ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

BRASS MONKEYS

It’s Brass Monkey Season in Stanthorpe
which means that the weather is cold
The trees in the main street of Warwick
are wearing bright jumpers I’m told.
You’ll need wool gloves, jumpers and beanies
and Ugg boots would be a good thing.
Oh God how I hate this cold weather
I can’t wait until it is Spring.

Maureen Clifford © 06/11

From Upper Lachlan to Ipswich and my brother in Port Douglas said it’s windy and cold, minus 4 in Collie. Stuff the carbon tax bring on Global warming.

TTFN

Come north young man or woman as the case may be. 23 degrees and a sun shining. off to the Cooee Festival gonna be a big day.

Cattle calling on early gotta hear that and with no breeze the thongs ( the kind you wear on your feet Marty ) should fly.


Good clean Aussie fun in the sun . Bush poetry on early so gotta go.


Yahooooooo Go the Bronco's


Bob

It's lovely weather here ... sunny CQ!

Do you know where the saying "to freeze the balls of a brass monkey" comes from? Huh, huh, huh ... well, this is what I've been told, so I'm not guaranteeing it to be true, but it makes sense ...

Supposedly, it goes back to pirate days. They stacked their cannon balls on metal frames (called monkeys for some reason) and when the weather was cold, the metal shrunk, which meant the balls didn't fit on top any more and they rolled off ... makes sense, doesn't it?

I knew that - and that is the commonly accepted meaning but the Navy disputes it. I also heard it related to the 3 iron balls that used to be displayed outside of pawn shops in England. The pawnbrokers' symbol is three spheres suspended from a bar.

We have a cute little brass monkey trying to keep warm at Stanthorpe and he is surrounded by 3 balls . In Warwick the local ladies actually do knit brightly coloured coats and the trees in the main street get to wear them when the weather gets really cold - they look so bright and festive. It's all tied up with brass monkey season and the events held there over that time. Good fun.

I have been told that in the days of Nelson there were Brass squares that had three layers of cannon balls a square of eight on top a square of four then one on top in normal weather they would remain there but when the cold northelys came down south the brass would shrink and the balls would dislodge and that is where the saying comes from it is cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey

Bill Williams

I love the poem Maureen.
I think it is a good to make verses out of everyday ordinary observations. I reckon we don't have to produce long narratives of broad social or historical detail all the time to make a worthwhile poem. ( of course you can if you want to )
The famous artist Van Gough made a masterpiece of an oil painting by depicting an old pair of boots !

Know what I mean ?
It's not the subject or story that makes the poem, it's the way you weave the words together and express the reality of your sensations..I think

Thank you Neville I appreciate your comment - when it is this cold you don't need a lot of flowery words to describe it mainly because there are only about 3 ways of describing it which I am sure you know and will leave to the imagination of the others commencing with fairly cold

What flowery words like Hay it's Bloody freezin and lilly it's chilly outside.


What about Snap me flamin dragons it's cold ????

Bob

them's the ones Bob