The Organ Grinder's Monkey

And now for something completely different for no other reason except that I like it!

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A non musical bit today.....not even an old mill by this stream!

But, where has all the water gone?

Just look how much growth there is in a year.

The effect of music and of the dramatic art on all classes of a civilised community is of a most wholesome kind….. The rapid extension of a love of music among the English people is in great part due to that craving for relief from the pressure of the business of life….The success of Music Halls, Popular Concerts, and the musical festivals at the Crystal Palace; and the resolution with which attempts to put down Street Organs has been opposed as a designed cruelty on the poor, who have no other music…express the general comfort that is to be found in this art.

The barrel organ is the opera of the street-folk: and Punch (and Judy) is their national comedy theatre. I cannot call to mind any scene on my many journeys through London that struck the author of this pilgrimage more forcibly than walking up of a dull, woe-begone alley, to the sound of an organ. The women leaning out of the windows… pleasurably stirred, for an instant, in that long disease, their life… and the children trooping and dancing round the swarthy player!

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"Traditional fairground rides such as merry-go-rounds, ghost trains and carousels are at risk of "losing their authenticity" because of the Brussels ban on light bulbs." Says the papers today.

However, officials at the Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre, which houses Britain's largest collection of classic rides, claim the new bulbs will not illuminate their machines.

The centre believes the rides used in parades, fairs and circuses for over 100 years will be plunged into darkness and will lose their ''authenticity''.

''It is extremely difficult to find bulbs domestically and the import supply has completely dried up."

The centre, in Lifton, Devon, boasts Victorian roundabouts, a 1940's ghost train and little-known novelty rides which use hundreds of coloured light bulbs each year.

The Fairground Heritage Trust says it has enough 110 volt lamps to last the next two years but will then run out.

Mr Belshaw said: ''We are really short of the coloured ones - we could lacquer them yellow and red but they do not always look the same. We are just hoping someone will have a supply somewhere.''

Traditional fairground rides such as merry-go-rounds, ghost trains and carousels are at risk of "losing their authenticity" because of the Brussels ban on light bulbs.

Does no-one realise that 'experts' exist solely to perpetuate themselves??

Ignore them, & they will wander off & discover another "threat" to our existence, based on feeding two rats with eight tons of pork over 6 months, or some such. There are far worse ways of dying than by having the odd bacon sarnie.

When I read stories like this, new alarms/warnings etc about meat products of all kinds, I seriously wonder whether or not there is a hidden agenda. I suspect that in many cases the people or organisations that leak the story or actively promote the story are, in reality, trying to advance vegetarianism.

And....what did I read today?

"The Porkgasm"

Bacon strips, bacon sausage, ham sausage, ham slices, smoked pork sausage and roasted pork belly surrounded by ground sausage shaped into a pig, wrapped in bacon and roasted. Garnished with chili ears and tail.

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The other week, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain were accompanied by hundreds of audience members at the Albert Hall.

"The tally was rising even as people took their seats. One minute the rumour was that there were 500 ukuleles secreted about the audience of the Albert Hall."

" The next it was 800. By 10pm kick-off, It was being told that some 2,000 of the pesky mini-banjos were about to be unleashed on Beethoven’s Ode to Joy."

Poor old Beethoven.

But there is an amusing side to this....."Ode to Joy" is used by the dreaded eu as it's anthem.

Perhaps this was a way of blowing a "raspberry" at Brussels?

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‘Tuner’s Oppor-Tuner-ty’ was written by Fred Coyne and Harry Adams and assigned to Howard & Co in January 1879, with another song, for £12.

In those days there was obviously not a lot of money to be made writing songs.

I have only put up the first verse but you can see how the lyric overflows with double entendres and follows the well-laid pattern prevalent in folk songs such as ‘The German Clock Mender (Winder)’ whereby the trade and its associated tools are synonymous with sexual meanings…. e.g. ‘to keep her piano in tune’, and in a later verse ‘fingering the keys’.

The husband returns in the third verse as is shown on the music cover, here illustrated by Alfred Concanen……note the symbolism of the hat on the hall hanger and the barometer reading ‘stormy’.

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Yesterday I was browsing through the BBC iPlayer and I noticed they had program categories for ‘Northern Ireland’, Scotland and Wales.

No, the BBC do not recognise England as a country.

When the Queen signed the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, this country adopted the EU Regionalisation Plan. This abolished England's 48 counties and replaced them with 9 European regions, each with its own Regional Capital, who reports directly to Brussels, not to Westminster.

This effectively obliterates the country of England.

For example the County of Cornwall is replaced by the South West Region, which stretches from Lands End and includes Gloucestershire and Wiltshire; its regional capital is Exeter

After the EU abolishes our 48 counties your address will change from 4 High St, Taunton, Somerset, Great Britain, to 4 High St, Taunton, Area K, European Union.

My “stamp of a civilised Englishman”.

Cylinder lawnmowers are still alive and well in Filey, Yorkshire and that's because Stan Hardwick has 365 different mowers to try out.

The retired greenkeeper is fascinated by the machines and owns every type imaginable. Some date back to the mid-19th century.

With the grudging consent of his wife Margaret, 68, Mr Hardwick keeps his favourite examples in the conservatory and the front room for visitors to admire. The rest are stored in a huge two-storey shed at the bottom of the back garden.

Mr Hardwick, 69, who has been dubbed the Lawn Ranger, said: 'Some of my mates think I'm mad, but pals I know from greenkeeping are quite interested.

Gone now from the streets of England are the blackened faces of the banjo-minstrels, the rinky-tink clatter of spoons and the reedy strains of the strolling piano accordionist. Gone too is the rhythmic crash and clatter of the one-man band.

“Mick and Mike” used to frequent Charing Cross Road area of London…seen here in the early fifties.

Around the same period these three, calling themselves “Spa Harp Trio”, could be found on the streets of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. However, because of their habit of popping into each pub on their patch, they were locally referred to as “The Thirsty Three”!

Over the years busking, once the preserve of old soldiers, has changed to become a young person’s way of proving their musical talent to an audience.

These two barefoot young ladies were spotted in York, by photographer Clifford Robinson, playing some old-fashioned “swing”.

However, not all music is appreciated by certain groups of people.

It would appear that…..

“A pair of buskers who infuriated residents with their endless renditions of just two songs have been given ASBOs preventing them from playing in Moseley, Birmingham.

Mr Ryan, a guitar player, and Mr Stevens, who would hit dustbin lids with drum sticks, had been playing the two songs to people in the Moseley area for the last 18 months.

They were warned they faced jail if they breached the two-year anti-social behaviour orders handed down on Wednesday by District Judge Qureshi at Birmingham Magistrates Court.

Birmingham councillor Ayoub Khan, Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety, said: "I'm pleased that visitors and residents of Moseley will no longer be subject to this duo's anti social behaviour.

But others said the pair were local heroes.

Randal Woods, 26, said: "They are harmless really - we all enjoyed to have a sing-a-long with them outside the pub afterwards. Its people like this that give an area a bit of character and it's a shame that some killjoys have got involved who don't know how to have a bit of fun."

A clash of cultures maybe?

Henrik Alexandersson, a member of the Swedish Pirate Party, reports that the EU Directorate General for Justice, Freedom and Security is proposing a ban on the fuel used for children's toy steam engines in an effort to prevent terrorism.

He says that the Commission fears that a terrorist could buy tens of thousands of fuel tablets and then extract a sufficient amount of an explosive substance out of them to make a bomb.

He went on to say that a ban would effectively be the end for the German manufactured steam engines, as no substitute fuel exists.

With open borders and unchecked immigration, there are more than likely tons of explosives already stored in the country. Besides the terrorists already have their copies of The Anarchists Cookbook to brew their own explosives.

If they are that worried about someone buying tens of thousands of fuel tablets then tell the shops not to sell tens of thousands of fuel tablets.

And on the subject of money, I am alarmed that Government departments are spending time and money on preparing to scrap the pound.

Whitehall departments are spending time and taxpayers’ money updating their plans for the switch and each one has a named minister in charge of the process!

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said:

“It now appears that Broon and Mandelsnake have a secret Whitehall agenda to exploit their appalling mismanagement of the public finances and use it as an excuse to join the euro”.

“Time and resources are now being spent on preparing to issue council tax bills and TV licences in the new currency“.

Do they know something we don’t?

You bet your bottom ‘Pound Sterling’ they do.

Many holidaymakers visit picturesque Aldeburgh, famed for its shingle beach and fisherman's huts. These are just two of the things one would expect to find at the seaside.

There are dozens of other things you could come across but there is always one thing that you can guarantee to be there in large numbers, and that is Sea Gulls!

Councillors in Aldeburgh, this upmarket resort in Suffolk, have decreed that the birds there have become a "serious pest".

The councillors said, many of the visitors have complained of sleepless nights due to the raucous calls of the gulls.

Heavens above….if you don’t like seagulls….don’t go to a seaside resort for a holiday!

Obviously the council does not want to encourage seagulls but any holiday makers going there are now going to get a fine for feeding the gulls.

Not a polite “Please don’t feed the birds” telling off.

Not even a “Smack on the wrist”.

No……Holidaymakers have been warned they could be fined £2,500 for feeding chips to seagulls.

........G&S Mikado

Can you just imagine it…..anyone found guilty of throwing chips to gulls, will be made to kneel down on the beach with their mouth wide open….whilst passers-by on the promenade throw chips into it!!!

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It is true that both the word ‘Muffin’ and ‘Crumpet’ have referred to, shall we say, casual lady friends.

The OED quotes examples from 1856 of these ladies in Canada being referred to as “muffins”.

The word “muffin” is connected to the French word “moufflet” ..soft bread.

The probable origin of the word “crumpet” is the Welsh “crempog”, a pancake or fritter.

Both are made of batter, both require re-cooking, and both are served hot and well buttered. (I like the thought of a ‘hot buttered’ woman!)

Crumpets, the round things with lots of holes, are available from grocers and supermarkets rather than a bakery.

Perhaps they are delivered direct from a plastics recycling plant and have never seen the inside of a bakers!

One rarely sees a real muffin, (so I’m told), except in Lancashire where they are sold by the local baker.

How about this Pikelet (above) then?

In Lancashire and Yorkshire, crumpets are sometimes called ‘pikelets‘.

The earliest recipe I found for a pikelet, came from Leicestershire dated 1841.

Again we have the same batter mixture, but with perhaps more egg and a pinch of nutmeg.

A Staffordshire recipe states that “they should be as thick only as pancakes” but goes on to say “if they are made as thick as a muffin, they should be split and buttered inside”.

Pikelets are in the North often referred to as “Griddle Pancakes” and in the South as “Drop Scones”. In Scotland and in Wales they are a yeasted “Drop Scone”.

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It was Ken that gave me the idea for today's post. Thanks Ken.

Sweets we had as children in the forties and fifties.

In order to keep us quiet my mother would resort to making her own sweets. I still have her original cook-book, well over sixty years old now. They were usually based on Golden Syrup and sugar to make toffee, but she also added milk powder and flavouring like peppermint and cocoa.

Instead of a boring old farmer's gate I went in search of something more attractive and found this lovely one at the foot of Wittenham Clumps.

There are a pair of hills here side by side, but to get the gate in the picture I only managed one clump!

The tree-covered heights of the Iron Age Hillfort on Sinodun (or Castle) Hill are a well-known beauty spot known variously as Wittenham Clumps, the "Berkshire Boobs" or "Mother Dunch's Buttocks!"

The name Sinodun is pure Celtic. Seno-Dunum means 'Old Fort'. This may indicate it was abandoned quite some time before the Romans arrived in Berkshire or, more likely, that it was so-named in the post-Roman period, before the Saxons arrived.

Also at the clumps is the 'Money-Pit' where a vast treasure, guarded by a large black raven, is said to be buried. The clump of trees on Round (or Harp) Hill, adjoining Sinodun, are sometimes called the Cuckoo Pen. The locals believed that if you could trap a cuckoo within its branches, summer would never end.