Northumberland House

I was always a thoughtful youngster, Said the lady on the omnibus, I remember Father used to say, You are more thoughtful than us. I was sensitive too, the least thing Upset me so much, I used to cry if a fly Stuck in the hatch. Mother always said, Elsie is too good, There’ll never be another like Elsie, Touch wood. I liked to be alone, Sitting on the garden path, My brother said he’d never seen a Picture more like Faith in the Arena. They were kindly people, my people, I could not help being different, And I think it was good for me Mixing in a different element. The poor lady now burst out crying And I saw her friend was not a friend but a nurse For she said, Cheer up duckie the next stop is ours, They got off at Northumberland House. This great House of the Percies Is now a lunatic asylum, But over the gate there still stands The great Northumberland Lion. This family animal’s tail Is peculiar in that it is absolutely straight, And straight as a bar it stood out to drop after them As they went through the gate. November 1964