Rambling Syd Rumpo - History

History

The Rambling Syd sketches generally began with a short discourse on the nature of the song, which would inexorably follow; these discourses and the songs involved suggestivity and double entendre. For this, Rambling Syd was customarily introduced by Kenneth Horne, who would set things up by (for example) inquiring as to the nature and origin of the song. Rambling Syd would (usually) respond with an "Ullo, mi dearios", before launching into the ensuing detailed explanation which left a great deal to the imagination.

The songs themselves pushed and extended boundaries of sexual suggestivity, using nonsense (or little-known) words such as 'moolies' and 'nadgers' in suggestive contexts. Many of the words used by Rambling Syd were invented by the Round The Horne scriptwriters Barry Took and Marty Feldman, who wrote the majority of the songs lyrics, based upon traditional folk songs. Some were existing words used in a suggestive context, such as 'artefacts' (often used in an archaeological context for things such as grave goods) and 'nadgers', which had already appeared in The Goon Show.

On 3 July 1967, Williams in the guise of Rambling Syd, recorded a series of the songs at Abbey Road Studios.

Here is a lyrical excerpt from a Christmas episode, Cinderella, first broadcast on Christmas Eve 1967, and re-broadcast in December 2009, of "Good King Boroslav":

Good King Boroslav looked out,

On the night of grungers,

Saw them wurdling round about,

Armed with rubber plungers,

Brightly shone their artefacts,

Red their possets glowing,

He knew not from whence they came, (switching back into suggestive accent)

But 'e knew where they were going!

In 1975, Williams later starred with Leslie Phillips, Lance Percival, Miriam Margolyes and others, in the short-lived radio sketch show Oh, Get On with It (based on a pilot episode entitled Get On With It), which also featured appearances by Rambling Syd.