Now I have a golden oldie of Derek's

It's not much fun being a gnome.

I'm sitting the garden in my little noddy suit
Sparrow on my fishing rod and frog spawn in my boots
It's pouring down with rain. I got water on the brain
But I sit here by the pond like King Canute

The kids have knocked my nose off and my beard is geting thin
The way that they all treat me well it really is a sin
And there's a pidgeon I can see he's aiming straight for me
And the gardener strikes his mtches on my shins

Long ago I used to be a King upon a throne
I met a wicked fairy and she turned me into stone
And that is why I sit here in the garden all alone
And it's not much fun being a gnome

I'm sitting here a-fishing, but the fishes never bite
And anywhay it's been so long I've lost my apetite
it really is a strain. Here's that pidgeon back again
Has anybody got some dynamite?

There's a doggy comes to see me every evening after tea
I often wondered why he was so very fond of me
And then I found out why, he hit me in the eye
Have you ever been mistaken for a tree?

My earhole's full of cobwebs and my dublet doesn't fit
And sitting on this toadstool well, I feel a proper twit
The way that they all treat me well, it makes me want to spit
And it's not much fun being a gnome

So I sit here in the garden in my little noddy suit
A sparrow on my fishing rod and tadpoles in my boots
It's pissing down with rain I got water on the brain
But I'll sit here by the pond like King Canute

Rule Britania!
I'll sit here by the pond like King Canute.


Last saw him live at Cambridge '72. Before that Minehead folk club '68.

Regards to Derek.
Chas