Chapter and Verse debuted in this magazine’s July-August 1979 issue in an effort to assist Robert B. Wood ’40, who had sent the editors a query they couldn’t answer, but hoped their readers could: “My sainted grandmother, born in Scotland, with some time in London before settling here in the U.S., sang a fine ditty—no doubt music hall somewhere—which started, ‘Oh, what will be the outcome / If the income don’t come in?/Where from will come the money/To buy the food and gin?’ Good question! But that’s all I remember. Where from, and what’s the rest of it?”
His question, though rerun in the digital age, remained unanswered until Eve Golden forwarded “What’s Gonna Be the Outcome If the Income Don’t Come In?” ©1935, with lyrics by Eddie Moran and music by Harry von Tilzer, uploaded by some kind soul to the Internet. An older, British version may lurk somewhere, but with this serendipitous citation, C&V bows to the resources of the World Wide Web and becomes an occasional item only. Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138 or chapterandverse@harvardmag.com.
