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11 Mar 08 - 08:04 PM (#2285824) Subject: Origins: The Grangetown Whale From: Reiver 2 I checked the Digitrad and can find no mention of the Frank Hennessey song "The Grangetown Whale." There's an interesting and unusual story behing this fine song. I found some information about it a year or so ago, but have lost track of it and would like to regain the story. I can remember only the barest outline. A dead whale is washed up on a beach in Wales, it is loaded on a truck and toured around the country as an exhibit until the rotting carcass becomes too fragrant to continue. So it is (as I remember) buried in or near Grangetown, a suburb of Cardiff. Some years later a major flood inundates much of Grangetown. Frank Hennessey is inspired to write a rollicking tongue-in-cheek song about rowing a small boat around the flooded streets of Grangetown in search of the mighty Grangetown Whale. The chorus goes: "With the blowin' of his hole and the flourishin' of his tail You'll never see the equal of the mighty Grangetown Whale." Do any 'catters know the details of the story of the unfortunate whale that inspired this unlikely gem of a song, or where I could locate the information? Thanks in advance. Reiver 2 |
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12 Mar 08 - 04:01 PM (#2286701) Subject: RE: Origins: The Grangetown Whale From: sian, west wales Don't know, but I've emailed Frank to tell him you're asking ... You could email him from his Celtic Heartbeat page at BBC Radio Wales if you like. sian |
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13 Mar 08 - 01:43 AM (#2287117) Subject: RE: Origins: The Grangetown Whale From: Reiver 2 Thanks sian. I emailed a site in Grangetown, that had some material on Grangetown hyistory (but nothing about the mighty whale). Have not had a reply, though it was only a couple of days ago. For some reason I never thought of emailing Frank hemself -- probably because I didn't have an email addy for him, and never thought of trying the Celtic page at BBC Radio Wales. I try it tomorrow. Thanks again. Reiver 2 |
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13 Mar 08 - 04:46 AM (#2287149) Subject: RE: Origins: The Grangetown Whale From: Splott Man It was written after the Cardiff floods of Christmas in 1978. The main areas affected were Grangetown, Riverside and Butetown. I can't remember if Frank wrote it himself, or if it was given to him by Pete Measey, then of the band Taplas. Whether it was refencing the incident you suggest, I don't know, but Frank never refers to it in his intro. Splott Man |
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13 Mar 08 - 10:37 PM (#2287963) Subject: RE: Origins: The Grangetown Whale From: Reiver 2 OK. Thanks for the suggestions. I've emailed Frank and we'll see if he replies to either sian's or my communications. Splott Man, you're right about the flood. A line in the song refers to sailing down Riverside. We'll get the complete lowdown yet!! Reiver 2 |
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14 Mar 08 - 04:29 AM (#2288049) Subject: RE: Origins: The Grangetown Whale From: Splott Man "refencing" should be "referencing" of course. |
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14 Mar 08 - 05:39 PM (#2288604) Subject: RE: Origins: The Grangetown Whale From: Reiver 2 I expect that quite a bit of refencing was necessary after the flood. Still waiting to see if I hear from Frank or the Grangetown website. Reiver 2 |
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22 Mar 10 - 11:50 PM (#2869741) Subject: Folklore: The Grangetown Whale From: Reiver 2 I'm looking for information on the event commemorated in the song written by Frank Hennessey called "The Grangetown Whale" or "The Mighty Grangetown Whale." I have some sketchy information but would like to get the complete real story behind this song. I tried emailing Frank Hennessey a few months ago but never received a reply. Frank may never have seen my request. A Lyrics and Knowledge search turns up no reference to the song in the Mudcat archives. Here's what I know [or think I know]. The carcass of a whale washed up on shore somewhere in south Wales. Some enterprising men found the carcass and decided that they could turn a profit by exhibiting it. So they loaded it on a flatbed truck and created a mobile exhibet. After a time the carcass became so "fragrant" - in spite of "pickling" it with formaldehyde - that they buried it somewhere near the town of Grangetown on the outskirts of Cardiff. Some time later [in the 1970s?] a major flooding of the River Taff unearthed the remains. This event inspired Frank Hennessee to write the fine "tongue-in-cheek" song about hunting the mighty Grangetown Whale. I'd like to know how close the above is to the actual event. Any information that can fill out the details of the story, and correct any errors or inacuracies in the above, would be most welcome. I'd also like to see the lyrics posted here on the Mudcat. Thanks in advance. The song can be found on the Oceans Apart CD, entitled "Tethered To The Foam," www.oceansapartmusic.com |
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23 Mar 10 - 04:41 AM (#2869812) Subject: RE: Origins/lyr: The Grangetown Whale From: Splott Man Cardiff did indeed suffer flooding on 27 December 1979. Catter Nigel Parsons may be able to shed more light. Try Frank Hennessy again via his BBC Celtic Heartbeat web page Splott Man. |
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23 Mar 10 - 05:02 AM (#2869817) Subject: RE: Origins/lyr: The Grangetown Whale From: Geoff the Duck When I saw the thread title, my reaction was "I've seen the same question asked before. Like you I tried the forum search which drew a blank, but I am aware that recently there have been comments about forum search not working, so tried google and similar, which picked up this thread but not earlier ones, and a couple of extrenal references to the whale story. I then went back to the thread title filter on the main page, put in Grangetown and set it to search "all" threads and got a result. There are three threads listed, one from 2002, which was refreshed by you in 2008, and a second started by you in 2008. Between them, the two threads cover the external links I found via google, plus an attempted transcription of lyrics from a recording followed by correction of place names, but maybe someone reading this thread can shed light which earlier contributors couldn't. BBC Wales web site still lists Frank Hennessy as presenting their folk show, but also as co presenter of another one "I'll Show You Mine "which has a "contact the show" box. You could try another attempt at direct contact there. Quack! GtD. |
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23 Mar 10 - 05:05 AM (#2869820) Subject: RE: Origins/lyr: The Grangetown Whale From: Geoff the Duck That should, of course have been have been "external references", and nothing to do with kidneys at all. Quack! GtD. |
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23 Mar 10 - 05:24 AM (#2869830) Subject: RE: Origins/lyr: The Grangetown Whale From: Nigel Parsons Little by little: This site: Ninian Park School gives: The school adopted a new logo, designed by a pupil. The whale on the logo symbolises the Grangetown whale, which is the true story of how a dead whale was washed up in the 1930s on the banks of the river Taff, near the Marl playing fields. People came from far and wide to see it. The Bluebird on the logo is the symbol of Cardiff City F.C., who are nicknamed the Bluebirds. Our school is named after their ground, Ninian Park. |
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23 Mar 10 - 11:46 AM (#2870061) Subject: RE: Origins/lyr: The Grangetown Whale From: Reiver 2 My bad, here. I thought I had asked about this a few years ago. I wonder why the thread didn't turn up when I searched for it yesterday? Anyway, my apologies for missing it. I think most of my questions were answered, and I can piece together the salient points and places. I'm in awe of the incredible resource that is The Mudcat Cafe! These two threads should probably be combined, but I don't know how to do that. Maybe Joe Offer can take care of that? A sad footnote: Ocean's Apart is no longer performing. A fine musical duo, I miss them. |
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24 Mar 10 - 02:46 PM (#2870927) Subject: RE: Origins/lyr: The Grangetown Whale From: Jim Dixon The lyrics to THE GRANGETOWN WHALE have already been posted here. The text there has a few errors that are corrected in later messages. |
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24 Mar 10 - 06:03 PM (#2871061) Subject: RE: Origins/lyr: The Grangetown Whale From: Anne Lister Frank is easily contacted via the BBC ... he's also very good at replying to emails. When in doubt, go to the writer! (at least, that's my motto) |
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01 Nov 10 - 02:54 PM (#3020963) Subject: RE: Origins/lyr: The Grangetown Whale From: GUEST,Peter Meazey I've seen so much garbage written about this that I think it's time to set the record straight.I scribbled the first few verses of this on the back of beer mats in The Conway the day after the floods in 1979. The rest was written at home the same evening (28th December). I read it on a BBC Wales programme on the 1st of January then at several folk clubs (The Keys, Chapter). At the time I was producing quite a lot of this sort of verse, intended to be read in public. Frank Hennessy subsequently fitted music to the Whale and Billy the Seal. I knew a bit about Billy, my dad had seen him, but the Whale is totally imaginary - if there ever was a whale in Grangetown I've certainly never heard about it. I'm not really surprised that there are some far-fetched stories going round, that's Canton for you, but one or two people would do well to calm down a bit. The funny bit is that none of them have picked up on the story of the Brain's Brewery lorry being used to save a small menagerie from the Sophia Gardens. We called it the Daark Aark. Ta ra |
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29 Jun 23 - 08:19 AM (#4175784) Subject: RE: Origins/lyr: The Grangetown Whale From: GUEST Frank Hennessey didn't write the song |
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29 Jun 23 - 09:59 AM (#4175792) Subject: RE: Origins/lyr: The Grangetown Whale From: Nigel Parsons To save future searchers I've PMd Joe asking if he can cross-reference the three discussions. |