Raleigh Dits

[alexissonice]

Love a good Raleigh dit. Anyone got a good one to spin?

 

[onions]

Obviously not!

 

[BreathingOutOnTheWayUp]

^ But pull up a bollard & try this* old one for size:

<<...AB Aries: Perhaps someone could emerge with the official history of this cloven one's origins? It seemed most strange to us all that an RN Goat Mascot was once borne on HMS RALEIGHS's books, adorned with a much-embroidered ceremonial coat and complete with his own special barrack-stanchion handler - for daily exercise, for company whilst attending Divisions and any alleged activities beyond lights out was kept strictly between the pair of them.

The said Aries was one very fierce and bad tempered old critter who could be relied upon to drag his portly three badged handler well out of position during any musical interlude and especially at the daily divisions march past.

This Goat's cuddy lay directly along our uphill route from those ancient wooden huts up to the vast dining hall. The staff abed didn't realise it but each damp and dark autumnal morning in 1960 the long line of us hungry NEs waiting for the diner to open gained our cruel amusements by kicking at the pen, rattling our enamelled mugs along the fencing & goad(t?)ing it mercilessly whilst feeding it with anything and everything from blue liners {untipped}, bubble-gum, pussers hard through to burberry buttons. (I must emphasise our innocence ATT as 'twas only much later we were to be schooled in that diabolical art of feeding large portions of ex-lax chocolate bars to both the ancient Maltese gharry horses and their unsuspecting drivers.)

I often wonder whatever happened to that Rampant Ram - Culled & Curried for a later, more ethnically and culturally diverse, generation of baby sailors perchance? eg Dish 'o the Day = Aries a la Arrigonies...>>


*Extracted from an earlier BOOTWU posting sometime in 2009-ish.