Dan Morton
A Fixture
A well-preserved 'Gor Blimey' cap...
How did the cap get that name?
I've seen half a dozen explanations on various web pages and read at least one in a memoir. This one is the most complete and its pretty funny also.
It seems there was a music hall song, popular before the War, about a fireman on the Elder Dempster shipping line.
‘Gorblimey’ became the common colloquial term for this unwired, floppy, field-service cap. It's real name was 1915 Winter Forage Trench Wool Cap. It was actually a practical and warm cap for the trenches according to the memoir that mentioned it.
How did the cap get that name?
I've seen half a dozen explanations on various web pages and read at least one in a memoir. This one is the most complete and its pretty funny also.
It seems there was a music hall song, popular before the War, about a fireman on the Elder Dempster shipping line.
One version goes:
'Me father was a fireman, now what do ye think of that?
He wears gorblimey trousers and a little gorblimey hat,
He wears gorblimey stockings and a little gorblimey coat,
Me father is a fireman on an Elder Dempster boat.'
He wears gorblimey trousers and a little gorblimey hat,
He wears gorblimey stockings and a little gorblimey coat,
Me father is a fireman on an Elder Dempster boat.'
‘Gorblimey’ became the common colloquial term for this unwired, floppy, field-service cap. It's real name was 1915 Winter Forage Trench Wool Cap. It was actually a practical and warm cap for the trenches according to the memoir that mentioned it.
