Uncle John and Dad in The Peak District
When we were young, Dad would tell us many stories of what happened to him in the war, often at bathtime. Shame we didn't write them down, some were hilarious. His officer training in Dunbar was a favourite. He also used to recite comic monologues made famous by Stanley Holloway in the thirties and forties. Many were written by Marriot Edgar including "Albert and the Lion". I can also remember "Sam, Sam Pick Oop Tha'Musket", "Gunner Joe" and "Uppards". Dad presented these recitations at the odd event.
There were also poems in his repertoire such as "Disobedience" (James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree, took great care of his mother though he was only three etc etc. See http://ingeb.org/songs. "Ann Jupp" was another:
He had lots of sayings, some of which came from the army:
"Steady the Buffs"
"Let the dog see the rabbit"
"The muscles on his brawny arms stood out like sparrow's kneecaps"
"It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in"
"No mon, no fun, your son ........... How sad, too bad, your Dad"
Dad had a terrible laugh. In fact Mum would be worried about taking him to anything that might be at all funny, as Dad would be a total embarrassment. He just could not control his laughing. I can remember at home, if someone found something funny, the others would join in and we would all be in hysterics for ages.
For some reason, Dad knew the biggest star of the circus, Coco the Clown. I think we met him one time, but where or when I have no idea. Dad could never go to the circus as he suffered from asthma. He was allergic to horses. He also drank his tea when it was nearly cold. Very strange.
When he was young, Dad followed Sheffield United, going to away games as well as those at home. I know he played cricket as a young man. He obviously followed Yorkshire in the County Championship, although he often mentioned that he might not have qualified to play for the county as their rules meant you had to have been "born in the historic boundary" and his birthplace of Dore was then in Derbyshire. (The rule has been changed to allow those to play who have been educated in the county. Michael Vaughn only qualified through this change). I remember a day when we went to Bramall Lane to see Yorkshire play, long before the ground became football only.
As well as being a fan of all sports, Dad particularly liked boxing. He would be up in the middle of the night to listen to a world title bout from America on the radio. He took us once to the ABA Championships at the Royal Albert Hall, possibly tickets from a customer? During the last years of his life, when he and Margaret had moved to Bradway, he took me to see the World Snooker Championships at The Crucible in Sheffield.
Ann Jupp's a little
girl I know, she isn't very nice, 'cos everything I say I've done - she's
always done it twice.
An' everything I say I've got, she's got - an' more, you see. I've seven uncles - she's got twelve, an' three more aunts than me.
We both c'llect tickets from the trams, an' her lot's more than mine. She's got more steps to her front door - I've eight, an' she's got nine.
We scrambled through a holly-bush, an' Ann got scratched to-day, an' I got scratched. "I'm scratched the most!" Of course I heard her say.
An' scratches hurt...but I don't care, 'cos now we've counted up, an' she's got six, an' I've got ten...I've four more than Ann Jupp!
Dad also read to us from books such as "The Wind in the Willows" and "Just So Stories", my favourite from the latter being "The Cat That Walked By Himself" ("....and all places are alike to me"). He was a brilliant storyteller.An' everything I say I've got, she's got - an' more, you see. I've seven uncles - she's got twelve, an' three more aunts than me.
We both c'llect tickets from the trams, an' her lot's more than mine. She's got more steps to her front door - I've eight, an' she's got nine.
We scrambled through a holly-bush, an' Ann got scratched to-day, an' I got scratched. "I'm scratched the most!" Of course I heard her say.
An' scratches hurt...but I don't care, 'cos now we've counted up, an' she's got six, an' I've got ten...I've four more than Ann Jupp!
He had lots of sayings, some of which came from the army:
"Steady the Buffs"
"Let the dog see the rabbit"
"The muscles on his brawny arms stood out like sparrow's kneecaps"
"It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in"
"No mon, no fun, your son ........... How sad, too bad, your Dad"
Dad had a terrible laugh. In fact Mum would be worried about taking him to anything that might be at all funny, as Dad would be a total embarrassment. He just could not control his laughing. I can remember at home, if someone found something funny, the others would join in and we would all be in hysterics for ages.
For some reason, Dad knew the biggest star of the circus, Coco the Clown. I think we met him one time, but where or when I have no idea. Dad could never go to the circus as he suffered from asthma. He was allergic to horses. He also drank his tea when it was nearly cold. Very strange.
When he was young, Dad followed Sheffield United, going to away games as well as those at home. I know he played cricket as a young man. He obviously followed Yorkshire in the County Championship, although he often mentioned that he might not have qualified to play for the county as their rules meant you had to have been "born in the historic boundary" and his birthplace of Dore was then in Derbyshire. (The rule has been changed to allow those to play who have been educated in the county. Michael Vaughn only qualified through this change). I remember a day when we went to Bramall Lane to see Yorkshire play, long before the ground became football only.
As well as being a fan of all sports, Dad particularly liked boxing. He would be up in the middle of the night to listen to a world title bout from America on the radio. He took us once to the ABA Championships at the Royal Albert Hall, possibly tickets from a customer? During the last years of his life, when he and Margaret had moved to Bradway, he took me to see the World Snooker Championships at The Crucible in Sheffield.
1 comment:
Oh, delightful - all those you quoted (except for Ann Jupp)were things my parents used to say, too! I've just quoted the "sparrows' kneecaps" one on Facebook, and not one of my friends knew it.
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