Cousin Emilia Lyrics

Miss Emilia St. John spent innumerable hours
In pursuit of butterflies, bugs and wild flowers
She cared not a fig what the villagers thought
Of her pith helmet, net and large khaki shorts.

Tired of Towbridge and sedate village life
And never content to be any man's wife
She embarked on a voyage to India by ship
Bid her father, the Rector, 'So long' and 'Pip, pip'.

In Baghdad a young boy of Sepoy descent
Accompanied the Memsahib wherever she went
Into the mountains west of Zanzibar
In search for rare species for her kiling jar.

In Rangoon the Sultan of diminutive size,
Made improper suggestions over jellied sheeps eyes,
In China the Viceroy gave her cause for concern
When the tattle at tiffin took an unsavoury turn.

So on through the swamplands and regions unknown,
Where the crocodile backs served as their stepping stones,
The intrepid Emilia with her butterfly net,
Last seen on a cycle en route to Tibet.