The One Lunger <br /> <br /> In days of old, so we were told<br /> Old salts along our coast were bold<br /> And fished a distance from their bawn<br /> Far out to sea at break of dawn<br /> <br /> Old skipper Lige and Uncle Sam<br /> Fished together in rough and calm<br /> With their one lunger well off shore<br /> Hauling their catches of fish galore<br /> <br /> He called her Betsy after his mother<br /> Who dearly loved him as no other<br /> It seemed so fitting to do just that<br /> For seldom ever did they have a spat <br /> <br /> That engine of the make and break<br /> Gave yeoman service far from their flake<br /> Never once did it let them down<br /> When they were ever so far from town<br /> <br /> Reliable as the day was long<br /> That engine seemed to sing a song<br /> As it chugged along through the roughest gale<br /> If it could talk it would tell quite a tale<br /> <br /> It seemed oblivious to wind and water<br /> Which so amazed his youngest daughter<br /> For Sue went out with him many a time<br /> When banished by Mom after a domestic crime<br /> <br /> <br /> Now Skipper Lige could take her apart <br /> And putting her together was quite an art<br /> Each piece he knew to finest detail <br /> And fond he was to so regale<br /> <br /> How often he did when we were around<br /> Many a time on the fishing ground<br /> Improvise as well he could<br /> With springs and wire and pieces of wood <br /> <br /> No training here just vast experience<br /> Or so it seemed on first appearance<br /> Adept at anything was the rule<br /> Often with nothing but the simplest tool<br /> <br /> So now to finish and conclude<br /> And to put us in a jovial mood<br /> We will of a little grog partake<br /> When finally back on our dear flake<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The one lunger was a simple two cycle make and break engine found in many fishing boats in NL in the early 1900s. Fishermen in those days held these engines near dear to their hearts, for obvious reasons. <br /> <br /> <br /> John Cornick<br /> Halifax, Nova Scotia<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />   Submitted By: John Cornick