Scratching Fanny in Cock Lane A true tale

Scratching Fanny in Cock Lane, a true tale The year1762 a tale of murder or mystery they boast A teenage girl, a drunken parish clerk, and maybe even a ghost About hordes of aristocrats and wealthy men assembling Crowds rivalling Covent Garden, Theatres were now descending To a house near St Paul’s on a road named Cock Lane Although three stories high only one room on each floor for its fame Owned by Richard Parsons a clerk with a passion for drink Forever in debt, but to repay he never did think. He evicted poor Fanny and her partner William Kent Even though he loaned their money and they could pay rent A short time later smallpox took poor Fanny Lyne from this world But her 'said to be' husband engraved no name, and this story unfurled He explained in truth that they were not wed He didn’t want her family to know poor Fanny was dead She left all her goods to her partner, William Kent He didn’t want to share them not a penny, not a cent Two years passed and a report on Fanny hit the news It seems Parson was Kent’s character now going to abuse Through Parson's daughter, it was said poor Fanny had spoke The ghost of Fanny Lynes with a scratching sound awoke From the lips of the poor deceased Fanny Lynes The tales of murder and scratching noises are signs She says she died not of smallpox, but of murder most foul She wants her revenge and is now on the prowl Kent denied murder he said he loved his Fanny so But of the scratching of Fanny now most people did know To the house in Cock Lane the crowds rallied round Entrepreneurs learnt how to make a quick buck, a quick pound Selling food and drink and seats by the door As Fanny was said to tell of her murder and more But it seems there may have been trickery and lies from Parsons, not Kent As it was to his daughter Elizabeth that Fanny’s messages were sent. Parsons was found guilty of lies, a fine he was ordered to pay He did not pay so in jail he spent many a day The case against Kent died and Fanny’s ghost did sleep But years later maybe her revenge she finally did reap As the years passed more investigations were made Her coffin was dug up and her body displayed On the poor scratching fanny of Cock Lane it was observed No smallpox was found but her face was preserved Was it then arsenic that killed poor Fanny after all? Whatever the truth in the house three stories tall No one knows now as the grave held no engraved name But there still exists the tale of Scratching Fanny in Cock Lane. © GG 30/1/2014