My Great, Great Grandpa Joshua,
A lay Clerk and Chorister was he
For a time at Ripon Cathedral,
From a musical family you see.

Its said he didn’t like cuss words
A Victorian Churchman you know,
So instead, he invented his own kind
Another string, to add to his bow.

One day the family cat darted
Across the Parlour room floor,
Where Joshua also had started
Barefoot, to answer the door.

The cat very nearly did trip him
And Joshua lashed out with his foot,
But the cat dodged around and escaped
him
The table leg instead met his foot.

Poor Joshua hopped round the room
Nursing bruised toes in his hands,
And red faced he started to fume
An expletive his mishap demands.

So, the very next minute
Our Joshua was heard to say,
"Oh Deggers, Oh Deggers, Oh Deggers"
And the family’s poor cat ran away.

Jackie S Brooks
27 May 2003