Monty Python's Flying Circus

Njorl's Saga - S3-E1

Deliberate mistake: Eric Idle's 'Stock Exchange Report' (in Series 3, Show 1) has a very obvious edit in the middle. This is a monologue delivered without cutaways, so the jump in the video tape is very easy to spot. Whether this edit indicates material removed or a simple joining together of two takes is unclear. However, since Idle gets drenched with water at the close of the routine (and given that, under BBC constraints, there was no time for drying out), we can assume that he must have made his fluff quite early on in the piece.

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The Naked Ant - S1-E12

Father: Now I understand that you want to marry my daughter?
Shabby: [sniffing and coughing.] That's right ... Yeah... Yeah...
Father: Yes, you realize of course that Rosaround is still rather young?
Rosamund: Daddy you make me feel like a child. [she gazes at Shabby fondly.]
Shabby: [lasciviously.] Oh yeah ... You know... Get 'em when they're young eh... Eh! OOOOH! Know what I mean eh, oooh! [makes obscene gesture involving elbow.]
Father: Well I'm sure you know what I mean, Mr ... Er... Mr... Er . Er?
Shabby: Shabby... Ken Shabby...
Father: Mr Shabby... I just want to make sure that you'll be able to look after my daughter...
Shabby: Oh yeah, yeah. I'll be able to look after 'er all right sport, eh, know what I mean, eh emggh!
Father: And, er, what job do you do?
Shabby: I clean out public lavatories.
Father: Is there promotion involved?
Shabby: Oh yeah, yeah. [produces handkerchief and clean throat horribly into it.] After five years they give me a brush.

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Sex and Violence - S1-E1

Trivia: The German joke versions are spoken in an intelligible, pseudo-German gibberish (perhaps fortunate, if the joke would really work). I happen to live in Germany, and even with close scrutinizing I haven't been able to filter a meaning out of this.

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Show generally

Question: Is there any significance behind the song "England's Mountains Green" (or whatever it's called)? It seems to be the only song anyone ever sings, outside of sketch-specific songs (like the Lumberjack Song).

Xofer

Chosen answer: The song you talk of was originally a poem by William Blake called 'Jerusalem'. It speaks of the possibility of Jesus having visited England. The poem has four verses but you only ever hear the Monty Python boys sing the first one which goes, "And did those feet in ancient time/Walk upon England's mountains green/And was the holy Lamb of God/On England's pleasant pastures seen?" If there's any sort of in-joke connected to it's use, I'm not aware of it. It seemed to just be the standard song/hymn they used when a song was needed that wasn't sketch specific. Some of the sketches it appeared in were 'Salvation Fuzz/Church Police', 'Buying a Bed' and 'The Art Gallery Sketch'. Something that may be relevant, though, is that the only one who was present every time it was sung was Eric Idle. Perhaps he just liked it?

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