Poor John !

'Why, it's just like that song somebody used to sing.' She laughed. 'Do you remember? I don't know how the verse went, but ...

       John took me round to see his mother, his mother, his mother!

       And when he'd introduced us to each other,

         She sized up everything that I had on.

       She put me through a cross–examination:

       I fairly boiled with aggravation:

         Then she shook her head,

         Looked at me and said:

           "Poor John! Poor John!"

Jill the Reckless. 1 The Family Curse

'It's going to be awkward meeting him. I shall feel like John took me round to see his mother.'

'You'll feel what?'

[...]

'You don't seem to know anything. Father used to sing it. It's about a girl who get engaged to a man and he takes her round to see his mother and the mother looks at her and shakes her head and says "Poor John! Poor John!"'

French Leave. Chapter 12

Her attitude, in short, had resembled that of the mother in the old music hall song who, introduced to her son's fiancée, looked at her meditatively and said 'Poor John! Poor John!'. Lady Blake–Somerset had not actually used the words 'Poor Henry!', but her manner throughout lunch had implied them, and Kay, thinking of her now, frowned thoughtfully.

Frozen Assets. Chapter 7.I

'I was thinking of the old music hall song where the man brings his fiancée to meet his mother and the mother takes a long look at her says "Poor John! Poor John!" You were just going to say "Poor Jill!"'

Do Butlers Burgle Banks?. Chapter 13.IV