Elegran - We had the ‘Not last night but the night before, Three big Tom cats came knocking at our door…’ unfortunately that’s all I can remember;
I do remember
‘She stood on the bridge at midnight,
Her legs were all a quiver?
She gave a cough,
Her leg fell off,
And floated down the river.’
‘One fine day in the middle of the night,
Two dead men got up to fight.
Back to back they faced each other, Drew their swords and shot each other.
One was blind and the other couldn't see,
So they chose a dummy for a referee.
A blind man went to see fair play,
A dumb man went to shout "hooray!"
A paralysed donkey passing by,
Kicked the blind man in the eye.
It kicked him through a nine inch wall, Into a dry ditch and drowned them all.
A deaf policeman heard the noise,
And came to arrest the two dead boys. If you believe this tale is tall,
Ask the blind man he saw it all!’
There was also;
‘Ladies and Gentlemen!Hobos and tramps!
Crosseyed mosquito's and bow legged ants!
Admission is free, pay at the door pull up a chair and sit on the floor.
I sit down beside you to stand up behind you,
To tell you a tale I know nothing about.
..,
I’m not sure if this next bit is the same poem but here it is anywho!
‘I went to the pictures tomorrow,
And took a front seat at the back.
I fell from the pit to the gallery,
And broke a front bone in my back.
A lady she gave me some chocolate,
I ate it and gave it her back.
I phoned for a taxi then walked it,
And that’s why I never came back!’
These were all courtesy of my Grandpa Jo (born 1911)
Neither Mum nor Nan read stories or lullaby’s, however my Great Auntie Francis would often sing ‘On the good ship lollipop’ & every afternoon, as soon as I got in from school (3:30pm) & even at weekends, I’d sit on the right arm of his arm chair, rest my head on his shoulder, while he read.
Years later, I found out that the first book he ever read to me was on he got as a prize at school, ‘Rip Van Winkle’ then he read me stories from his ‘story book, all I remember about it was it was, green cloth cover, with black and gold on the cover and spine. I used to call it my princess book.
After that we read most of the Enid Blyton books - about 20 books in a set, Tales of Toyland was one of my faves. Then there were the, Faraway Tree Series, The Wishing Chair, Merry Mister Muddle, Mr Pink Whistles Party, Naughty Amelia Jane, Sleepy time stories, Well Really Mr Twiddle, The Book of Brownies. To name a few
) she'd recite this one:
