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The Lord Mayor Had a Coachman - poem

  • Thread starter Thread starter maxwell bullivant
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maxwell bullivant

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Some years back i was "challenged" by a retired policeman from Tenbury Wells, to prove i was a "Proper Brummy", to recite The Lord Mayors Coachman, which a Brummy friend of his fathers,both Policemen, used to recite when drunk.!
I had never heard of the poem/song, so i got in touch with Carl Chinn, by post in those days, and received the attached.
I hope you enjoy. Max

(Replacement. )

The Lord Mayor had a coachman and the coachman's name was John.
Said his lordship to the coachman, "Take your wages and begone.
I want a better coachman, for I'm going to take a drive."
Said John, "I am the finest coachman you will find alive.
And if you let me drive today I'll show I can't be beat.
I'll drive you all round Birmingham and won't go through a street."
Said his lordship, "John you must be mad but still I'll humour you.
But remember that you lose your place the first street you go through."

The mayor jumped in his carriage and the coachman on his seat.
He then drove down Victoria Road which we know is not a street.
Lozells Road and Villa Road - said his lordship, "What's his game?"
And John drove into Soho Road and turned down Queen's Head Lane.
Foundry Road and Slough Lane and Foundry Road he drives
And thus to keep out of a street he artfully contrives.

Winson Green and Icknield Port said his lordship, "Well, that's good."
Then John wheeled round the corner and into Ladywood.
Islington Row he drives through next. Said his lordship, "Now he's beat.
For if you go straight on my man, you must go through Sun Street."
But John said,"No, that will not do, for I have another mode."
He then turned around from Lea Bank and into Ryland Road.

Charlotte Road and Wellington Road, the coachman next drives through.
Bristol Road and Belgrave Road away he quickly flew.
Now we're into Moseley Road - said his lordship in a pet -
"Dash my wig and barnacles, I think he'll do it yet."
Highgate Place and Kyrwicks Lane and Aukland Road the same.
Stratford Road up to the Ship and then down Sandy Lane.

Coventry and Bordesley Green are roads that next they pass.
Park Road, Mill Lane, Saltley Road the place they make the gas.
Then the Recreation Ground and on through Nechells Park.
Holborn Road and Lichfield Road, said his lordship. "What a lark."
Said John, "It's now Victoria Road and your lordship's had a treat
For I've driven round the city and I've not been through a street."
 
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To get from the Coventry Road onto Bordesley Green, John the Coachman presumably went along Cattell Road. OK, so we’ve jumped a road.
Then the obvious way to get to Saltley Road without going along a “Street” would be to turn left down Bordesley Green Road, continue into Ash Road, straight over into Duddeston Park Road and by avoiding the first and second roads on the right (Devon Street and Cato Street respectively), turn into Melvina Road and hence into Saltley Road. There are longer alternatives.
My problem is that I cannot for the life of me remember – nor find on a 1950s map of Birmingham – a Park Road nor a Mill Lane anywhere near the area.
Is this rampant poetic licence or was there redevelopment – or at least changes in street names - in the area between 1895 and, say, 1960? db84124
 
Hello David just a couple of little problems on you route Duddeston Park Rd Should read Duddeston Mill Rd and Melvena Rd wasn,t built till the late 1950si think the Lord Mayor had gone soft by then and moved around in a Rolls Royce. Dek:D:D:D
 
Good morning, Dek,
Thanks for having pointed out my non-deliberate mistake! I'll leave it as I originally typed it; your post will bring members' attention to my blunder. Have you any knowledge of a Park Road or a Mill Lane in that part of Birmingham? David
 
Yes David at the bottom of Ash Rd to the right ran Adderley Park Rd this would have met up with Saltley Rd at the bottom of Alum Rock. Dek
 
here is a map 1893, i have had to reduce the size to get it to upload, i hope it has all the roads etc listed. Max ( i have to admit i have never looked to see if the journey was possible )
 
Agreed, Dek.
Hhum, not trying to get my own back, but shouldn't Adderley Park Road be Adderley Road?
But you would then have to turn left into High STREET, before going over Saltley Viaduct and into Saltley Road. Beep-beep-beep-beep!!! No Streets allowed!! D.
 
Maxwell,
Your map illustrates perfectly that there is no point of contact between the Coventry Road and Bordesley Green, but we really need a map of the area north or north-west of the one you have just posted.
Could I say that the beauty of your poem is not influenced in any way by my observations; I noticed immediately that Cattell Road was not mentioned - but then would it be possible to list ALL the roads? - which led me to thinking about Mill Lane and Park Road, which I simply couldn't recall being in those suburbs.
A fascinating poem, David
 
David we have a problem i can not see a route to Saltley Rd the mention of the Gas Yard must be the Gas works at the junction of Saltley Viaduct,Saltley Rd and Nechells Place but how do we get there without using the High St. Dek
 

One reply to the evening Mail letter, which the author has ignored (possibly with good reason) was from a John Garghan, and stated that he was given the rhyme by a Jack Ronan of Allinson st., who he believed wrote it. Another point is that the letter stating that the verse was a party piece of his father was written by a Mr Leslie Walker, not Waller
In case you wonder whether I have been ferreting through the archives, it is just that I had seen the series of letters form the mail in my scrapbook, and was intending to put them on the forum, but Max got in first.
Mike
 
Dek, if John went along Duddeston Mill Road, passing the gasworks on his right, there must have been a road or track running approximately along the lines of Melvina Road, Devon Street or Cato Street before they were built. If not, as you so rightly say, he must have used the High STREET. D.
 
David before they built the new roads (Little Hall Rd and Melvia Rd) Gt Francis St ran from the top of Duddeston Mill Rd to Saltley Rd i cannot see a way at this moment . Dek
 
That's fascinating information, Phil, and, in that way, High Street was in fact avoided. Could you possibly post a map? David
I've had lunch and completed a contribution which I was working on before being called to the table. I'll post it in anyway, although Phil's information throws a completely new light on the matter :

Dek, I'm beginning to get the impression that the whole "route" was purely imaginary; the poet seems to have used a superficial knowledge of a small number of roads - which weren't called streets - to take the inattentive reader on a hypothetical "circumnavigation" of the inner city.
I think I'll wait and listen out for fellow members who have a far greater knowledge of other parts of John the Coachman's route around central Birmingham before making further comments. I reckon I know Bordesley, Bordesley Green, Small Heath and - to a lesser extent - their neighbouring districts fairly well, but I'll now wait for postings from people who could confirm my provocative theory. I'd like to hear the opinions of members who know the north-western, south-western and south-eastern sectors of our city to hear whether the poem’s suggested route corresponds to reality.
I still consider the poem an intriguing read. D.

I am already preparing a public apology should further findings correspond to Phil's post. David:rolleyes:
 
Thanks for the link, Phil, I can't wait to look at that later this evening.
Max, it certainly does help! As Phil has pointed out, what is today St Saviour's Road, was then called Park Road (it runs along the north-eastern edge of Adderley Park). But on your map there is still no Mill Lane (although interestingly and strangely, its line and the line of Crawford Street which it became is easily seen as a pink, built-up strip as if houses had already been built there but with no street in front of them !!?! David
 
Lads,
I've just this minute spotted that it wasn't Park Road that is today known as St Saviour's Road, but the parallel road to it: Ash Road, i.e., Bordesley Green Road runs into Ash Road and not St Saviour's Road. So our John would have had to do a very short stretch of Adderley Road before turning left into the old Mill Lane. David
 
Dave

You are of course quite right it was Church Rd that became St Saviours Rd and Park Rd that became Ash Rd. These old eyes let me down a lot lately. Thats my excuse anyway.

Phil
 
Phil, without your input - together with the help of Max, mikejee and Dek - we would never have been able to get this far.
Oh, by the way, I am now completely satisfied that at that time it was possible to get from the Coventry Road to Saltley Road without going along a "street". I offer my unconditional apologies to the poet for having doubted his knowledge of Birmingham streets. I was misled by his missing out a road or two, i.e. Cattell Road and Adderley Road. If you look at the accompanying map (which shows both Park Road, now Ash Road, and Park Lane, now Crawford Street) you can follow in his tracks :

https://www.londonancestor.com/maps/bc-birm-e.htm

Thanks to one and all, David
PS Would someone take up the gauntlet and continue with the NW, SW and SE sections? I've had enough !!! D.
 
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