A long time ago
When ships had sails
My Grampy was a sailor
Sailing from Wales
His father before him
Sailed the wide blue
In ships full of young
Enthusiastic crew
My grampy sailed to the African Coast
And picked up an animal
That was finer than most
He was oh so tiny
His fur was so black
His eyes were so doleful
Nothing he lacked
My grampy brought home
That beautiful boy
Nurtured and cared for him
Like a special new toy
But that tiny monkey
Just grew and he grew
Until he was so big
My grampy didn't know
What to do
So he put round his neck
A thick steel chain
To stop him from running away
In the rain
But the creature grew so strong
It snapped every link
And bit my dear grampy
Oh! What to think!
My great-grandmother cried
"This thing is a killer!
How could you bring home
A massive gorilla?
"You must let him go
I can bear it no more
Please take this animal
Out of the door!"
"OK dearest mother!"
My Grampy replied
"I will send him off!"
"Oh good!" she sighed
"But please do not hurt him
I don't want him to be
In terrible pain because of
Your foolery!"
So great granny went out
To bring in provisions!
My grampy had to make
An important decision.
How to get rid of that
Creature so black!
To Africa he couldn't
Take the boy back
So he went to a neighbour
And borrowed a gun
And shot that poor creature
Who weighed half a ton!
The moral of the story is
Do not bring back
Cute little creatures
So tiny and black
They may not be
When ships had sails
My Grampy was a sailor
Sailing from Wales
His father before him
Sailed the wide blue
In ships full of young
Enthusiastic crew
My grampy sailed to the African Coast
And picked up an animal
That was finer than most
He was oh so tiny
His fur was so black
His eyes were so doleful
Nothing he lacked
My grampy brought home
That beautiful boy
Nurtured and cared for him
Like a special new toy
But that tiny monkey
Just grew and he grew
Until he was so big
My grampy didn't know
What to do
So he put round his neck
A thick steel chain
To stop him from running away
In the rain
But the creature grew so strong
It snapped every link
And bit my dear grampy
Oh! What to think!
My great-grandmother cried
"This thing is a killer!
How could you bring home
A massive gorilla?
"You must let him go
I can bear it no more
Please take this animal
Out of the door!"
"OK dearest mother!"
My Grampy replied
"I will send him off!"
"Oh good!" she sighed
"But please do not hurt him
I don't want him to be
In terrible pain because of
Your foolery!"
So great granny went out
To bring in provisions!
My grampy had to make
An important decision.
How to get rid of that
Creature so black!
To Africa he couldn't
Take the boy back
So he went to a neighbour
And borrowed a gun
And shot that poor creature
Who weighed half a ton!
The moral of the story is
Do not bring back
Cute little creatures
So tiny and black
They may not be
What you expected at all
Like the big black gorilla
Like the big black gorilla
Who was 6 foot tall...
©Carolyn Davison
Apparently so the story goes - my grampy DID bring back what he thought was a cute little monkey who grew up to be a massive male gorilla. The creature bit my Grampy (in the neck), broke his chain etc!
My grampy and is brother apparently shoot the poor animal while their mother was out - they
cleaned up the house where they shot him before their mother came home
and told her the gorilla didn't feel a thing!
Whether this was just an
adventure story made up for his kids and grandchildren, I don't know -
my grampy was a character - he died in 1990! (He did have a scar on his neck)
He used to play for Shirley Bassey in the pubs before she became famous! (I wonder if she remembers him...) He played banjo (and I think guitar)! Cool guy with a great sense of humour!
He used to play for Shirley Bassey in the pubs before she became famous! (I wonder if she remembers him...) He played banjo (and I think guitar)! Cool guy with a great sense of humour!
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