Tale of the famous actor mistaken for sailor on Moby Dick set in Youghal

All donkey carts and pony traps were moving very slowly along the street one day because a big man, with his arms outstretched, was walking ahead, blocking the whole road. He was right in the middle of it, so nothing could pass, and when asked, he refused to lower his arms. A farmer ran forward to him and said: “Lower your arms and let us pass”. “Don’t even talk to me” said the man. “This is the width of a gap at home, and I’m going into Watson’s Hardware to get a gate for it”.

Make fast that line

Back in 1954, during the making of the Moby Dick film in Youghal - sailor John was helping to dock the tall ships at the quayside in readiness for filming. The main vessel ‘Ryelands’ (Pequod) was too big to enter the Market Dock, and so the area had to be dredged first. Even after that, the vessel had to dock at exactly full-tide, enabling it to be secured before the slightest drop in the water level. Timing was all-important as she came alongside the Pier Head, and the ropes had to be tied up quickly. John was on board and threw a rope astern while shouting out loud to a sailor on the quay: “Make fast that line mate”. “Aye Aye Sir” replied the sailor, but he seemed to be a bit slow in doing it. John gave another urgent shout, “Make fast that line mate”. After a few minutes of shaping-up by the man on shore, the line was at last secured. Later in the evening, John came face to face with the ‘sailor’ and discovered it was none other than Richard Basehart - the famous actor who was dressed as a sailor for his part in the film but knew nothing about tying ropes. Richard gave a big laugh. “Did you really take me to be a real Old Tar”. “Yes” replied John, to the delight of the actor. The wardrobe department had done their work well.

Two heads are better than one

“Two heads are better than one” said the insurance agent to the poor woman as he helped to fill a form for her on the kitchen table of her little house.

Writing was not her strong point, and she was very grateful to him for his assistance. Prayers would be said for him forevermore. His reply was monotonous: “Sure, two heads are better than one”. When the form was completed - the woman offered her helper some mutton soup. “Yes, I would love soup” he said - accepting a big bowlful from the pot over the fire. “More?” asked the woman. “Yes, please” and he had another bowlful.

Then as he finished, he glanced into the huge pot and noticed that the level had dropped nicely, but what was that cocking up? It looked like two sheep heads! He suddenly began to feel sick. “Do I see two sheep heads in the pot?” he blurted. “Ah yes sir - sure as you say yourself - two heads are better than one”.

The price of beauty

An attractive woman came of age to qualify for the Free-Travel pass and was overjoyed to do so. She had been looking forward to this concession for years, and as soon as she received her travel-pass card, off she went to the bus-stop for her first free trip to Waterford. A large volume of people were in the queue waiting to get on the bus, and she took her place in the line. When the bus arrived, she noticed that the driver was a handsome man. He spotted this attractive female in the queue and gave her a big wink. She was delighted and straightened herself up, to look even better. Then, when it came for her turn to get on board the vehicle, he gave her a huge smile. She felt marvellous and young. But - all that attention was taking its toll, and so putting her hand in her pocket to find the travel-pass - she could not bring herself to use it. The result was - that, having waited for years for this glorious first day of free-travel, she took out her purse instead and paid the four pounds.

Trespassers will be persecuted

A lack of good scholars long ago (when the majority ended their school going at fourteen years of age) meant that very humorous signs appeared on some ditches in the country. ‘Lands Preserved’ could be seen as ‘Lands Persevered’. Another very funny sign was meant to be ‘Trespassers will be Prosecuted’ but instead was written as ‘Trespassers will be Persecuted’.

No fish today

Jack was a fish-joulter who would buy fish like mackerel and pollock from down at the dock early on a Friday morning. Then he and his wife would drive inland to sell it in towns and villages far removed from the shore. Places like Clashmore, Aglish, Lismore and Tallow come to mind. People were not supposed to eat meat on Friday, and so it was the best day to sell the fish. However, the ‘no meat on Friday’ rule was relaxed in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore during the ration years and so did not then apply there. Jack hadn’t heard about that and he arrived in the area one Friday morning with a cran (fish-box) of mackerel. Then, going from house to house of his regular customers - he was disappointed that nobody wanted to buy fish. Lastly, he decided to try the house of a Parish Priest - the housekeeper there usually bought some. When the knock on the door was answered, the housekeeper politely said “not today, thank you”. Jack was amazed - then he got the smell of frying steak wafting out from the kitchen. Going back to the car, he said to his wife, “No good- we won’t sell any fish in this town today- even the Parish Priest is having steak for his dinner”.

Jumping Jack

Before we finish with Jack, let me tell you about the time that he injured his leg on a mowing machine. The calf of his leg was torn, and he was bleeding a lot from a gaping wound. He was brought in home to Cork Hill, and Dr. Kevin was requested to stitch him up. Nora McGrath (his next-door neighbour) was summoned to help the doctor and to keep Jack quiet. Then the doctor began to stitch the wound - but Jack jumped and bucked at every prod of the needle. Nora had to sit on him while the doctor did his work. At last, it was finished - and only then was it discovered that Jack was sitting on a rocking chair.