Wild Dingo
01-31-2003, 11:18 PM
I had whacked this over in the other area {misc non boat} but I think it got swamped under all the war anti war beating drums and chest pounding stuff so Ive decided to post it here... There are a couple of questions at the end
.................................................
The Boatbuilders Lament
By Mathew Walker
It was a cold and stormy night
Along the coast beside the sea
And overhead the roof did leak
It leaked right down on me
I sat inside the builders shack
A den of filth and gloom
With just one windblown candle
To lighten up the room
We shared a little "medicine"
The Boatbuilder and I
And it was there that very night
I saw that old man cry
"Oh Mattie boy" he said to me
"I guess Im awfully glum
Perhaps I shouldnt trifle with
This Demerararum."
He turned to raid a chest of drawers,
With tears upon his face:
A copy of WOODENBOAT
Was soon before me placed.
"But Mattie mine, I do believe this
Younger generation
displays the need for something more than
Schoolbook education"
"Now this here lovely magazine
Is what our country needs:
The sweet aroma of a rose
Amid the crop of weeds
But think of all the muddled minds
Who often wield the pen:
Against their sentimental stuff
My trade I must defend."
What say you Matthew, is there hope?
Will common sense prevail?
These essays, poems, and scuttlebutt
Cant help me drive a nail!"
I will admit, there is a place
For poetry and wit;
I'll even join in needling
These plastic boats a bit"
"But hear me out, and tell these kids
The romance barely lingers
For we who breathe through sawdust
Lungs and flex epoxy fingers"
When all is said and done, my lad,
Youve scarcely earn your oats
By chopping trees and sawing knees
To make your little boats"
So let us hoist a glass and toast
This craft thats quite demanding;
When building boats, what isnt work
Is generally just sanding"
Matthew Walker
Woodenboat Magazine
September - October 1977
Issue #18
.................................................
I found that tonight in my wanderings readings and musings and wondered a few small questions best asked around here... Is Matthew Walker the author still around?... Is he still with Woodenboat Magazine and in what capacity?... and finally is he still writing such as the above?
Personally I think something simple well written such as this should be an inclusion in every edition! Brilliant or so think I
As you read it through see who you imagine as the old fella as hes talking and who you see as the youngun whos doing the listening...
For me the old fellas either Das, Norm or Dave...Once or twice that vision turned to see Bayboat Michael Mason and John Welsford in the old fellas shoes... and yet another time a little while back I imagined it would be old Nat sittin there and Fife or Payne or any number of other old boatbuilders now long gone... while the youngun could be anyone of so many of us! Once or twice Ive imagined Jack {Ish} Roger {Rezmate} Ironmule John R Smith Mike Field of JohnB the mad Kiwi TonyH or Skuthorp or even gasp... myself! ...at others twere Margo Nora or Bernadette... but really any number of us... but really I can just imagine them old pharts sittin in their cups after a few too many rums and sayin just such... good shipmates one and all...
From me to you here on the forum and at Woodenboat Magazine I hope you enjoyed a slight waffle away from the norm and into the light of memory... and from me to you... Have a good day night whatever!
Mattie Walker are you still out there??? :eek:
.................................................
The Boatbuilders Lament
By Mathew Walker
It was a cold and stormy night
Along the coast beside the sea
And overhead the roof did leak
It leaked right down on me
I sat inside the builders shack
A den of filth and gloom
With just one windblown candle
To lighten up the room
We shared a little "medicine"
The Boatbuilder and I
And it was there that very night
I saw that old man cry
"Oh Mattie boy" he said to me
"I guess Im awfully glum
Perhaps I shouldnt trifle with
This Demerararum."
He turned to raid a chest of drawers,
With tears upon his face:
A copy of WOODENBOAT
Was soon before me placed.
"But Mattie mine, I do believe this
Younger generation
displays the need for something more than
Schoolbook education"
"Now this here lovely magazine
Is what our country needs:
The sweet aroma of a rose
Amid the crop of weeds
But think of all the muddled minds
Who often wield the pen:
Against their sentimental stuff
My trade I must defend."
What say you Matthew, is there hope?
Will common sense prevail?
These essays, poems, and scuttlebutt
Cant help me drive a nail!"
I will admit, there is a place
For poetry and wit;
I'll even join in needling
These plastic boats a bit"
"But hear me out, and tell these kids
The romance barely lingers
For we who breathe through sawdust
Lungs and flex epoxy fingers"
When all is said and done, my lad,
Youve scarcely earn your oats
By chopping trees and sawing knees
To make your little boats"
So let us hoist a glass and toast
This craft thats quite demanding;
When building boats, what isnt work
Is generally just sanding"
Matthew Walker
Woodenboat Magazine
September - October 1977
Issue #18
.................................................
I found that tonight in my wanderings readings and musings and wondered a few small questions best asked around here... Is Matthew Walker the author still around?... Is he still with Woodenboat Magazine and in what capacity?... and finally is he still writing such as the above?
Personally I think something simple well written such as this should be an inclusion in every edition! Brilliant or so think I
As you read it through see who you imagine as the old fella as hes talking and who you see as the youngun whos doing the listening...
For me the old fellas either Das, Norm or Dave...Once or twice that vision turned to see Bayboat Michael Mason and John Welsford in the old fellas shoes... and yet another time a little while back I imagined it would be old Nat sittin there and Fife or Payne or any number of other old boatbuilders now long gone... while the youngun could be anyone of so many of us! Once or twice Ive imagined Jack {Ish} Roger {Rezmate} Ironmule John R Smith Mike Field of JohnB the mad Kiwi TonyH or Skuthorp or even gasp... myself! ...at others twere Margo Nora or Bernadette... but really any number of us... but really I can just imagine them old pharts sittin in their cups after a few too many rums and sayin just such... good shipmates one and all...
From me to you here on the forum and at Woodenboat Magazine I hope you enjoyed a slight waffle away from the norm and into the light of memory... and from me to you... Have a good day night whatever!
Mattie Walker are you still out there??? :eek: