Tada and the whale

“When I was wee boy, my dad (Andi Lothian) took us to visit the McManus Galleries, which was a dusty old Victorian museum back in the 1970s,” emails Paul Lothian.

“He showed me and my five siblings a whale’s skeleton suspended from the ceiling (it’s still there) and told us the story of how he’d killed it with a butter knife after an epic struggle! Wide-eyed and open-jawed, we believed him and thought him a hero.

“Dad (‘Tada’ to his 19 grandchildren) went on to tell the story to the next generation of gullible Lothians. For his 80th birthday, my wife Vicky turned the story into a children’s poem.”

We have printed some of the verses of Vicky’s poem. Tada and the Tay whale A long time ago, not too far away a terrible whale swam into the Tay. Its jaws were wide and its eyes were black. Bonnie Dundee was under attack! The hungry whale was up to no good as it swam about in a terrible mood. Hissing and spitting and thrashing its tail ramming any boat that tried to set sail Tada was bold and brave and strong he knew that the whale was in the wrong. He swam out to challenge the whale in the Tay, hoping he’d live to see the next day Straight ahead was the big black beast. It saw Tada coming and thought, ‘What a feast!’ But Tada was clever, swimming ’round and around tiring the whale and wearing him down The humpback whale was now getting cross and wanted to show that IT was the boss. So, it opened its jaws as wide as could be – Tada was going to be eaten for tea! But then Tada remembered, he had in his shorts a small, handy weapon, a wee knife of sorts. (Tada was known as a bit of a nutter and always carried a knife to spread butter!) High in the air Tada held up his knife thinking of home and his children and wife. This was his moment, only one shot – he hurled the knife without second thought Into the mouth of the whale of the Tay flew the wee butter knife without delay. Down through the gullet and into its belly – The whale swam off with its tail behind thinking about how it hadn’t been kind For it’s nice to be nice and it’s NOT nice to be a terrible whale that eats Tadas for tea! Now, should you ever visit the town of Dundee in the McManus Galleries you will see the skeleton of the big bad whale now hangs from the ceiling by its tail If you look very closely, some say it’s known you can see a small knife stuck there in a bone. Yes, the wee butter knife that saved the day when Tada chased the whale from the Silvery Tay.

“We haven’t seen goldfinches in the garden for some time, but a niger seed feeder attracted a pair,” says Ken Morris of St Andrews. “They’re always a tonic, dressed in their smart tailcoats with buttons.”