intuitively guessed that the song had reference to ways and means they would rather have forgotten.
"Ow! My name it is 'orrible 'Enery 'Emms,
And I 'ails from a 'ell of a 'ole!
The things I 'ave thought an' the deeds I 'ave did
Are remarkable lawless an' better kep' hid,
So if Morgan you think of, an' Sharkey an' Kidd,
Forget 'em! To name such beginners as them's
An insult, so shivver my soul!
Yow! In every port o' the whole seven seas
I 'ave two or three wives on the rates,
For I'm free wi' my fancy an' fly wi' my picks,
And I've promised 'em plenty, an' given 'em nix.
But have left ev'ry one in a 'ell of a fix!
'Ooever said Bluebeard was brother to me's
Either jealous or misunderstates!
"Wow! For awful atrocity, murder an' theft.
For battery, arson and hate,
From breakin' the Sabbath to coveting cows.
An' false affidavits an' perjurin' vows,
I'm adept at whatever the law disallows.
And the gallowsmen gape at the noose that I left.
For I flit while the bally fools wait!"
Fred kept us awake all right. Like most of his original songs, that one had sixty or seventy verses.
