Overview
Rosemary Lane "is an English folksong: a ballad ( Roud #269, Laws K43) that tells a story about the seduction of a domestic servant by a sailor.
According to Roud and Bishop
"An extremely widespread song, in Britain and America. Its potential for bawdry means that it was popular in male-centred contexts such as rugby clubs, army barracks and particularly in the navy, where it can still be heard, but traditional versions were often collected from women as well as men."
An adaptation of the song is known as "Bell Bottom Trousers".
Synopsis
One variant of the song begins with the words:
When I was in service in Rosemary LaneI won the goodwill of my master and my dameTill a sailor came there one night to layAnd that was the beginning of my misery.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).