Wales v Scotland: a ditty

Subject: Wales v Scotland: a ditty
From: Splott Man
Date: 18 Feb 10 - 04:00 AM

This has a very short shelf life, so feel free to add, subtract and adjust.

(To a tune by Cyril Tawney)
(NB. for the uninitiated, a hooker is a particular member of the team))

I went to a rugby game
Hey, the last bus is leaving
Seventy thousand, in they came
Haul away to Cardiff.

We weren't playing well at all
Hey, the last points are needing
Scotland wouldn't give us the ball
Or let us near the try line.

Lawson got a yellow card
Hey, the hooker is leaving
Now the points came thick and hard
Haul away to the sin bin.

We went back to celebrate
And the last coach is leaving
Drinking lagers till quite late
Haul away to Hensol*.

No room service isn't good
Hey, the golf carts are leaving
Feeling peckish, needing food
Haul away to the M4.

We were stopped by Mr Plod
And my senses are leaving
Now I'm dropped from the national squad
Haul away for ever.

Lyrics Ned Clamp (while sitting in a traffic queue)

*Hensol Castle is where the Welsh team stay during a match weekend. It is now a hotel and golf resort, but used to be a Mental Hospital.

Subject: RE: Wales v Scotland: a ditty
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 18 Feb 10 - 04:09 AM

I've known quite a few Hookers (Rugby ones) in my time, and I didn't think any of them were that particular.

Subject: RE: Wales v Scotland: a ditty
From: Newport Boy
Date: 18 Feb 10 - 12:54 PM

Nice one, Splott Man - a good laugh on a filthy day. I've just spent half an hour shovelling snow to be able to get the car in!

(Pedant Warning) Cyril Tawney spent a lot of time explaining that, although everyone sang 'Haul away', he wrote 'Call away', the dyso being a powered craft.

Phil

Subject: RE: Wales v Scotland: a ditty
From: bubblyrat
Date: 18 Feb 10 - 01:00 PM

There's a very good story / letter in today's "Times",about a 4-year-old girl who lived in Wales and was /is passionate about rugby. On moving back to their English home in Hampshire,she was asked,at an "induction class" at her new school,what she wanted to be when she grew up. "A hooker " she replied,to the dismay and consternation of the teacher !

Subject: RE: Wales v Scotland: a ditty
From: bubblyrat
Date: 18 Feb 10 - 01:16 PM

The proper spelling is "Dghasja ",usually pronounced "Dyso" by Jolly Jacks Tar, or rather the not-so-jolly Jack Tar in the song. Originally not too dissimilar to a Venetian gondola ( unsurprisingly) and similarly propelled, in the hey-day of the Royal Navy's use of Maltese harbours, many Dghasjas,powered or otherwise, were pressed into service as "waterborne taxis" in order to convey nautical inebriates about the place. Thus,given the"taxi" connotation,the word "Call" is much more likely than "Haul", as one does,in nautical parlance "call away" a ship's boat( by using a Boatswain's Call to "make a pipe" as opposed to vocally,of course ).
   A similar vessel in Hong Kong harbour was called a "Rymo Taxi". I have absolutely no idea why.Sorry.

Subject: RE: Wales v Scotland: a ditty
From: Newport Boy
Date: 18 Feb 10 - 04:25 PM

Cyril Tawney's full explanation is
here . You have to wait until the last sentences for the lyric corrections. The whole piece is well worth a read.

Phil