Cutty Sark

This is the story of the 'Cutty Sark' spoken in English for children.




Tam O'Shanter and the Cutty Sark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du-wYund4xM





Her short shift, of Paisley course cloth,
That as a young girl she had worn,
In length though very scanty (short),
It was her best, and she was proud.
Ah! little knew your reverend grandmother,


That under-vest she bought for her little Nannie,
With two pound Scots (it was all her riches),
Would ever (have) graced a dance of witches!



shift: chemise, shimmy, shift, slip,
a woman's sleeveless undergarment

Paisley cloth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paisley_(design)

scant:

1 dialect a : excessively frugal
2 a : barely or scarcely sufficient; especially : not quite coming up to a stated measure
3 : having a small or insufficient supply <he's fat, and scant of breath — Shakespeare>

Her short shift, of Paisley course cloth,
That as a young girl she had worn,
In length though very scanty (short),
It was her best, and she was proud.
Ah! little knew your reverend grandmother,


That under-vest she bought for her little Nannie,
With two pound Scots (it was all her riches),
Would ever (have) graced a dance of witches!



When I did my 'Higher in English, the teacher talked about 'unpacking' poetry. So you have a well known poem by Rabbie Burns 'Tam O'Shanter' and then you start looking at it more closely to understand exactly what it means. What it meant at the time and what it means today, etc?

"Cutty Sark":

a type of whisky
a famous tea clipper


The more you look, the more you find. In the English version of the poem, it is called "A Tale of Brownies (fairies) and of Ghosts".

http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/446.htm


What does the word 'Brownies' mean to me?


Well! you have 'Rainbows', 'Brownies' and 'Guides'. Brownies are part of the Girl Guide and Scouting movement. I never thought of them as being 'fairies', although it is quite a nice image.

In the small section of the poem I have copied there is a reference to 'Paisley'. I knew that the town of Paisley was an important manufacturing centre. But it was interesting to go to the Wikipedia web page and read a little bit more about Paisley cloth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paisley wrong web page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paisley_(design) see below

wiki/Paisley {underscore} (design)

or Search: Paisley (design)

"By 1860, Paisley could produce shawls with fifteen colors, which was still only a quarter of the colors in the multi-color paisleys then still being imported from Kashmir."



Then there is the idea of a sailing ship being named after an item of women's clothing in a poem. 'Riding the storm': which was what the Tea Clippers were designed to do. To have the smallest of sails, that could be used in high winds to race from China to London, to be the first to sell this season's tea.



Kashmir, China, the connections are very exotic!

CUTTY SARK- Leven-built

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aO6ACju41k&feature=related





One of the highlights of my trip to America was seeing the "Star of India" in San Diego.

The highlight of the day for me was my trip to the other side of my living room where I saw a discarded piece of paper that I left there the other day and forgot to chuck in the bin. I was rather annoyed to find that there and so I picked it up and walked over to the bin and dropped it in there. Unfortunately, as the paper was uncrumpled and hence had a large air resistance it fluttered to the side and missed the bin, so I had to take a few steps to the right and bend over to pick it up off the floor and then retrace my few steps back to the bin and let it go. This time I bent over further so that the paper wouldn't have time to shoot off to the side before it got past the rim of the bin. I was successful this time and I even punched the air with satisfaction. It was a good few minutes! I wrote a two verse haiku about my experience:

The paper fluttered
And it missed the goddamned bin
Now I need to bend

This time I'll aim good
It won't escape its fate now
It falls in the bin

What do you think?

he oldest children's songs of which we have records are lullabies, intended to help a child sleep. Lullabies can be found in every human culture.[2] The English term lullaby is thought to come from 'lu, lu' or 'la la' sound made by mothers or nurses to calm children, and 'by by' or 'bye bye', either another lulling sound, or a term for good night.[3] Until the modern era lullabies were usually only recorded incidentally in written sources. The Roman nurses' lullaby, 'Lalla, Lalla, Lalla, aut dormi, aut lacte', is recorded in a scholium on Persius and may be the oldest to survive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodily_function

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap

Bubbles, bubbles, ah!
Soapy wonders in my bath.
Umm...where was I?

I can assure those who are interested that the Cutty Sark is now feeling so much better after her disastrous catastrophe two years ago...she is now almost fully recovered and restored to her former glory and would be more than happy to be viewed by anybody who happens to be down Greenwich way.

Who cares.

I had hoped to get away from 'Robyn Michelle' and 'Guest'. As for '.', try pronouncing 'Pears'. I have a feeling that you cannot!

Pears

Pairs

Piers

Peers


Just a few to be getting on with.

Sort your lives out.

I have a feeling you never heard of haiku, Robin.