With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm

With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm is a darkly humorous song, written in 1934 by R. P. Weston and Bert Lee, originally performed by Stanley Holloway. It tells of how the ghost of Anne Boleyn haunts the Tower of London, seeking revenge on Henry VIII for having her beheaded.

In the Tower of London, large as life,

The ghost of Ann Boleyn walks, they declare.

Poor Ann Boleyn was once King Henry's wife -

Until he made the headsman bob her hair!

Ah yes! he did her wrong long years ago

And she comes up at night to tell him so.

[With her head tucked underneath her arm

She walks the Bloody Tower!

With her head tucked underneath her arm

At the midnight hour...]

She comes to haunt King Henry,

She means giving him what for,

Gadzooks, she's going to tell him off for having spilt her gore,

And just in case the headsman wants to give her an encore

She has her head tucked underneath her arm!

[Chorus]

Along the draughty corridors for miles and miles she goes,

She often catches cold, poor thing, it's cold there when it blows,

And it's awfully awkward for the Queen to have to blow her nose

With her head tucked underneath her arm!

Sometimes gay King Henry gives a spread

For all his gals and pals - a ghostly crew.

The headsman carves the joint and cuts the bread,

Then in comes Ann Boleyn to queer the do;

She holds her head up with a wild 'Wahoop!",

And Henry cries 'Don't drop it in the soup!'

[Chorus]

The sentries think that it's a football that she carries in,

And when they've had a few they shout 'Is Ars'nal going to win?'

They think it's Alec James, instead of poor old Ann Boleyn

With her head tucked underneath her arm!

[Chorus]

One night she caught King Henry, he was in the canteen bar,

Said he 'Are you Jane Seymour, Ann Boleyn or Cath'rine Parr?

For how the sweet san fairy ann do I know who you are

With your head tucked underneath your arm!'

It was later covered by The Kingston Trio, with a few changes in the lyrics, including:

"Gadzooks, she's going to tell him off for having spilt her gore." to "Gadzooks, she's going to tell him off. She's feeling very sore."

"And when they've had a few they shout 'Is Ars'nal going to win?'/They think it's Alec James, instead of poor old Ann Boleyn" to "And when they've had a few they shout 'Is Army going to win?'/They think that it's Red Grange, instead of poor old Ann Boleyn"

It was also covered by the Barron Knights who also changed a few lyrics including:

"And when they've had a few they shout 'Is Ars'nal going to win?'/They think it's Alec James, instead of poor old Ann Boleyn" to "And when they've had a few they shout 'Is Team going to win?'/They think that it's Brian Clough, instead of poor old Ann Boleyn"

The Kingston Trio version also cut a verse:

Along the draughty corridors for miles and miles she goes
She often catches cold, poor thing, it's cold there when it blows
And it's awfiilly awkward for the Queen to have to blow her nose
With her head tucked underneath her arm

References

The Barron Knights