DBH songs & slang



 

There were lots of words & expressions that only we used, songs sung only by & for us, some of them very cleverly written with evocative tunes. Please contribute whatever you can remember by filling in & sending a query or feedback form. Thanks

Here are a few to get us started:

digs plus a variation: diggy eyeballs

bread & scrape

 
There is a mouldy dump
Down ......... way
Where we get bread & scrape
Three times a day
Eggs and bacon we don't see
We get sawdust in our tea
That's why we are gradually
Fading away, fading away (voice fades away)

 

There's one of which I can only the final couplet:
...............
Then we will gather in the lavatory,
Far off Eternal Home.

One from Viv Sadler

Come to Barnardo's
Make no delay 
Come to Barnardo's 
You'll find the way 
Sitting on the doorstep 
Eating bread and cheese
Come to Barnardo's homes

How about this oldie

The BGC is a jolly good place
But I don't think it's true
'Cause once you get inside it
You'll have some work to do.
Up & down the dormitories
With a dustpan in your hand
If you never join the BGC
You'll never be a man.
In the morning, you hear the matrons shout,
"Get up you lazy lubbers, before you get a clout!"