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N.B. ‘SHROPPIE LASS’
We bought a narrow boat for the simple life afloat,
travelling down the cut*…
It was to be a lifetime’s toy and we danced with joy
as into it, ourselves, we put…
We packed in all our stuff of which I’d brought more than enough
to last us for a year or two
Then we started on our way: whether near or far away,
neither of us really knew…
But, don’t you know, a narrowboat’s not a holiday…
it’s more a sort of way of life…
Involving much hard work…and if you shirk*…
you get a nagging session off the wife
You’re often underneath those deck-boards, gritting teeth,
turning all the air around you blue…
And when the work is done, you sit down upon your bum…
and the boat thinks: “Boy, have I got news for you!”
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You’ve had your holiday and you head for home one day
sad to leave the boat behind…
You settle in the house…where you start to grouse*…
because the boat just won’t stay out of your mind
You rush through all the jobs…three weeks worth done 'on the trot'*
then you sit and you twiddle your thumbs…
You catch each other’s eyes, heave some great big sighs…
then dash off to visit the Mums…
You went home for twenty days and in eight you’re fair away*…
hurrying to pack the car…
You’re heading for your boat and the simple life afloat…
and you don’t care how near or how far…
For you’ve got a water-bug* or a narrowboat or tug,
a barge or a cruiser, white…
You’re off on your way (and you’re going NOW today)
you can’t sleep in that house another night…
For, don’t you know, a narrowboat’s not a holiday…
it’s more a sort of way of life…
Involving much hard work…and if you shirk…
you get a nagging session off the wife.
You don’t care when things go wrong…for you’ve got ‘the bug’* so strong
it’s a challenge to sort them out….
And round every single bend is a brand new set of friends…
it’s the boating life for you, without doubt!
**********
*cut ... a 'familiar' term for the canals, because they 'cut' through small hills inside tunnels or deep cuttings.
*shirk ... avoiding doing something
*grouse ... grumble and complain
*on the trot ... one after another at a pace which is faster than normal
*fair away ... a nautical term to indicate that you have started and are making good progress
*Water-bug is a type of small boat found on the canals
*the bug is usually used to explain having caught an infection ... here I use it to explain that life on the canals is, if you are inclined to it, highly infectious, LOL.
*cut ... a 'familiar' term for the canals, because they 'cut' through small hills inside tunnels or deep cuttings.
*shirk ... avoiding doing something
*grouse ... grumble and complain
*on the trot ... one after another at a pace which is faster than normal
*fair away ... a nautical term to indicate that you have started and are making good progress
*Water-bug is a type of small boat found on the canals
*the bug is usually used to explain having caught an infection ... here I use it to explain that life on the canals is, if you are inclined to it, highly infectious, LOL.
I fitted this to an existing tune and sang it often to other boaters ...
We had ten wonderful years with the NB Shroppie Lass, before ill health intervened.
From spring to autumn we wandered the canals of this country .... blissfully happy, despite the problems involved with buying an elderly boat.
The photo, above, of Ken after a 2+ hour session under the deck boards, sorting yet another problem out, covered in engine oil and blissfully happy, relates to my cartoon here ...
* My cartoons, although received with enjoyment by other boaters, were not wanted by the Canal magazines published in this country. After a few months, I lost heart and stopped doing them. It will be good to give them an airing here, in the hopes that they are seen by at least one or two other boaters
We had ten wonderful years with the NB Shroppie Lass, before ill health intervened.
From spring to autumn we wandered the canals of this country .... blissfully happy, despite the problems involved with buying an elderly boat.
The photo, above, of Ken after a 2+ hour session under the deck boards, sorting yet another problem out, covered in engine oil and blissfully happy, relates to my cartoon here ...
* My cartoons, although received with enjoyment by other boaters, were not wanted by the Canal magazines published in this country. After a few months, I lost heart and stopped doing them. It will be good to give them an airing here, in the hopes that they are seen by at least one or two other boaters
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