Songs banned by the BBC

I attended a wedding at Loseley House (near Guildford) and the bride and groom entered and walked down the aisle to 'Always Look On The Bright Side of Life', with everybody joining in with the whistled phrases...excellent!

Je t'aime my sister walked down the isle to that on her wedding day. I don't think my parents had a clue but did think it was a bit un-churchy

When I was in the last year at primary school our teacher started to read us a story about the Romans in Britain. I told my mother and mentioned it was called The Mistletoe and The Sword. She said "He's reading WHAT to you???" Some years later I read it myself and realised quite how much he had had to leave out, Anya Seton being quite keen on sex scenes.

After reading us the (somewhat abridged) book he turned it into a play which we put on at the end of the year. It actually turned out very well and we learnt a lot about the Romans - but not about sex sadly.

Speak ye of country matters?

MiceElf - Aye - there's a thought to lie twixt maid's legs...
Surprising how few realise the country matters pun is there.

The BBC banned the Beatles Please Please Me when it first came out. They thought it was shocking!

In 1964 when we were doing the Scottish Play for O levels The porters speech was missed out of our school editions. We only discovered it when listening to a gramaphone recording. Stuff about the effect of drink on sexual performance. This was mixed a comprehensive. Our lovely English teacher Mr Blacknell explained what should be there.

I shall never forget Mother Mary Paulina explaining 'country matters' to us. Amazingly, there were girls in our sixth form who had never heard the word.

There is an article in the current Oldie magazine about the youngest witness at the Lady Chatterley trial, Bernardine Wall. She was aged 22 and had just come down from Cambridge.
Her father worked at the publishers and was asked to supply a witness to prove that the book wasn't going to corrupt young women.
Bernardine assured the judge that she had read and understood the work, and the judge decided that she had definitely not been corrupted.
There is a lovely photo of her looking fresh-faced and innocent outside the court, wearing her duffle coat.
I remember at school everyone being desperate to get their hands on a copy, to prove that you were one of the in-crowd.
I never managed it, but some years later when doing Biology A Level, discovered that my father had a copy all the time at home, covered with brown paper and 'Animals without Backbones' written on the spine

You were destined to go far, bluebell. A touch of the Richard Bransons about you.
I also thought LCL was a poor novel - but then I didn't rate DHL much anyway. I thought he had no idea of how women really experience orgasm. He thought they had to rely on a man for it!

For the avoidance of doubt the Lady C venture is not the well-paid private sector experience I referred to on another thread!!

I flirted with capitalism with Lady C - my best friend and me (the one I went to the library with - see above) bought a copy when it was eventually published after the trial, and loaned it out at 6d a time to the boys at the grammar school. We turned a healthy profit - I think it cost us 3/6 to buy Agree it's not a good novel.

My English professor was one of the defence witnesses at the Lady Chatterly trial. I have to say that I still think it is a really third-rate novel.

My wonderful daily many years ago (may she rest in peace) was the mum of one of the Sex Pistols about whom I knew absolutely nothing at the time. She brought me a great pile of their records which I put in a cupboard and eventually gave to a "smiling scout" for a jumble sale. The Sex Pistol member helped rewire my house (a skill he had learned as an apprentice before fame but a problem with the manage and money hit the band). Weird.

8th quote down - isn't the internet a wonderful thing?

www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1016559-cranford

http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1016559-cranford

Ohhhhh Greatnan - didn't the nuns have a problem with that bit in Cranford about sucking oranges ( second form) - we giggled and our teacher blushed

Our nuns had some trouble finding texts for English Literature that did not mention sex or reproduction in any way. So we did Silas Marner and Cranford and Northanger Abbey.

or fourth - I'm not concentrating

Oh remember words like the third form, upper forth, lower sixth?

Do you remember the Lady Chatterly trial. Was it the prosecution counsel who asked ' Would you let your servants read it'?

Bluebell Half the last act of The Merchant of Venice disappeared from school editions. Portia makes some very fruity – and funny – comments about being free and easy with her body when her betrothed has been free and easy with her token of love – which, unbeknownst to him, he has actually already given back to her. We had a very bowdlerised version in the Upper Fourth.

I still remember (52 years later) - 'I would have people'd else this isle with Calibans'

I was also doing the Tempest with a class, but I was teaching them - African 4th formers. I was reading from my Arden edition whereas they had a version bought by my predecessor. A puzzled look came over their faces. 'Where does it say that, Miss?'- Prospero's words 'If thou her virgin knot untie...' were missing. I immediately ordered a set of unexpurgated books.

All this censorship business - I remember our school editions of Shakespeare - we were doing The Tempest in the third form and my best friend and me realised some lines were missing. At break, we rushed to the library and read up the missing lines - and then spent ages working out why they had been omitted. When we finally got there, it enhanced our understanding of Caliban no end!!