"Do Diddely Di Dum, Do Diddely Di Dum Day"

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I am more than willing to stand shoulder-to-shoulder,

united with our Irish brothers, sisters and cousins.

BUT instead of helping the Irish people,

which is the right thing to do,

we are bailing out her politicians

from the consequences of their euro folly.

"We do not want to have to bail out the Irish economy."

I will drink to that.

This calls for a little Irish music, I tink.

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I tink we should help the Irish people direct.

So, if there are any Irish Grannies out there,

that fancy a wee holiday in the Thames Valley,

just drop Uncle Bernard a line.

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"Kathy's Rainbows"

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I have had a request.

Nay, I have had two requests,

but for the same thing.

Kath and her Rainbow

The first song just had to be Kathy's Song

from

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I have the music, and have arranged it for the organ,

but try as I might,

I couldn't find the sheet music with a cover.

Now Rainbows are easy and songs and covers

are found not only in my music cupboard

but all over the 'net'.

This I suppose is the most well known:-

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A bit too popular for me, but there is a nice version here from 1955.

I like to go after the unusual and preferably old.

(that includes Grandma's as well.)

So I have chosen:-

"There's a Rainbow round my Shoulder."

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and

"I'm always chasing Rainbows"

(when I can't Grab-a-Granny.)

"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" is a popular song. The music is credited to Harry Carroll, although the melody is actually adapted from Fantaisie-Impromptu by Frédéric Chopin. The lyrics were written by Joseph McCarthy, and the song was published in 1917 and introduced in the Broadway show Oh, Look! which opened in March, 1918. The song was sung in the show by The Dolly Sisters and was subsequently featured in a movie entitled The Dolly Sisters, released in September, 1945.

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I wonder if this is the origin of

"Dolly Birds"?

I also found this copy, but it is from a different show.

"Goody Two Shoes".

I can't find much about it.

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And to finish, my favourite

and, I'm afraid,

the

'Story of my life'.

"Waiting to find a little Bluebird, in vain."

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"Why have I always been a failure?

What can the reason be?

I wonder if the World's to blame.

I wonder if it could be me?"

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"Dancing with my Shadow"

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Just a 'Quickie' today as I have a busy day ahead.

It's really a little post for......

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From the show 'The Grand Parade', 1929/30 ** see below

.......over at Molly Golvers blogspot,

who recently (here and here) has posted up

some excellent photos

of shadows.

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This was the song I was after Molly.

It was by Elsie Carlisle all the time, however

I can't find her singing it.

Never mind, here's the song on an old 78.

** I have located the songs 'Molly' and 'Alone in the Rain'

I will try to get the mp3 links up if I can.

It would appear that the musical drama 'The Grand Parade',

is one of those great 'lost' films.

No copies survive.

Some of the songs do and 'Molly' can be heard here.

Synopsis: No one suffered more magnificently in the early-talkie era than the inimitable Helen Twelvetrees. In The Grand Parade, the actress is cast as Molly, the sweetheart of minstrel-show performer Jack Kelly (Fred Scott). Rising to the top of his profession, Kelly plummets to the bottom thanks to his fondness for intoxicating beverages. Molly nurses and coddles Kelly back to health, giving nary a thought for her own comfort or happiness. Our hero finally makes a spectacular comeback -- but will he cast off Molly in favour of seductive burlesque queen Polly (Marie Astaire)? In the typical fashion of early talkies, The Grand Parade contains way too many musical numbers, though the title tune is rather pleasant.

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Having a good 'Rake Around'

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I was sitting here this morning thinking,

“What can I write about,

that has absolutely nothing

to do with anything currently in the news!

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So off I went to read the latest from all my friendly bloggers for inspiration. I had a good ‘rake’ around, especially at Esther’s who had been doing an appraisal for a manufacturer of garden tools. Only the other day, down at one of our (three!) local garden centres I noticed how expensive some of these tools can be. I was not shopping for tools, but for a particular flavour of cat food for Hazel. She has this uncanny knack of preferring, nay, demanding the most expensive on the shelf. Her latest fad is for “Cutlets of Sardine & Mackerel with Clams in Jelly”!

Not, of course available at ASDA or Tesco, only up market Pet Stores.

But I digress.

Back to garden tools.

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Wot a load of old rubbish?

The range of prices you can pay for similar items is amazing.

Should I pay £49.99 for a rake with “A Mirror Polished Stainless Steel Head for Rust Resistance and Minimal Soil Adhesion with Weather Proofed Hardwood Shaft for Greater Durability”, or £4.99 for a ‘Garden Rake’?

Actually I wasn’t buying, I was just looking (I daren’t say ‘raking’) around.

I am one of these chaps who makes a thing last, and garden tools are no exception.

I am still using some of my late Father’s tools along with some I bought forty years ago. I am not what Mr Spear or Mr Jackson would describe as a good customer, but I get by.

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A 'Down to Earth' song by a Mr. Q. Kumber :D

When I worked for Plessey, we were based at Taplow Court.

(a subject perhaps for a later post).

Way back, this was the home of Lord and Lady Desborough.

Their neighbours were Lord and Lady Astor living at Cliveden.

Posh area here!

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Tools worth saving?

Anyway, twenty years ago, on closing the site,

everything got sold, given away or relegated to the Biffa.

Needless to say,

I was there - and not a lot ended up in the Biffa!

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"Lord Desborough" burnt on the handle.

Yes, I now have a shed-full of old tools;

my Father’s watering cans are in good company

with Lord Desborough’s ‘Topiary’ Hedge Clippers and hoes!

Those apples, by the way are from my 'Bramley' apple tree.

I can't ever remember seeing them ripen red,

as they have this year.

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A closer peek at those Victorian Labels I rescued from the skip.

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"The Last Post"

"Go West, young man."

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To the north of me lurks Wycombe!

To the east there’s awful Slough:

A little south lies Maidenhead,

It’s the West, that calls me now.

And so it is, that most of my ‘Days Out’ take me off upstream to appealing places like Marlow, Henley, Dorchester, Thame and Wallingford.

I used to live in, and quite liked, Maidenhead, but forty years ago it was a town of character, now missing. I have never felt attracted to Wycombe and my feelings for Slough are not un-similar to those of John Betjeman -

“Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough.

It isn’t fit for humans now,

There isn’t grass to graze a cow.

Swarm over, Death !"

I read every day about ‘The Western World’,

about ‘Western Culture’ and ‘Western Values’.

So, where is the west, and is there a dividing line circling the globe?

East on one side, west on t’other.

Well, there are pages and pages on Wikipedia, but I like to think back to my

schooldays when, on opening my old school atlas, the east was on the right hand page and the west was on the left.

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My old Atlas.

There was a fold down the middle and it was always annoying to not be able to read names of places ‘on the fold’.

In those days I assumed anything to the left of the Greenwich Meridian was in the West.

It is also fascinating to notice how, in literature and song, that the West is portrayed as place of peace, a place of rest and a place of kindness and good.

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Of course, there are far too many references to this ubiquitous place ‘west’ to mention here.

I have often wondered which countries Australians consider in the west? For example, to us the USA is firmly in the west, but surely to them it is east across the Pacific.

And where to them is the ‘Far East’?

To me, there is only one west. A place of many wonderful holidays as a child. This is our very own ’West Country’. Here in England, usually meaning the counties of Devon and Cornwall.

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My old book of West Country songs.

Then, over at the extreme left of my atlas page,

is what us lads referred to as the ‘Wild West’,

with cowboys and covered wagons.

One of our favourites singers from those early days being Tex Ritter.

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Yes, I still have the LP.

One of my favourite tales comes from the pen of J.R.R. Tolkien.

His ‘Men of the West’,

his Elves going off to the west,

the ‘West’ - the realms and peoples opposed to Sauron (evil)

and favouring virtue and the Dunedin (good).

The West it is then.

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"A little grey home in the West."

Oh! And by the way, 'I am Spartacus'.

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"Praise the Lord! We are a musical nation."

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In 1943, when I had not even reached my first birthday, Dylan Thomas was having his first ideas for a play about a village where everyone had gone slightly mad. This caused concern in London and an inspector was therefore sent down to certify the people collectively. The villagers, in giving their evidence, stated that, in their estimation it is the world, not them, that has gone crazy - a world full of greed, war and violence. The inspector judges them as condemned out of their own mouths.

The play was to be called “The Village of the Mad”. (Later, “The Town was Mad”).

Dylan was not particularly strong on plots and therefore the idea of a plot was abandoned for a lazy, relaxed account of the daily routines of the slightly ’loony’ villagers.

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Dylan Thomas.

He finally got down to writing what we now know as “Under Milkwood” in 1950/51 as he and his family settled down in Laugharne, in South Wales.

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His Laugharne boathouse home.

Its first performance was at the Fogg Museum at Harvard, in May 1953, when the author read the whole play in solo performance. Later that month a recording was made in New York, but this time with a cast.

At this stage some of the poems and songs were still to be written.

The BBC’s recorded production was planned for the 24th January 1954, with Dylan playing First Voice.

It was not to be,

as Dylan Thomas died on the 9th November 1953,

fifty seven years ago today.

The recording however, went ahead, with Richard Burton taking Dylan’s part as First Voice.

Although his live recording of “Under Milkwood” in New York contained a little music, - an unaccompanied Polly Garter song and the children’s pieces - there was evidence that Dylan had been thinking of a much greater musical content.

Therefore the two songs “Johnny Crack and Flossie Snail”, and the Polly Garter’s song were included in the BBC recording with music written by Dr Daniel Jones.

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My original box cover.

In 1969 I bought a boxed set of this original 1954 vinyl recording and think I may just give it a ’spin’ tonight.

Sing to me Polly.

I loved a man whose name was Tom,

He was strong as a bear and two yards long.

I loved a man whose name was Dick,

He was big as a barrel and three feet thick;

And I loved man whose name was Harry,

Six feet tall and sweet as a cherry.

But the one I loved best, a-wake or a-sleep,

Was little Willy Wee and he's six feet deep.

{Chorus}

Oh, Tom Dick and Harry were three fine men,

And I'll never have such loving again.

But little Willy Wee, who took me on his knee;

Little Willy Wee is the man for me.

Now men from every Parish around,

Run after me and roll me to the ground;

But whenever I love another man back,

Johnny from the Hill, or sailing Jack;

I always think as they do as they please

Of Tom Dick or Harry who were tall as trees.

And most of all, I think when I am by their side,

Of Little Willy Wee who drowned and died.

{Chorus)

Now when the farmers boys on the first fair day,

Come down from the hills to drink and be gay.

Before the sun sinks I'll lie there in their arms,

For they're good bad boys from the lonely farms;

But I always think as we tumble into bed,

Of little Willy Wee who is dead, dead, dead.

But I always think as we tumble into bed,

Of little Willy Wee who is dead, dead, dead.

Oh, Tom Dick and Harry were three fine men,

And I'll never have such loving again;

But I always think as we tumble into bed,

Of little Willy Wee who is dead, dead, dead

And to finish off with a bit of music,

I managed to find a rendition of just the first verse for you.

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".........it is the world, not them, that has gone crazy -

- a world full of greed, war and violence."

I don't think they were 'far off the mark', do you?

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"Singing Chickens"

One of my faithful followers, better known as 'Foody',

has a blog spot known as 'Singing Chicken'.

Now ‘Singing Chickens’ are very hard to find these days.

I’ve come across ‘Singing Nuns’,

and even ‘Singing Hinnies’

......but chickens?.......

Until I remembered Strasbourg.

Now, in Strasbourg Museum they have

the oldest ‘singing chicken’ in the world.

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It is all that is left of the very first clock

built for Strasbourg Cathedral in 1350.

All that is known of this clock,

is that it was very large....over 38 feet high !

Two further replacement clocks have been built for the cathedral,

but there are no remaining parts of this first clock .....

.....except the ‘chicken‘.

It was actually referred to as “The Great Cock”

and it sat on top of the clock and ‘sang’ every day at 12 noon.

At that time,

it would open its beak,

put out its tongue and flap its wings.

One of the engineering miracles of the bird, apart from the gearing and bellows, was that each separate primary feather on its wings, splayed out when the mechanism was working. You can see the details in the bottom right of the above drawing.

There is no record of what it sang or indeed even sounded like.

For some time now,

I had believed this to be the only 'Singing Chicken' in the world,

but yesterday I found the real thing!

Foody in disguise,

playing and singing here on YouTube.

After-thought One:- Singing Hinnies.

A Bakestone Cake using flour, butter, lard, currants, milk & sour cream.

‘The Singing Hinnie’ was so called as, when the butter and the cream melted during the baking it sizzled on the hot girdle and was thought to be singing.

After-thought Two:- The ‘Singing Nun’.

Belgium-born Jeannine Deckers shot to fame in 1963 when she released a song in order to raise money for her convent.

The song was entitled 'Dominique' after the 13th-century saint who founded her order. The track sold millions of copies worldwide and to this day she remains the only Belgian to have had a United States hit at number one.

She never repeated her success and her life ended sadly with suicide, following her depression, poverty and addiction to alcohol and painkillers.

"Mustn't be an old grump, but....."

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A lively little number, no doubt!

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So precautions are taken here every year for any trembling paws.

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As you can see we (the cats & I) are ready for anything they may throw at us. (Except eu regulations).

We have 'battened down the hatches' for the next three nights, whilst those with more money than sense can watch it (and their money) go up in smoke!

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The full spectrum of toxic nasties will shower down from firework displays all over the country tonight. Aluminium provides the brilliant whites, antimony sulphide produces the glittering effects, carcinogenic copper compounds produce bright blues, barium nitrate gives off glittering greens but a poisonous smoke that can cause breathing problems and bright red colours are sadly accompanied by strontium which can cause bone disorders. The list of hazards to people, pets and the environment goes on.

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Mustn't be an old grump, must we?

So a wee bit of history.

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Firework are said to owe their existence to a Chinese monk named Li Tian, who lived near the city of Liuyang in Hunan province, about 1,000 years ago. He is said to have come up with the idea of inserting gunpowder into the hollow of a bamboo stick: when thrown into a fire, the gases produced by the ignited powder caused an immense build-up of pressure and blasted the tube apart.

The Chinese believed that the bang was powerful enough to scare off evil spirits, and incorporated firecrackers into many of their religious events.

For many people, the noise is as much a part of Bonfire Night as the visuals. There are a number of fireworks that are made specifically to create noise. “Hummers” are tiny tubes, sent spinning into the air with such force that they shred their outer coating, whizzing and buzzing as they go. Or the “whistle”, which creates a high-pitched scream as the powder burns down a long tube.

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For many others this whole week’s misguided,

medieval, attempt to “scare off evil spirits”

is a period of unkind and unnecessary suffering.

Not only for the frail and nervous,

the babies and elderly trying to sleep,

but also for those amongst us that have no voice to object.

PS I took that photo above a long time ago. I had just treated myself to a new duvet and as I struggled to get it into the cover, Hazel joined in the fun. She was not hiding from fireworks as I wouldn't have used flash had she been frightened.

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"Bangers" on the 5th."

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British Sausage Week - November 1st - 7th.

I don’t know how these special ‘Weeks’ originate

or who dreams them up,

but this one sounds to me as if it’s from the pork ‘Trade’ seeking publicity.

However I‘m all for it if it means a bit of free tasting!

I shall see what today’s markets offer?

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“British Sausage Week is an annual event to celebrate the taste, quality and diversity of the great traditional butchers’ sausage. The Week is now a major event and provides a fun and lively way to promote the great tradition of sausage eating in Britain, and receives a huge amount of publicity.”

"Hundreds of independent butchers and farm shops take part in British Sausage Week, organising tastings and fundraising events and generating positive PR in the process."

There is a little more about it here.

Now, here's an idea for Bonfire night.

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"Mummy Rolls!

Three songs about sausages spring to mind - two of them (Give us a Bash at the Bangers & Mash, and The Sausage Song) I mentioned in an earlier post here.

The third one is a song from the show, “The Girls of Gottenberg”, which is a musical play in two acts by George Grossmith, Jr. and L. E. Berman, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, Basil Hood and P. G. Wodehouse, and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton.

Wow! What a team. Interesting to see P.G.Wodehouse in there.

It is called:-

“Two Little Sausages!”

And was sung by Gertie Millar and Edmund Payne.

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Once in a window of a ham and beef shop

Two little sausages sat!

One was a lady and the other was a gentleman

Sausages are like that!

He fell a victim to her simple charm,

And her form he would have embraced;

But a sausage you see never has any arms,

And the lady hasn't got any waist.

Chorus: What a pair of happy little sausages!

Theirs was a very pleasant fate.

So they snuggled up together,

In the chilly weather,

Both on the same cold plate, well,

It wasn't such a very cold plate!

What a pair of silly little sausages!

Theirs was a very bitter pill,

For they quickly parted,

And it left her broken hearted,

While he joined a bad mixed grill, yes,

It really was a very mixed grill!

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One sad day those sausages quarell'd,

Ended was all their joy.

The reason was that she said she caught him winking

At a saucy little saveloy.

'Pooh! My dear' said the gentleman sausage

'You may think I'm a flirt, well I am,

But I've seen you sitting on the same bit of parsley,

As that wicked old knuckle of ham.'

Repeat Chorus:

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Long years after on a luncheon counter,

Those little sausages met.

She was engag'd to the wing of a chicken,

But he hadn't got off yet!

Soon they were reconciled, and then, of course,

She consented to name the day,

So the chambermaid dress'd her in a tissue paper frill

And the waiter gave her away.

Last Chorus: What a pair of jolly little sausages!

Nothing their happiness can dash.

And on any day you'll meet 'em,

For there's no one wants to eat 'em,

He calls her his own sweet mash,

So you see that they are sausage and mash!

So you see that they are sausage and mash!

Hmmmm. No wonder these songs have faded into antiquity,

….probably the best place for them!

A little magic perhaps....

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Now, you'd make a lovely porky sausage.

And I have just read the Supermarket winners were:-

‘Gold Award’ to Morrisons for their

‘Pork, Oak Smoked Bacon and Cheddar Cheese Sausage’

Silver awards were given to Tesco for their 'Pork Toulouse Sausage'

and

Marks and Spencer for their

‘Outdoor Bred Pork and Bramley Apple Sausage.’

Sainsbury also received a bronze award for their

‘British Cumberland Sausage’

There were two award for 'Innovation'

and went to:-

Marks and Spencer for their 'Purple Banger',

a ‘British Outdoor Bred Pork, Mature Cheddar and Red Onion Sausage.

In-store butcher counters were also included this year

and it was Tesco that triumphed in the

Best Retailer Butchery Counter category with a

‘Pork, Spanish Red Onion and Tomato Salsa Sausage’.

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