Salty Seadogs

I don't know what they were putting in the sea-water in the folk and hippy clubs of Britain in the early 1970s, but it produced a spate of songs - well, at least three -about real or imagined grizzled old seafarers.

"The Strange Tale of Captain Shannon and the Hunchback from Gigha" - Bread, Love and Dreams (from "The Strange Tale..." - I'm not typing all that out again - 1970)

"The Sea Captain" - Sandy Denny (from "The North Star Grassmen and the Ravens", 1971)

"Old Buccaneer" - The Incredible String Band (from "No Ruinous Feud", 1973)

I suppose you could always add Procol Harum to that list, at a stretch.



Of course the saltiest of all salty seadogs was old Captain Pugwash.



I used to have a side-table in the shape of Captain Pugwash. I bought it in St. Ives. It was a right b*gg*r to lug back to London on the train, I can tell you, but worth it.