Ronnie

Rode a three-wheel bike on Sundays
Never wore a suit
Always kept his money in his boots
Leather ones with tie-up laces
Polished so you’d see your faces in them
Doffed his cap to all the ladies
Young and old the same
Blushed a little if they called his name
Then he’d sometimes ring his bike bell
Just to show that he was quite well, too
Ah, that’s a-what he’d do
Ronnie was a good lad,
Who helped the coalman out
Though often he was trying to get in
Ronnie was a good lad,
A little short of brain
You wouldn’t say that he was right as rain
Summer evenings you could find him
By the dried up stream
Catching fish that only he could see
Arms outstretched to show the sizes
Of the ones that he’d get prizes for
Ronnie’s mother left this world
One cold December day
The Council came and put poor Ron away
They said it’s the best thing for him
Funny, though, how no one saw him go
Ronnie was a good lad
A man of forty-five
Always looked so glad to be alive
Ronnie was a good lad
A little short of brain
You wouldn’t say that he was right as rain
And everybody said it was a shame