I've been thinking about starting this thread for some time. Now that the holidays are over, I'm wondering if anyone enjoys performing recitations. Though recitations are not music, they do require many of the same performance skills.

I will start the thread with a story of one performer I well remember from the late 50's. His name was Dave McCollum (sp?). Occasionally during an intermission at one of the many coffee houses we all sang at in Seattle, Dave would come on stage and cast his spell. He could hold the audience in his hand. (If anyone knows where Dave is today, would you please PM me?) Here is just one recitation I remember that Dave did so well:

YARN OF THE NANCY BELL
(W.S. Gilbert)

Twas on the shores that round our coast,
From Deal to Ramsgate span,
That I found alone, on a piece of stone,
And elderly naval man.

His hair was weedy, his beard was long,
And weedy and long was he,
And I heard this wight on the shore recite,
In a singular minor key.

"Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captains gig."

And he shook his fists and he tore his hair,
Till I really felt afraid,
For I couldn't help thinking the man had been drinking,
And so I simply said:

"Oh, elderly man, it's little I know
Of the duties of men of the sea,
And I'll eat my hand if I understand
How you can possibly be

"At once a cook, and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captains gig."

Then he gave a hitch to his trousers, which
Is a trick all seamen larn,
And having got rid of a thumping quid,
He spun his painfull yarn:

"'Twas in the good ship Nancy Bell
That we sailed to the Indian sea,
And there on a reef we came to grief,
Which has often occurred to me.

"And pretty well nigh o' the crew was drowned
(There was seventy seven o' soul),
And only ten of the Nancy's men
Said 'Here!' to the muster roll.

"There was me and the cook and the captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And the bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig.

"For a month we'd neither wittles nor drink,
Till a-hungry we did feel,
So, we drawed a lot, and accordin' shot,
The captain for our meal.

"The next lot fell to the Nancy's mate,
And a delicate dish he made;
Then our appetite with the midshipmite
We seven surivors stayed.

"And then we murdered the bo'sun tight,
And he much resembled pig,
Then we wittled free, did the cook and me,
On the crew of the captain's gig.

"Then only the cook and me was left,
And the delicate question, 'Which
Of us two goes to the kettle?' arose,
And we argued it out as sich.

"For I loved that cook as a brother, I did,
And the cook he worshipped me;
But we'd both be blowed if we'd either be stowed
In the other chap's hold, you see.

"'I'll be eat if you dines off me,' says Tom,
'Yes, that,' says I, 'you'll be'-
I'm boiled if I die, my friend,'quoth I,
And 'exactly so, quoth he.

"Says he, 'Dear James, to murder me
were a foolish thing to do,
For don't you see that you can't cook me,
Wile I can - and I will - cook you!'

"So, he boils the water, and takes the salt
And the pepper in portions true
(Which he never forgot), and some chopped shalot,
And some sage and parsley too.

"'Come here, says he, with a proper pride,
Which his smiling features tell,
'T'will soothing be if I let you see
How extremely nice you'll smell.'

"And he stirred it round and round and round,
And he sniffed at the foaming froth;
When I ups with his heels, and smothers his squeals
In the scum of the boiling broth.

"And I eat that cook in a week or less,
And - as I eating be
The last of the chops, why I almost drops,
For a wessel in sight I see.

"And I never larf, and I never smile,
And I never lark nor play,
But I sit and croak, and a single joke
I have - which is to say:

"Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig!"

(note, I have done my best to copy the exact spelling and punctuation that I have in my copy of W.S. Gilbert's "The Bab Ballads." And yes, he is the Gilbert of Gilbert & Sullivan fame.)

How well I remember when Dave would launch into this drama. He would draw out all the ghastly lines like the fine actor he was.

CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson