Lady Godiva

The old courthouse, a long half-timbered building now divided into three or four cottages, is the chief feature of the village street.

Wootton Wallen, in something less than another three miles, owes the first part of its singular name to its olden situation in the forest of Arden, and the second part to the Saxon lord of the place, a landowner named Wagon, whose name appears as witness to the foundation charter of the monastery at Coventry founded by Leofric, the husband of Godiva, in 1043.

It stands at a junction of roads where the highway from Stratford through Bearley comes swinging up round a corner from the channels of the Aln and runs broad and imposing on to Henley-in-Arden and Birmingham.

The church, occupying a knoll, is a strange but beautiful group, with central tower in the decorated style, a rather plain south chapel of the same period, and a beautiful nave clerestory of the 15th century.

This melancholy history apart, the road is a pleasant one, broad and lined with wide grassy edges and magnificent elms.

It was even more pleasant before the motor manufacturing firms of Coventry began the practice of testing their new cars along it and was then the pride of the district.

It leads across Stivichall Common into the city of Coventry over that railway bridge referred to by Tennyson in his poem Godiva.

"I waited for the train at Coventry.

Well, he rang me, and he's got me a honey of a part in the Sal Kalman's new show.

And guess what I'm going to be? Not doll Lady Godiva yet.

Imagine,

me.

And I've written about her in the strength of her being a legendary figure.

We know her through the legend of Lady Godiva.

This story of a woman riding naked on a horse through Coventry, trying to relieve the payment of taxes for her people.

But almost every single element of the story of Lady Godiva is fabricated.

Not least, her name.

Her name was never Godiva.

I think so would be the thing.

Lady Godiva was the song.

Lady Godiva.

It's a great line here who says, in reference to Lady Godiva, where it's disappeared off the screen already.

Oh, there it is.

My favourite one-spit wonder.

tomorrow.

That other line from that song, which really was quite explicit for the time, given that this was a 60s song, Peter and Gordon, as she smiled at him, gave her pretty head a shake, that was Lady G's mistake.

Thank you.

She looked like a well-dressed Lady Godiva, minus horse.

I stifled a drool as she sat down, and then I realized that I'd seen her before.

This was Madam Tanya, minus the heavy makeup, gypsy garb, and the phony accent.

So don't stop.

Don't stop me, cause I'm having a good time, having a good time I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva I'm gonna go, go, go, there's no stopping me I'm burning through the sky 200 degrees just while they call me Mr. Fahrenheit I'm traveling at the speed of light I wanna make a supersonic man out of you Don't stop me now I'm having such a good time I'm having a ball Don't stop me now If you wanna have a good time Just give me a call Don't stop me now Cause I'm having a good time Don't stop me now Yes, I'm having a good time I don't wanna stop at all On my way to Mars on a collision course.

I am a satellite.

I'm out of control.

Defying the laws of gravity.

I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva.

I'm gonna go, go, go.

There's no stopping me.