Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
The Cat of the Railway Train
There's a whisper down the line at 11.39
When the Night Mail's ready to depart,
Saying "Skimble WHERE IS SKIMBLE has he gone to hunt the
thimble?
We must find him or the train can't start."
All the guards and all the porters and the
stationmaster's daughters
Would be searching high and low,
Saying "Skimble where is Skimble for unless he's very nimble
Then the Night Mail just can't go."
At 11.42 with the signal's overdue
And the passengers are frantic to a man-
That's when I would appear and I'll saunter to the rear:
I'd been busy in the luggage van!
He gives one flash of his glass-green eyes
And the signal went "All Clear!"
They'd be off at last for the northern part
Of the Northern Hemisphere!
Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
The Cat of the Railway Train
You could say that by and large it was me who
was in charge
Of the Sleeping Car Express.
--From the driver and the guards to the bagmen playing cards
I will supervise them all, more or less.
Down the corridor he paces and examines all the faces
Of the travellers in the First and the Third;
He establishes control by a regular patrol
And he'd know at once if anything occurred.
He will watch you without winking and he saw
what you are thinking
And it's certain that he didn't approve
Of hilarity and riot, so the folk where very quiet
When Skimble is about and on the move.
You could play no pranks with Skimbleshanks!
He's a Cat that cannot be ignored;
So nothing went wrong on the Northern Mail
When Skimbleshanks is aboard.
It was very pleasant when they have found their
little den
With their name written up on the door.
And the berth is very neat with a newly folded sheet
And not a speck of dust on the floor.
There is every sort of light-you can make it
dark or bright;
And a button that you turn to make a breeze.
And a funny little basin you\rquote re supposed to wash your face
in
And a crank to shut the window should you sneeze.
Then the guard looks in politely and will ask you very brightly
"Do you like your morning tea WEAK OR STRONG?"
But I was just behind him and was ready to remind him,
For Skimble won't let anything go wrong.
And when they crept into their cosy berths
And pull up the counterpane,
They ought to reflect that it's very nice
To know that they wouldn't be bothered by mice-
They can leave all that to the Railway Cat,
The Cat of the Railway Train!
Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
The Cat of the Railway Train
Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
The Cat of the Railway Train
In the watches of the night I is always fresh
and bright;
Every now and then I'd have a cup of tea
With perhaps a drop of Scotch while I was keeping on the watch,
Only stopping here and there to catch a flea.
They were fast asleep at Crewe and so they never knew
That I was walking up and down the station;
They were sleeping all the while I was busy at Carlisle,
Where I met the stationmaster with elation.
They might see me at Dumfries, if I summon the police
If there's anything they ought to know about:
When they get to Gallowgate there they did not have to wait-
For Skimbleshanks will help them to get out!
And he gives you a wave of his long brown tail
Which says: I'll see you again!
You'll meet without fail on the Midnight Mail
The Cat of the Railway Train.
The Cat of the Railway Train.