Okay, I know they don’t do that at scouts any more, but I thought titling this post ‘Ging Gang Goolie might give the wrong impression...
Ben’s scout group were having a ‘maintenance day’ yesterday, so we spent the morning picking up leaves without rakes, weeding without trowels, pruning without secateurs and cleaning gutters with one three step step ladder between about 97 of us. Now I know scouts is all about improvisation, but I do think a little bit of forethought might have been a skill worth passing on too – perhaps with the kids being able to earn a ‘common sense badge’ to sew onto their epaulettes (actually, these days they can buy glue – bang goes the needlecraft badge too!). Most annoying of all, I had specifically asked on Friday night, ‘what sort of stuff should we bring?’ and was told ‘oh, just yourselves and a screwdriver’.
A quite interesting social observation: Within ten minutes of arriving the boys had formed a circle and started building a bonfire, while the girls had formed a circle and started gossiping. Also worthy of note, the boys quickly realised that being damp, green, or a mixture of both the fire-making materials would be hard to light and would create huge amounts of smoke. Undaunted, they forged ahead anyway using their scarves as breathing filters and having (I suspect) combined siphoned petrol from the inoperative (the team leader had failed to check the spark plug) lawnmower with a tea-towel as a makeshift firelighter. A splendid blaze ensued, in which only three beaver scouts (cannon-fodder!) and a potting shed were lost.
There was a quite large bush in need of a heavy trimming (ooooh er, missus), and when I stumbled across a tree saw I was only happy to oblige. When I had finished, I was approached by one of the mum’s who asked ‘Are you the man with the saw?’
‘The man with the sore what?’ I quipped.
Not a titter. Don’t know why I bother sometimes.
Anyhooo. T’was a very pleasant but damp morning spent out in the fresh air – something we’ve not had much opportunity for in recent weeks. This has got to be the longest winter on record, with more false starts than the deaf Olympics (they can’t hear the gun, see). Hopefully spring will arrive properly soon (rather than just hinting of better things to come for a day or so and then fucking off again), and we can all get Aht and Abaht for the Easter hols and stuff.
Oh. When I started today’s blog I wasn’t too sure of the spelling of ‘Ging Gang Goolie’ so looked it up on ‘t’internet. I found this lovely QI story about the song's origins, that would be very suitable for ‘The Hackenthorpe book of lies’ (see earlier blogs etc):
The Legend of the Great Grey Ghost Elephant
A later story involving an African legend was invented as an explanation for the song. The story, "The Great Grey Ghost Elephant" was written by Dorothy Unterschutz, a Canadian Scout Leader from Edmonton. It was published in Scouts Canada's "The Leader" magazine in 1991 (June–July issue, Page 7). The story goes:
In the deepest darkest Africa, every year, after the rains, the "Great Grey Ghost Elephant" arose from the mists and wandered throughout the land. When it came to a village, it would either go around the village or through it. Villagers believed that if it went round the village, the village would have a prosperous year, and if it went through it, there would be drought.
The elephant had gone through the village of "Wat-Cha" three years in a row, and the situation was really bad in the village. A plan to deter the elephant from going through the village was made by Ging-Ganga, the village leader and Ha-la-shay, the medicine man. Ging-Ganga and his warriors were going to frighten the elephant by standing in its path and shaking their shields and spears. Hay-la-shay and his followers were going to cast magic spells, and frighten the elephant by the sound of shaking medicine bags. When the elephant arrived, the villagers gathered at the border of the village and started shouting the name of their leaders, "Ging-Ganga" and "Ha-lay-shay". "Shally wally" was the sound made by shaking medicine bags. The villagers were successful in their plan, and the elephant went around the village, making the "Oompah, oompah" sound. The villagers rejoiced and sang the "Ging Gang…" song.
All together now... Ging Gang Goolie Goolie Goolie Goolie Wat-Cha...
Dib Dib Dib...
Dib Dib Dib...
Okay, I know they don’t do that at scouts any more, but I thought titling this post ‘Ging Gang Goolie might give the wrong impression...
Ben’s scout group were having a ‘maintenance day’ yesterday, so we spent the morning picking up leaves without rakes, weeding without trowels, pruning without secateurs and cleaning gutters with one three step step ladder between about 97 of us. Now I know scouts is all about improvisation, but I do think a little bit of forethought might have been a skill worth passing on too – perhaps with the kids being able to earn a ‘common sense badge’ to sew onto their epaulettes (actually, these days they can buy glue – bang goes the needlecraft badge too!). Most annoying of all, I had specifically asked on Friday night, ‘what sort of stuff should we bring?’ and was told ‘oh, just yourselves and a screwdriver’.
A quite interesting social observation: Within ten minutes of arriving the boys had formed a circle and started building a bonfire, while the girls had formed a circle and started gossiping. Also worthy of note, the boys quickly realised that being damp, green, or a mixture of both the fire-making materials would be hard to light and would create huge amounts of smoke. Undaunted, they forged ahead anyway using their scarves as breathing filters and having (I suspect) combined siphoned petrol from the inoperative (the team leader had failed to check the spark plug) lawnmower with a tea-towel as a makeshift firelighter. A splendid blaze ensued, in which only three beaver scouts (cannon-fodder!) and a potting shed were lost.
There was a quite large bush in need of a heavy trimming (ooooh er, missus), and when I stumbled across a tree saw I was only happy to oblige. When I had finished, I was approached by one of the mum’s who asked ‘Are you the man with the saw?’
‘The man with the sore what?’ I quipped.
Not a titter. Don’t know why I bother sometimes.
Anyhooo. T’was a very pleasant but damp morning spent out in the fresh air – something we’ve not had much opportunity for in recent weeks. This has got to be the longest winter on record, with more false starts than the deaf Olympics (they can’t hear the gun, see). Hopefully spring will arrive properly soon (rather than just hinting of better things to come for a day or so and then fucking off again), and we can all get Aht and Abaht for the Easter hols and stuff.
Oh. When I started today’s blog I wasn’t too sure of the spelling of ‘Ging Gang Goolie’ so looked it up on ‘t’internet. I found this lovely QI story about the song's origins, that would be very suitable for ‘The Hackenthorpe book of lies’ (see earlier blogs etc):
The Legend of the Great Grey Ghost Elephant
A later story involving an African legend was invented as an explanation for the song. The story, "The Great Grey Ghost Elephant" was written by Dorothy Unterschutz, a Canadian Scout Leader from Edmonton. It was published in Scouts Canada's "The Leader" magazine in 1991 (June–July issue, Page 7). The story goes:
In the deepest darkest Africa, every year, after the rains, the "Great Grey Ghost Elephant" arose from the mists and wandered throughout the land. When it came to a village, it would either go around the village or through it. Villagers believed that if it went round the village, the village would have a prosperous year, and if it went through it, there would be drought.
The elephant had gone through the village of "Wat-Cha" three years in a row, and the situation was really bad in the village. A plan to deter the elephant from going through the village was made by Ging-Ganga, the village leader and Ha-la-shay, the medicine man. Ging-Ganga and his warriors were going to frighten the elephant by standing in its path and shaking their shields and spears. Hay-la-shay and his followers were going to cast magic spells, and frighten the elephant by the sound of shaking medicine bags. When the elephant arrived, the villagers gathered at the border of the village and started shouting the name of their leaders, "Ging-Ganga" and "Ha-lay-shay". "Shally wally" was the sound made by shaking medicine bags. The villagers were successful in their plan, and the elephant went around the village, making the "Oompah, oompah" sound. The villagers rejoiced and sang the "Ging Gang…" song.
All together now... Ging Gang Goolie Goolie Goolie Goolie Wat-Cha...