better direc’ly,
And ‘is figure once more became lean,
But the only difference with Albert,
Was ‘is face and ‘is ‘ands were clean.

Meanwhile Mr. and Mrs. Ramsbottom,
‘Ad gone ‘ome to their tea feeling blue,
Ma says, "I feel down in the mouth like."
Pa says, "Aye! I bet Albert does too."

Said Ma, "It just goes for to show yer
That the future is never revealed,
If I thought we was going to lose ‘im,
I’d ‘ave not ‘ad ‘is boots soled and ‘eeled."

"Let's look on the bright side" Said Father,
"What can’t be ‘elped must be endured,
Every cloud ‘as a silvery lining,
And we did ‘ave young Albert insured."

A knock at the door came that moment,
As Father these kind words did speak,
‘Twas the man from Prudential, ‘e’d called for
Their "tuppence per person per week".

When Father saw who ‘ad been knocking,
‘E laughed and ‘e kept laughing so,
That the young man said, "What’s there to laugh at?"
Pa said, "You’ll laugh an’ all when you know"

"Excuse ‘im for laughing" said Mother,
"But really things ‘appen so strange,
Our Albert’s been et by a lion,
You’ve got to pay us for a change."

Said the young feller from the Prudential,
"Now, come come, let’s understand this,
You don’t mean to say that you’ve lost ‘im?"
Ma says, "Oh no! We know where ‘e is."

When the young man ‘ad ‘eard all the details,
A bag from ‘is pocket ‘e drew.
And ‘e paid them with int’rest and bonus,
The sum of nine pound four and two.

Pa ‘ad scarce got ‘is ‘and on the money,
When a face at the window they see,
And Mother says, "Eeh! Look It’s Albert"
And Father says, "Aye, it would be."

Young Albert came in all excited,
And started ‘is story to give,
And Pa says, "I’ll never trust lions -
again, Not as long as I live."

The young feller from the Prudential,
To pick up the money began,
And Father says, "Eeh! Just a moment,
Don’t be in ‘urry young man."

Then giving young Albert a shilling
He said "Pop off back to the zoo.
‘Ere’s yer stick with ‘orses ‘ead ‘andle,
Go an’ see what tigers can do!"

Marriott Edgar