"Captain Brown"

This little piece was written in 1932 and it always springs to mind when I hear people refer to the goverment as "re-arranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic". I wonder why ?

When I was a lad my father used to sing it me and my brothers and I guess that is why it has stuck in my memory.

I am always on the lookout for old sheet music and I came upon this copy a couple of years ago in the local flea-market.

It is a Comedy Foxtrot and it plays well on my 26 note Organ........The words...Oh yes..

"I'll tell the tale of the Nancy Lee,

The ship that got ship-wreck'd at sea,

The bravest man was Captain Brown,

For he played his Ukulele as the ship went down;"

"All the crew were in despair,

Some rush'd here and others rush'd there,

But the Captain sat in the Captain's chair,

And he played his Ukulele as the ship went down:"

There are at least another twelve verses, each from a different member of the crew.....

...I think it is probably best to spare you all those.

No more Drunken Sailors then ?

Another broadside from the "Good Ship" PC. Heaven help us where will it end.  First sung in the days when Britannia ruled the waves, it became a schools favourite, handed down through the decades.  Nanny thinks any reference to alcohol and drunkeness should be banned. This is hardly going to prepare children for the real world.

Nick Seaton, of pressure group the Campaign for Real Education, said: "Changing the words of a much-loved children's nursery rhyme is simply trying to re-write the history and tradition of this country."

The song was sung by sailors on the Royal Navy's ships of the line in the 19th century. It was often sung when raising a sail or lifting the anchor - hence 'Up She Rises' in the song's chorus - or when sailing into battle. 

When I was at school we used to sing songs that would make the PC brigades hair curl.

Do you remember "Johnny come down to Hilo" ?

The first verse went:-

"I nebber see de like since I bin born,

When a big buck neegger wid de sea boots on, Says"

"Johnny come down to Hilo.

Poor old man"

This was known as a "Windlass and capstan" song and I'm sure singing this as a child has not done me any harm.

Children are great levellers and no matter how politically correct the Government and their quangos become, they will still sing the original nursery rhymes because they are funny. 

Kipper's Dickie

Quite a few people have asked me why "Kipper's Dickie".
Well, twenty years ago, as an engineer, I worked for Plessey. The site where I worked had a post-room staffed by two lovely ladies who's job it was to collect and deliver all the mail.
In addition to this they were a never ending source of news, scandal, gossip, rumour, tittle-tattle etc....They were the first to know about most of the "going's on" on and around the site. I am not suggesting that they "steamed" open letters, but this was the first place to go to get the latest on "so and so" or about "such and such".
"One of these days, you'll get into trouble for spreading rumours like that" I said.
"I don't care" she said.
"I don't care a Kipper's Dickie".
So now you know.....