I know, I know - late to the dance...

This historical recreation was inspired by the SUPPLY LIST from the Shackleton Expedition. The original story tells about the booze that was FOUND, but see the link below to see the booze that WASN'T found!

- Al

SHACKLETON'S CRATES
TUNE: Finnegan's Wake
New Words: Trapper (Al Boyce)


Ern'st Shackleton came from Ireland
In 1907 he boated out
He'd a mind to explore Antarctic's shores
South Pole bound's what he was about.
Now Ern'st had a sort of the tipplin' way
With a love of the liquor, old Ern'st was born
Though o'erloaded was his boat that day
He'd a dram shop's worth of booze on board!


CHORUS:
Whack fol the da' now, toss out the Parsnips
Mutton, hens and fishing baits
Ditch woolies, gloves and iodine
But leave plenty of room for Shackleton's Crates!


Three crates of quarts of champagne wine
Three crates of pints of champagne too;
Three crates of bottles of finest port
Six crates of brandy sure would do.
Then the 11 year whiskey loaded -
Mackinlay's 1896.
Twelve crates of Rare Old Highland Whiskey,
Twelve crates of that should do the trick!


His men assembled on Cape Royd
With their gramophone, records and poker cards
They'd a hundred pounds of tobacco bales
And two barrels of beer from Speights Brewery yard
Their bachelor pad they began to build
Such a man-cave you did never see!
With a microwave oven and a foosball game
and round-the-clock sports on cable TV!


February aught-eight it was a blur
By March the beer was history
April, Bernie took a road trip with the car
May, Wild and Joyce printed poetry
By June they finished off the port
July saw the last of the champagne die
In August they had smoked their last
And were giving Shackleton's Crates the eye!


Then Ernie shouted and raised his hand
"We'll have to ration the booze right quick!
We've four crates left of a brandy fine
And nine of Mackinlay's 'Ninety-six!"
Ernie had picked his crew quite canny
None had schooling past grade two
They couldn't do math on the missing crates
And Shackleton hid them from his crew.


The rest, they say, is history
Soon, the booze being gone, the party broke
Poor Ern'st was passed out on his bed
And the Nimrod shoved off before he woke
In 2010, Al Fastier found them
Shackleton's Crates where they had been
With but one bottle shy when they were reported
Methinks Shackleton's booze got swiped again!


Supply list from the Shackleton Expedition

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