Nessie's Revenge by Áine


The Mudcat Forum	The Mudcat Resource Pages	The Mudcat Midi Page	The Digital Tradition Folk Song Server
Back to The Mudcat Songbook		Back to The Song Challenge Winners!
Anyone is welcome to perform these songs in public without royalties; however, if any of them are recorded or published for profit, the writers/composers expect the usual royalties.

The Song Challenge: There Are More Things In Heaven And Earth, Horatio . . . From creatures of the deep to massive mountain monsters, legends of shy prehistoric forms of wildlife persist throughout European culture and history. But now Norway has a rival to the famed Loch Ness monster of Scotland -- "Selma," a fabled serpent which has caught the attention of an international team of monster hunters. Reports of a beast in the lake first surfaced around 1750, and most accounts agree it looks like a serpent with the head of an elk or a horse. A giant trap for catching the creature, reputed to be a cousin of 'Nessie', has been set up in a lake in south Norway. The 18-foot (6m) long tube-shaped trap, comprising a metal frame with nylon netting, is set to be lowered into Seljord lake in south Norway and will contain live fish for bait to catch "Selma." Over the next two weeks, the team will dangle the cage in the lake, near where sightings of the monster have been reported. The latest attempt to catch Nessie's Norwegian cousin follows other sightings in Scandinavian countries. Swedish monster spotters have been kept busy in recent years with a rush of stories about a similar strain of serpent. Five years ago, a new legend was born in Lake Van, Turkey. Authorities recorded witness accounts of a monster-like dinosaur in the country's largest lake. And across the Atlantic, Canada has its own version of the mystery, the Ogopogo.

Nessie's Revenge by Áine
(Tune: Red River Valley)

In your loch they are setting the traps, dear
With the freshest of fish as the bait
But they're fools if they think you will show, dear
And with cold tea and scones they will wait

When I first heard the news, I was worried
They wouldn't find your sweet snout and bright tail
For they don't know your sly, clever ways, dear
And like me, I'm afraid that they will fail

It's been three centuries since you left me
And you took your lovely scales to Norway
Here in Scotland I float on my lonesome
Thinking of our long ago wedding day

I didn't think you'd be mad when I mentioned
That your head reminded me of a horse
When I returned with my gift of fresh sprat, dear
You'd fled even without a kiss, of course

They say trouble comes in threes, and I believe them
Wife One is in Canada, Two's in Turkey
I never thought that I'd be a three-time loser
Is it my breath or just something about me?

In their hunt, I wish those humans all the best, dear
With their sardines and their nets may they succeed
For it's a sex experiment they've got in mind, dear
And if you're caught, they'll bring you straight back home to me