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Archive for the ‘After dinner speeches’ Category

Response from the Lassies

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RTYC Burns Night 2010

 

 

Ah, how my female heart yearns
For those yesteryear times of Rabbi Burns
When men were men, and women fair of face
Objects of desire, if firmly in their place

How would we modern women feel do you suppose
If our men were to liken us to a red, red, rose?
Would our hardened hearts not beat and flutter so
If they called us their Highland Lassie, O?

Could Cupid’s arrow possibly score a miss?
If on our lips our man planted Ae Fond Kiss?
With pleasure would we not nearly die
If his body met ours coming thro’ the rye?

We’d surely be delighted, truth to tell
If affectionately, he called us,
handsome Nell
Toward him, how could we vent our spleen
If he held us tight and called us bonnie Jean?

Oh the romantic poet, handsome and so wise
Was no saint and he liked to womanise
But he did it with panache and with charm
And his flattering words kept him out of harm

Sure Rabbi Burns lived way back when
And this, now is of course 2010
So much has changed since Rabbi ploughed the land
If he saw us now would he possibly understand?

In his day he was quite a heavy hitter
But what would he make of Facebook or of Twitter?
Of YouTube, Bebo or the mobile phone
Of never being out of touch, or alone?

Yet many things have really changed so little
Are 21st century hearts all that more brittle?
We women now expect equality
But we’d surely still go weak at the knee

If our men were just a little less pedantic
Less ‘modern’ and a little more romantic
I know that we have heard them all wax lyrical
Express their love without being satirical

For their sweet beloved lassie right enough
Yes, sometimes our men are made of softer stuff
There’s one of them who’s proven he can care
For the lovely looks of his Becky fair

And another who’s besotted as can be
With his cheeky little minx called
Amelie
For one of them there’s never a bad word
About his swift and nifty, funny, sunny bird

And yet another romantic little man
Knows no woman cuts the mustard quite like
Toucan
One clearly likes his women rich and hot he
Calls his special lassie his Posh Totty

And another who enjoys some slap and tickle
With a wee fair lass he calls his
Lady Pickle
For one lass it might well be a drag
That affectionately she’s called his Scallywag

For another, it is quite plain to see
In his lassie’s arms it’s like a
Rhapsody
One of them has such a sense of fun
He likens his lassie to a smoking gun

Magnum, he calls out when he’s fast asleep
With such emotion he could make a woman weep
Some men with their lassies are so elated
That what they call them is truly X-rated

Some are so fickle that before our very eyes
The poor lass Becky got a nasty Surprise!
O, once I lov’d a bonnie lass, Burns wrote
But lads, dear Rabbi didn’t mean his boat!

Yes you’re all full of bonhomie and banter
But could one of you pen for us a Tam O’Shanter?
Most of you could spin us a line
But what could you create for Auld Lang’s Syne?

Ach you may not all be poets, just mere men
And for us lassies you come in useful now and then
You may not all be like dear Rabbi Burns
But a woman loves a man who quickly learns

Girls he may not have fine words right off pat
But you know,
a man’s a man, for a’ that
So lassies, raise your glasses now with me
And let’s toast the fine lads of RTYC!

 

  

©Joanne Ross
January 2010

 

For the Royal Temple Annual Dinner

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A lady approached me the other day
And asked if I’d find a few words to say
To some august gathering
They weren’t she said all in the spring
Of their days
A few had their funny little ways
But they were, she said, a ‘Royal’ yacht club
And a ‘Royal’ Yacht club you shouldn’t snub

I mean, guess who popped in the other week?
No not Liz, I hear she’s passed her peak
She’s been there once, but I’m not joking
She got the right hump when they banned smoking
So she sent in her place the Duke of Gloucester
No dear, Duke of Gloucester, not Johnny Foster!
Dukie thought he was posh and wealthy and that
Till he spotted Spruce Goose owned by Graham and Pat

He was dined in style, as befits a royal
And entertained by club members loyal
Well, they’re used to pomp, if you know what I mean
But I hear he was thrown by a ‘Mrs Green’
He was clearly expecting the Commodore
A fine, upstanding fellow for sure
But the chap didn’t turn up, it was a poor show
So he had to sit with some floozy, you know

Still, he went off happy, and let’s be clear
He was only one part of a special year
For this club is no new kid on the block
Its credentials are solid as – Northern Rock?
It’s been going a hundred and fifty years
A fine old excuse to crack open the beers
On 1st January 2007
And stop drinking in …2011?

The year started gently with a special day
Just to ease us on our way
And slowly built, week on week
Toward this eve’s crescendous peak
April saw Ramsgate’s pilgrims set sail
Beyond the Medway and the Swale
To London, hoping they would see
The birthplace of RTYC

But first, they’d have their finest hour
When a hoard of them invaded the tower
Hotel, well what did you think?
They’d prefer a siege to having a drink?
Sunday’s trip along the river
Held true emotion and sent a shiver
Down every spine, I tell you true
As the Temple Steps hove into view

Our birthplace felt homely, not the least foreign
Marked by a sermon from the Reverend Warren
Then back to St. Katharine’s to bask in the sun
And show all of London how well we’ve all done
As we sipped champagne and mother’s ruin
We wondered what the poor people were doing
London was fine, but like those gone before
We soon were pulled back to dear Thanet’s shore

Ramsgate Week was a crowing glory
Of this 150th story
Kicked off with the summer ball
A fantastic week was had by all
From millionaires in their Oystercatchers
To Cheeky Monkey points snatchers
From the pro’s with their X-Factor
To Magnum, more like Max Factor!

Rod Oates should have had marching bands
For his 40th time round the Goodwin Sands
Richard Matthews generously marked the occasion
Standing drinks for all those needing no persuasion
Then he took perhaps a bit more than his share
Of the Royal Temple’s silverware
And did we party in the marquee?
We had dancing, limbo, even nudity!

Though for two days we were beset by gales
They couldn’t take the wind out of our sails
The racing may have paused but that didn’t mar
The takings at the yacht club bar
Yes the year’s been special but so many have too
Ramsgate knows how to put on a bit of a do
Our club has great people who keep it alive
Roger Green, Dick Smith, Anne Peers and dear Clive

John Barrett, tireless worker and ex-Commodore
And all those officers who’ve gone before
Stuart Mackenzie and the good ship Bracer
Mike Brand and his brand new racer
This great entertainment from Jo and Derek
For the sake of a rhyme I’d like to thank Eric
Who’s Eric? And what about Jim?
There’d be more fish left in the sea without him

Racing just wouldn’t be as sane
Without the sterling work of Jane
You’re over the line? Case is open and shut
At your peril ignore the racing hut
I feel in the room a certain tension
Is there someone I’ve forgotten to mention?
Ah, that woman who asked me to do this speech
Am I safely out of her reach?

Of Davena Green what is left to be said?
We can I think take it as read
That Royal Temple’s first lady Commodore
Has done a grand job and so much more
A shining example of her sex
The gentlemen I don’t mean to vex
But what finer way to come of age
And from past to future turn the page?

To the club’s next 150 years
We face the future with few fears
Let us hope that fresh blood continues to flow
That new generations may come to know
The unbridled joys of the sea
And the wonderful camaraderie
Of our club, would you all raise a glass with me
The toast is the future of the RTYC!

© Joanne Ross – November 2007

Ode to the RTYC’s 150th

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Way back when in history
A lone sailor put to sea
With nothing but some reddened sails
And probably a few different ales
He battled storms and monstrous waves
Bereft of the companionship a sailor craves
Against the elements bravely fought
Till he came upon old London’s port
The Thames was angry, grey and rough
The Easterly wind was up his chuff
Though dearly he’d have liked to stop
Into the Town of Ramsgate to pop
His feisty craft just powered on
Till the Tower of London was long gone
Past the City’s many spires
Under the bridge at Blackfriars
Till suddenly the wind did drop
And he came to an abrupt stop
Beside some steps, as luck would have it
For no dinghy was fastened to his davit
The weary sailor climbed ashore
And as written down in sea dog’s lore
He made for the nearest hostelry
To tell tall tales of his time at sea
His fellow drinkers were enthralled
But by his solitude were appalled
They made a vow, in that very pub
That from that day they’d form a club
For sailing men of like mind
Camaraderie, there to find
They’d open it up to any yachtie
But clearly not to yachtie totty!
Not back in 1857
Their newfound club was female-free heaven
If only our forefathers back then knew
Just what their world was coming to
In a 150 years and not one more
They’d have a female commodore
Back to then, in that distant day
If members needed rooms to stay
There were no boutiques from Anouska Hempel
They needed rooms there at the Temple
The rooms they found at a nearby hotel
Now occupied by the HQ of Shell
But soon, the lure of the open seas
Was just too much for the Templies
And gradually, they made their way
To the site they occupy to this day
The finest location on the east coast
The new club could proudly boast
With views to soothe the sorest eyes
Of boats and seas and open skies
Inside, a sumptuous but cosy bar
To welcome sailors from afar
With comfy chairs, and better yet
A splendid trophy cabinet
With cups for feats beyond the pale
For masterful racing under sail
And on the wall, a wooden plaque
Remembering commodores all the way back
To the start, long before a visit from the Queen
Bestowed a far more regal sheen
And rewarded the yacht club’s years of toil
With the most prestigious prefix, Royal
Yes the plaque boasts a veritable who’s who
Of the wealthy and the well to do
From Barrett to Greenfield, Tuddenham, Tweddell
These fine fellows have served us well
Bu it would have made old Rothschild wild
To think that a woman, meek and mild
Would one day reach the pinnacle
And take her place upon the wall
Yet the world’s moved a hundred and fifty years
And despite her predecessors’ fears
A finer commodore there’s never been
Than the truly great Davena Green
Whose appointment perhaps some derided
But who has so ably presided
Over a year of jubilation
The hundred and fiftieth celebration
Of a club that’s still in fine health
Though it wouldn’t say no to a little more wealth
The past has bequeathed a great legacy
And it is up to us all to see
That the next hundred years will be assured
The recruitment of new blood, secured
Members past, present future, wherever you be
The toast is the future of the RTYC!!!

© Joanne Ross – May 2007