I’ll be a Bloomer ([c. 1851])

E. Hodges, Dudley Street Seven Dials, London v1 Listen females all/ No matter what your trade is Old Nick is in the girls / The d l’s in the ladies ¹ V2 Married men may weep / And tumble in the ditches Since women are resolved / To wear the shirt and breeches V3 Ladies do declare / A change should have been sooner The women one and all / Are going to join the Bloomers V4 Prince Albert and the Queen / Had such a jolly row, sirs She threw off stays ² and put / On waistcoat, coat and trousers V5 It will be fun to see/Ladies possessed of riches Strutting up and down/ In wellingtons ³ and breeches V6 Bloomers are funny folks/ No ladies can be faster They say ’tis almost time/ That petticoats were master V7 They will not governed be/By peelers snobs or proctors ⁴ But take up their degrees/ As councillors and doctors ⁵ / V8 No bustles will they wear/ Nor stocks, ⁶ depend upon’t But jerry ⁷ hats and caps/ Instead of dandy bonnet V9 Trousers to their knees/ Whiskers round their faces A watch chain in their fob ⁸ / And a pair of leather braces / V10 180The tailors must be sharp / In making noble stiches And clap their burning goose/ Upon the ladies’ breeches V11 Their pretty fingers will/ Be just as sore as mutton Till they have found the way/ their trowsers to unbutton / V12 The Bloomers all declare/ That men are sad deceivers They will take a turn and be/ Prigs ⁹ dustmen and coal heavers V13 Members of Parliament/ And make such jolly fusses Cobble up old ladies’ shoes/ Drive cabs and omnibuses / V14 Their husbands they will weep/And squander all their riches Make them nurse the kids/And wash their shirts and breeches V15 If the men should say a word/ There’ll be such a jolly row sir Their wives will make them sweat/ And beat them with their trowsers / V16 The world is turned upside down/ The ladies will be tailors And serve Old England’s Queen/ And be soldiers and sailors V17 Wont they look funny when/ They happen to get lumpey ¹⁰ Or when they ride astride/ Upon an Irish Donkey / V18 The ladies will be right/Their husbands will be undone / Since the Bloomers have arrived / To teach the folks of London V19 The females all I mean/ how to buy out their riches In Yankee Doodle Doos / And a stunning pair of breeches / V20 Female apparel now/ Is gone to pot I vow sirs And the ladies will be fined/ That don’t wear coat and Breeches [trousers] V21 Blucher ¹¹ boots and hats/ And shirts with handsome stitches O dear what shall we do / When women wear the breeches / V22 Now some will wear smock frocks/ And hobnail shoes I vow sirs Jenny, Bet and Sal/ Cocked hat and woolen trousers ¹² V23 Yankee Doodle Doo/ Rolling in the ditches Married men prepare/ To buy your women the breeches //