Monday Miscellany: A Collection of Odds, Ends and Personals

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From Byter Wayne B in respect of the post on supportive Charlie Hebdo cartoons:

Je suisCharlie. Nous sommes comme I'un.

(I am Charlie. We are One.)

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Also from Wayne, in respect of the hand art post:

Just loved it. The hand art is extraordinary. More, more, more.

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From Nora in respect of my own contribution towards hand art:

Oh Mr Bytes that artistic attempt of yours has made me not attempt art myself. I can't compete.

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I mentioned in the quote a day or two ago about former Brit PM David Lloyd George that he knew my father.

That was a reference to the campfire song where the lyrics consist only of “Lloyd George knew my father, Father knew Lloyd George” repeated to the tune of “Onward Christian Solders.”

The origin of those lyrics is not definitely known but there are some conjectures that make sense and are illuminative.

Because of his womanising ways, Lloyd George was nicknamed “The Goat”. Kitchener is said to have remarked early in the First World War that he tried to avoid sharing military secrets with the Cabinet, as they would all tell their wives, apart from Lloyd George "who would tell someone else's wife".

The song is believed to have developed as a bawdy music hall song from knowledge of Lloyd George’s womanising, that “Lloyd George knew my mother” would have been too bawdy, as would "Lloyd George was my father."

Instead, the lyric “Lloyd George knew my father” was often accompanied by a wink on the word “father”, such that everyone knew it meant “mother”.

The Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations attributes the song to Tommy Rhys Roberts QC, the son of a former law partner of Lloyd George.

On 24 January 1888 Lloyd George married Margaret Owen. They had five children together: Richard (1889-1968), Mair (1890-1907), Olwen (1892-1990), Gwilym (1894-1967) and Megan (1902-1966). Pictured with the couple, circa 1904, are Megan and Mair

David Lloyd George (centre) was such an infamous philanderer that he was nicknamed 'the Goat'. Despite his many acts of adultery, he remained married to his wife, Margaret, until her death in 1941, and waited two years before marrying his secretary, Frances Stevenson (left), with whom he'd been having an affair since 1913, and who he fathered a daughter by in 1929.