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The Knocker-Up
A pal of mine once said to me,
Will you knock me up at half-past three?"
And so promptly at half-past one,
I knocked him up and said, "O John,
I've just come round to tell ya
I've just come round to tell ya,
I've just come round to tell ya,
You've got two more hours to sleep!"
- to the tune of "So Early in the Morning". In the days
before alarm clocks, working people often had someone with
a long pole come and knock on their window to wake them up
for (shift) work. This person was called a "knocker up."
From fragments collected by Rowland Kellett, English Dance and
Song JB
JB
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