In Belloc's Cautionary verses
He visited quite dreadful curses
On those who chose to misbehave;
Most ended in an early grave.
And there, among this motley crew,
Was Charles Augustus Fortescue
Whose life of quiet rectitude
Ensured that happiness ensued,
But what made Charles turn out so well
When all the others went to hell?
To understand this best of men
You need to have the mise-en-scene

Before Hilaire first met the child
Young Charlie had been rather wild
And nanny after nanny fled
Perferring, they said, to be dead
Than spend an hour inside the house
With such a horrid little louse.
His father thundered in a rage,
"I'll send him to an orphanage!"
At this Mama began to cry
And begged her husband "One last try?"
Papa gave in and placed an ad
'Strict nanny wanted for bad lad.
If you can turn around a boy
Who seems to take unholy joy
In being bad, and make him better
Please send C.V. and covering letter
To P.O. Box 1068
(Rewards, if you succeed, are great).'

Now on the nanny's grapevine chat
Had spread the news about the brat,
So those invited to attend
For interview would each pretend
That they'd some other situation
So bad was Charlie's reputation,
But one, more strong-willed than the rest,
Declared no child on earth could test
Her patience to its last extreme
And so she came up with a scheme.
His parents were in such distress
That they could only acquiesce
And they concurred with her demand
That she be given a free hand.
When Charlie saw this stern young miss
He knew he'd met his nemesis
She had a look that somehow sent
An itch into his fundament
He shuddered when he heard her say
"When little boys have gone astray
The only way to put them right
Is: spank them soundly every night."

Then every night the little chap
Went, trousers down, across her lap
So she could turn his bottom red
Before she tucked him into bed.
When introduced to this regime
You should have heard him howl and scream;
He tried to squirm and kick and bite
But Nanny simply held him tight,
Then after spanking him she'd find
A way of saying something kind.
And though she set his bum ablaze
The mixture of first pain then praise
Made Charles review his bratty ways

He swore that he would never grieve
His Nanny so she wouldn't leave
And he became the paragon
That Belloc commented upon