Anyone else remember "It was a dark and stormy night..."

[BasilParsley]

Inspired by another thread in this 'ere topic, I was reminded of something my Grandad (born in Derby) used to recite... It went:

'It was a dark and stormy night. Three old men sat in a barn. One said "Joe, tell us a story"... This is it... "It was a dark and stormy night. Three old men..."

Rinse and repeat. Always used to make us laugh as kids in the 1960s

Yes but 'the captain said to the mate to tell the crew a story'. We were easily amused.

The King said it to the storyteller in our house.

Yes, my dad's - and his dad's - favourite. Their version:
"... the skipper was pacing the lonely decks. "Mate!" he said. "tell us a tale." So the mate began..."
My grandad was born in the late 1800s so this has been around for a long time!

We had:
It was a dark, dark, stormy night. There were three robbers in a cave. One said 'Captain! Tell me a story?' So the captain began. . .'It was a dark, dark stormy night etc etc.

'Twas a dark and stormy night and the rain came down in torrents
Said the skipper to the mate, spin me a yarn
And the yarn begins as follows....

Sits in the same part of my brain as the song Lily the Pink 🤔

Oh god yes! My ex used to quote it all the time. :-D

"And the captain said to the first mate..."

God love my dad

I thought It was going to be my Grandmas old poem.
It was a dark and stormy night,
The toilet light was dim,
I heard a scream, I heard a shout,
My god! She's fallen in 🤣🤣🤣🤣

My grandad too! 'The night was dark and stormy, 3 pirates sat in a cave, one said to the other, Bill tell us a tale. So Bill began....' ad infinitum.

😂😂😂

Our version was:

It was a dark and stormy night in the middle of November, and the chief said to the robbers, I'll tell you a tale and the tale was this ...

It was this near us - "and three men sat in a lighthouse. One man turned to the other and said, Jim, will you tell us a tale? So Jim began..."

Awww yes. My dad used to tell this joke... it used to annoy me so much as a child. I miss it so much now he's gone.
I've told it to my kids. I wish he was still alive to tell it to them himself.. I don't think I do it justice

I thought this was going to be The Blue Tarantula story from Max and Ruby, one of DDs favourites when she was younger

And when my dad told it it was 'isiah, Jeremiah' and I've forgotten the 3rd name.. and they were sat round the campfire on a dark and stormy night.. and jeremiah says to isiah 'tell us a story'
And then it all just starts again

Yes! Older (would be perhaps 85 now?) male headteacher used to tell this at school. Also from Derby but not sure it's just a Derby thing, duckie.

I love Charlie Cook's Favourite Book by Julia Donaldson for similar reasons.

This is from Wikipedia

Ah yes. My dad told us this. Love him. He didn't live long enough to tell it to his grandchildren.

It was a dark and stormy night and the captain said to the mate..
”Mate spin us a yarn”
So the mate spun him a yarn and the yarn went like this…

Another common one my dad used to quote,

The boy stood on the burning deck
His lips were all aquiver
He gave a cough, his leg fell off
And floated down the river.

It was a dark and stormy night and the rain came down in torrents. And Samuel said to Moses “Moses, tell us a story”
And Moses began

This was mine. Rain came down in torrents, and the captain said to his mate...

Oh yes! I'd forgotten that...

There's also a risque one about a sphinx and the sands of the Nile and the hump on the camel...

I knew it as
The night was dark and stormy,
The wind was blowing a gale.
The captain said to his mate,
Hey Jim tell us a tale.
So Jim began his story...

And the TWA air hostesses and the offering of a cup of tea...