Cutty Sark Commemorative Dinner, Monday 3rd October 2011

Avast there me hearties,

I had hardly come alongside the good ship Cutty Sark before I had been black-spotted by Mad Malkie Case.   Write the report you one eyed pirate dog, he hissed, or swing from the yardarm.   Well, I knows when to bend with the wind so here goes.

We had three pirates on our table, five good hands and one hook between us, eat your heart out Jack Sparrow, plus a few civilians.   Elsewhere, we could see many upper class colonial types, a Mandarin, a Geisha, a great many other gentlemen in formal evening dress and their ladies in beautiful Victorian gowns who certainly shivered my timbers; rich pickings once they get three sheets to the wind we pirates thought…

We were surrounded by elegance and refinement on all sides and much effort had been put into the costumes, period or not, which added greatly to the enjoyment of the evening.

There was much taking of wine between tables; we pirates, however, were happy to take wine with anybody at all at any time.   The vittles, table settings and table service were excellent, and after being given a fine talk by Tony Cuthbert who seems to know a bit about both the Cutty Sark and being at sea we spliced the mainbrace a few times, sang a shanty, fell off our chairs and waved our Jacks with grog-fueled abandon.

Grizzled old seadogs we pirates may be, but we knows just how much hard work is necessary to put on such a successful evening on shore. And how nice to be given the engraved water glasses to take away as a memento of the evening without our needing to get out our cutlasses or threaten to make the organisers walk the plank.

They are to be warmly congratulated on yet another exceptional evening.

Graeme Johnston

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