Lit Reference: Fanny Goes To War
While "Fanny Goes to War" is plausible as the first line of a Harry Graham work, it's actually the title of a 1919 book by Pat Beauchamp, a woman who joined the FANY Corps (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) in 1914. The book is the story of Ms. Beauchamp's service, heroism, and daily life.
And, the reason it is included here? Her daily life in 1915 in Paris makes reference to "Ruthless Rhymes":
"The orderlies on night duty, on the surgical side, were a lazy lot and slept the whole night through, more often than not on the floor of the kitchen. One night the incomparable "Jefké," who was worse than most, was fast asleep in a dark spot near the big stove, when I went to get some hot water. He was practically invisible, so I narrowly missed stepping on his head, and, as it was, collapsed over him, breaking the tea-pot. Cicely, the ever witty, quickly parodied one of the "Ruthless Rhymes," and said:—'Pat who trod on Jefké's face
(He was fast asleep, so let her,)
Put the pieces back in place,
Saying, 'Don't you think he looks much better'?"(I can't vouch for the truth of the last line.)"
Harry Graham's Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless Homes was first published in 1898 and here is concrete evidence that his work was part of the 1915 "pop culture".
Read Fanny Goes to War in eBook form (provided for free by the Gutenberg Project).