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BB2314
: The Owl, the Pussy-Cat and the Ring
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Wednesday
3rd May 2023
A
song was going through my head
like an ear-worm.
It
was that childhood favourite
of mine, Edward Lear's poem
delightfully crooned by Elton
Hayes.
If
you don't remember it, click
on the picture on the right.
If
you do remember it, perhaps
you will have already done so!
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The
Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea
In
a beautiful pea-green boat:
They took
some honey, and plenty of money
Wrapped
up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked
up to the stars above,
And sang to a
small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy, O
Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy
you are.
You are, you are.
What
a beautiful pussy you are.”
I
often like to have the rhythm of a song
in my head too encourage my feet to move
at the right beat as I climb but at first
it wasn’t really necessary. The ascent
from Dunmail Raise to Grisedale Tarn is
enlivened by the stream, Raise Beck, tumbling
down successive waterfalls; so much so that
you forget how steep is the path. Also,
it has the best laid stone steps that we
have ever encountered in Lakeland.
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We
had seen no-one on the climb but once at
the tarn it was a different matter, being
populated with folk doing the Coast to Coast
long distance walk. Or possibly the
rather shorter Westmorland Way from Appleby
to Arnside. Maybe that now we have
Westmorland restored, that Way might become
more popular- it deserves to be.
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The
climb from the tarn to the Fairfield plateau
was another matter.
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It
zig zags its way up fairly steep scree.
Fortunately verse two of the ear-worm
propelled me.
Pussy
said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl,
How
charmingly sweet you sing!
Oh! let us
be married; too long we have tarried,
But
what shall we do for a ring?
A ring,
a ring? But what shall we do for a
ring?”
They
sailed away, for a year and a day,
To
the land where the bong-tree grows;
And
there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood,
With
a ring at the end of his nose,
His now,
his nose.
With a ring at the end
of his nose.”
I
don’t know what ear-worms the others had
but we all made good progress to the top,
which was surprisingly busy. Nevertheless
we found a suitable shelter behind which
to have lunch. Surprisingly Tony hadn’t
complained about it being an hour late.
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I
told the boys about my ear-worm, which triggered
a discussion about nose rings and other
body piercings. None of us could understand
why anybody would want a ring in their nose
unless, like piggies or bulls, it was to
tether them. Which only begs more
questions!
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The
descent was much less traumatic than BB1508
when it was not a nice place to be. Then
the wind was so bad we aborted and headed
down to Arthur’s seat as fast as possible.
Today we could take it easy and enjoy
the view.
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One
poor Herwick seemed not to have realised
that she could have had her baby in the
warmth of the valley!
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We
didn’t enjoy the lower reach of the path.
Again we were on stone steps laid
into the hill but these were of an entirely
different quality to those experienced earlier.
Now
we had a problem. Stan’s car was at
the top of Dunmail Raise but we, and the
pubs, were at the bottom. I should
say pub because after last week, the Swan
is struck off our list. Brian and
Tony opted to visit the Travellers Rest
whilst Stan and I went to recover his car.
What a wearisome climb up by the side
of the road that was.
Luckily
the song kept me going. It felt like
a year and a day to the car.
"Dear
Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your
ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
So
they took it away, and were married next
day
By the turkey who lives on the hill.
They
dined on mince and slices of quince,
Which
they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand
in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They
danced by the light of the moon,
The
moon, the moon.
They danced by
the light of the moon.”
In
fact it took us so long that Tony, having
become concerned for us, phoned to ask where
were we as he was now on his fourth pint.
An exaggeration, no doubt, but he
had thought the car was only a hundred yards
along the road. I wish!
When
we eventually reached the pub, we found
them in conversation with a young lady.
Tony
was complimenting her on her blue and purple
hair. She had a very friendly, well
behaved dog with her and also an enormous
rucksack. As she left, she told us
that she and dog were heading up to Grisedale
tarn, wild camping.
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After
she had gone, we couldn’t help
discussing why an attractive
young lady like that would have
a ring at the end of her nose.
Her nose, her nose.
A ring at the end of her
nose.
Who
finds that alluring?
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Then
we envisaged her up at the tarn, 1,765 feet
above sea level, looking up to the stars
above with only the dog for company. The
ear worm returned:
And
hand in paw, on the edge of the shore
They
danced by the light of the moon
The moon,
the moon
They
daaaaanced ....... by the
liiiiight ....... of the moooon.
Don,
Wednesday 3rd May 2023
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