IT WAS THE CHAUFFEUR SHE LOVED

The wedding dress came from Chanel 

The bride-to-be’s idea of Hell 

She wouldn’t marry the loafer 

But ran off with the Chauffeur 

And took the posh car as well.

[ This limerick was inspired by an exhibition of wedding dresses in  

Ripon Cathedral, August 2021.  One of the dresses told the story of 

the daughter of a wealthy family who had been promised to an MP 

in an arranged marriage.  Some days before her intended wedding  

she eloped with the family chauffeur.  It is my invention that they 

fled in the family limo. 

Does all this sound familiar to you?   It was a major storyline in the 

TV series Downton Abbey.  Perhaps this event sent shock waves  

through Yorkshire society in the 1930s.   

Incidentally, Ripon Cathedral is glorious and this tiny City so inviting. ]