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

swayingintime Lilly the pink! You’ve just remembered me, my dad would sing it to us as kids, so lovely. Along with summertime and the big rock candy mountain.
wierdly, I’ve just done a hypnotherapy course, and this is a way of getting people to zone out. I used to use it to send my son to sleep. Aww.

I only know it as the opening of all of Snoopy's novels

Ours was

It was a dark and stormy night
The rain came down in torrents
The captain said to Antonio, tell us a tale
And the tale went on as follows.

Lilly the Pink! Medicinal Compound! Brilliant song!

Yes this!

Crazy? I Was Crazy Once. They Locked Me In A Room. A Rubber Room. A Rubber Room With Rats. And Rats Make Me Crazy. Crazy? I Was Crazy Once

T'was a daaark and stormy noight
And the rain came down in buckefuls
And the captain said to 'is maybe: "Bill, spin us a yarn!"
And so began as follows 'ere....

I think that is a fake west country accent but it's so mangled in my memory I am.not sure.

Not quite the same but

Shall I tell you a story about Johnny McGorey? shall I begin it? Well that's all that's in it!

Similarly "There was an old man called Michael Finnegan..."

The version that my (Fife) mum told me was "three buccaneers".

We used to say the 'Antonio' version. Happy memories.

My Grandad’s version:

it was a dark and stormy night
And the rain came down in torrents
The captain said to [insert name of grandchild] “tell us a tale!”
And the tale began like this…

We would take turns to repeat the tale and name the next person.

Mine was

it was a dark dark night
and the toilet light was dim
i heard a crash
and then a splash
good god shes fallen in

From my childhood. "It was a dark and stormy night, and the brigands were sitting round the fire. Then up spoke one brigand and said, "Jonathan, tell us a tale." Then up stood Jonathan and said - "It was a dark and stormy night, and the brigands were sitting round the fire ..."

My dad's version ...
It was a dark and stormy night, the sailors around the campfire sat, "tell us a story, Captain" they said. And this is the story he told them.
It was a dark and stormy night, the school kids round the campfire sat. "Tell us a story, teacher" they said.
And on and on until his imagination gave out!

This is exactly what my dad used to say.😄

My dad's version when I was a child in the '60s

'Twas a dark and stormy night
The wind was howling wild
The Captain of the ship turned to his men and said
'Antonio, tell us a story-o'
And Antonio began:

'Twas a dark and stormy night......'

I used to say this to my dd16. I got as far as it was a dark and stormy night and dd would say no mummy stop I don't like it,
She never got to hear it all 😂

It was a dark and stormy night, the rain came down in torrents, and the bandits roamed out on the hills.
the mate said ‘Captain, tell us a story’
and so the story began…

also
it will never happen - a little vest on a big woman.

anyone remember Rafferty’s pig?
or my big brother sylvest (what’s he got)

Yes!! The captain said to Antonio, in my Grandmas version

My grandads version was "... three travellers sat round a campfire. One of them began to tell a story - and this was the story he told...".

It's also an international competition:

https://www.bulwer-lytton.com

My grandad used to dine out on that one, too - along with this version from his navy days:

The boy stood on the burning deck
Selling peas a penny a peck
Did he wash his dirty neck?
Did he heck!

Must have been not much to do on the ships! 🤣

Grandad’s navy version of the above tale was:

It was a dark and stormy night
And the captain said to the bo’sun
”Bo’sun, tell us a story!”
So the bo’sun began:
“It was a dark and stormy night…”

Twas a dark and stormy night
And the robbers were in their cave
And the chieftain said to Antonio
'Antonio, tell us a tale!'
So Antonio began....'Twas a dark and stormy night etc etc'

Fond Memories of my Dad doing that one, thank you. I must tell it to my own kids!

From my lovely Uncle Stan, amateur magician and mainstay of local Am Dram…
one dark and stormy night around the campfire
up spoke one and cried “Alphonso tell us a tale”
and this is the tale he told…
one dark and stormy night around the campfire…