King Neptune's Shell Old Jack's Boat

Good day to you.

# This is the place to be for Salty Dog and me

# Down by the harbour we'll be there

# Round every corner there's something to share

# Give us a cheer Our friends are here

# Just Salty Dog and me. #

Ha ha, come on, Salty!

# This is the place to meet Down at the end of the street

# Seagulls flying up in the blue

# There's always a cup of tea waiting for you

# Out in the sun, having some fun

# Just Salty Dog and me

# Haul away, haul away

# Sing a song of the sea

# Hoist the sail I'll tell you a tale

# Of Salty Dog and me

# This is the place to go and these are the people we know

# The village is busy with things to see

# And there's The Rainbow down by the quay

# There's stories to tell Join us as well

-# Just Salty Dog and me. #

-MOBILE PHONE RINGS

GULLS SCREECH

-Hello, Ernie.

-Hello, Jack. And you too, Salty.

-Do you mind if we join you?

-No! Not at all.

-I was just having a break.

-Yeah?

-Jam sandwiches!

-Oh, you know, you cannot beat a jam sandwich.

You can have one if you like. I've made plenty.

Do you want one too, Salty?

No, no, no. Jam sandwiches are people food.

It just so happens that I have a dog biscuit that you might enjoy.

Ready? Ready, ready?

Whoa! (LAUGHS)

Very good! What a clever girl!

I have no idea where she learnt that from.

I didn't teach her. It's a mystery.

-A true mystery.

-Yeah.

-BOTH LAUGH

Now, sandwiches.

(CLEARS THROAT) Ernie, you've sat on them.

Ohhh! Ruined! And I was really, really hungry too!

Yeah, I tell you what, I'll treat us to a cake at the Mermaid.

Oh, thanks, Jack! JACK LAUGHS

Now we're talking!

Look at the state of those!

JACK LAUGHS

-Hello, Shelly.

-And hello to you too.

-We've come for cake.

-Oh, dear. There are no cakes today.

Eh? You're always baking cakes.

Nobody bakes a cake like you do, Shelly.

And I'm hungry! I sat on me sandwiches!

-LAUGHS

-I'm sorry, Ernie,

but I'm afraid it's true. No cakes.

We've had a power cut, so there's no electricity.

-No!

-Without electricity I can't do any baking.

I've got to shut up shop until the power comes back on.

Yeah, well, wouldn't a little bit of Shelly magic help?

I don't know what you're talking about, Jack.

JACK CHUCKLES First no sandwiches and now no cake!

-It's not my day!

-Never mind. Let's pop over to Emily's,

she'll give you an ice cream.

An ice cream! Now you're talking!

-Yeah.

-You're a marvel, you are, Jack.

Well, look, there's Emily's stall, but where's Emily?

-There's ice cream in the freezer!

-Oi-oi!

You'll have to ask Emily first, Ernie.

I will! But where is she?!

-Oh, what's going on today?!

-I have to get back to The Rainbow.

I've got jobs to do. We could find you something to eat on board.

No, you're all right, Jack, I'll wait here for Emily.

-All right. Good luck.

-Catch you later, Jack.

There she is! The Rainbow!

What have you got for us today, my dear?

FOGHORN

HE LAUGHS

Come on, Salty.

HE HUMS

There we are.

WOOD CREAKS

FOGHORN

I'll have a look in here.

Oh. No food for Ernie here either, old girl.

-HE SIGHS

-Nothing to drink either.

And you can't drink seawater.

It's too salty, isn't it, Salty?

Here, do you know how the sea came to be salty?

Well, Salty and I do.

I'll just make myself... comfortable.

Ah!

Once upon a twinkly time,

The Rainbow set off from Staithes, waved goodbye to Whitby

and disappeared over the horizon.

We were fishing that day, and as we fished, we sang.

# Just Salty Dog and me

# On the salty, shiny sea

# There's all sorts of food we're wanting to eat

# We need a quick break and a good tasty treat... # Don't we?

# ..But before it gets wet We'll haul in the net

-# Just Salty Dog and me. #

-FOGHORN

Salty was hungry, so before we turned for home

I hauled in the net

and there, tangled in the seaweed, was a trident.

Now, as I'm sure you know, the great sea king Neptune carries a trident

to control the waves.

It's a kind of magical fork.

And Salty thought this trident belonged to King Neptune,

and we should return it to his underwater palace straight away.

So off we set.

We waded through the watery world until we got to an underwater gate

guarded by two gruff-looking soldier fish.

"What is your business with King Neptune?" said one.

But then both soldier fish caught sight of the trident

and their eyes grew round and they bowed a fishy bow.

"Make way!" shouted one.

"For the bearer of the trident!" shouted the other.

Well, the gates swished apart and soon we found ourselves

in the presence of the great sea king Neptune.

"My trident!" he bellowed.

And Salty and I wondered if we were in trouble.

But we needn't have worried.

King Neptune was so overjoyed to have his trident back,

he gave us a gift. "Take this magic shell," he said.

"Whatever you wish to eat, just ask the shell and it will be yours!"

Then King Neptune told us the magic words to make it work.

"Neptune's shell. All is well."

"But don't forget," warned the sea king,

"you must always thank the shell for what you receive

"or the magic will turn against you."

So we said thank you to King Neptune and went on our way,

eager to try out our magic shell.

Back on board The Rainbow, I let Salty have the first wish.

"Neptune's shell. All is well."

And Salty woofed her wish.

She wanted some of her favourite dog biscuits -

peanut butter flavour.

To our amazement, the magic shell

poured out a load of beautiful biscuits.

And, of course, both Salty and I were very careful to say thank you.

And now it was my turn.

As I was considering what my wish would be,

a ship drew up close to The Rainbow.

It was The Hurlyburly, with Kitty Cutlass at the helm.

Her pirate nose was a-twitching at the smell of peanut butter.

But of course, I didn't notice her creeping up on us -

I was still working on my wish.

"Neptune's shell. All is well." I said.

"I'd like some fat golden chips, please."

In a twinkle, the shell poured out a pile of beautiful golden chips!

And, of course, I remembered to say thank you.

If I'm honest, as good as they looked,

the chips needed a bit of salt.

So we nipped down to the galley for the salt pot.

I had no idea that Kitty was watching,

and she had a dastardly plan.

While we were gone, that rascally pirate took the opportunity

to nip in and steal my chips, and the magic shell as well.

Well, when I returned with the salt pot,

I found my chips had disappeared.

And where was the magic shell?

Salty pointed to a distant ship sailing away as fast as it could.

The Hurlyburly, of course!

Kitty Cutlass was sailing away with the magic shell and my lunch!

What a rascally pirate she is!

On board The Hurlyburly,

Kitty settled down to eat her ill-gotten gains.

But as she tasted the chips, she made a sort of scrunched-up face.

"Urgh! Jack was right," she said, "they do need a bit of salt."

"Well, since I have a magic shell, I think I shall magic some salt."

"Now, what were the magic words?"

"Ah, yes. 'Neptune's shell. All is well.' "

"I want some salt now!"

Well, no sooner had Kitty wished

than the first little sprinkle of salt came out of the shell.

"Oh, more than that," said Kitty crossly.

The shell sprinkled a little bit more than the first time.

"Oh, come on!" barked Kitty. "More!"

So the salt started to sprinkle out of the shell even faster.

"Right, stop there," said Kitty.

But the shell didn't stop.

Soon the chips were completely covered with salt

and couldn't be eaten.

And still the shell didn't stop pouring out salt.

It's well known that pirates have very bad manners,

and, of course, Kitty hadn't thanked the shell.

So the salt just kept on flowing and flowing,

over the table, on to the floor, still it kept coming.

More and more salt poured out of the shell

until the ship was almost completely full.

Any more salt, and The Hurlyburly would sink!

There was nothing for it.

Kitty picked up the magic shell and hurled it into the sea!

Where it disappeared with an enormous splash.

She then had to spend the rest of the day

shovelling salt out of her boat to stop it sinking,

which served her right.

I was still hungry, but I wasn't sure about magical chips after that,

so I peeled some spuds and cooked myself chips

the usual way - on the stove.

And gorgeous they were, too.

Especially with a little sprinkle of salt on them.

And the magic shell?

Well, it came to rest far below the waves on the seabed.

And because Kitty didn't say thank you,

it continues to pour out salt to this very day.

And that's why the sea is salty.

-Isn't that right, Salty?

-SALTY BARKS

Mmm. See, she knows. Oh, yes.

FOGHORN

You like that story, Salty? Yeah?

All true, of course.

-Mind you, my stories always are.

-HE LAUGHS

Come on, girl.

You know, Salty, it's still a bit of a mystery to me

how you learnt to catch dog biscuits.

Oh! Hiya, Jack!

I see you've found some ice cream after all.

It's my lucky day. Remember we had that power cut?

Yeah. There was no electricity. Shelly couldn't finish her baking.

That's right. It also meant

that Emily's ice cream freezer wasn't working.

-And?

-That meant it would melt if it didn't get eaten!

I can't have all this ice cream going to waste,

so I wonder if you'd help us eat it?

Well, I think I could manage a little.

-Oh, marvellous!

-Thank you.

-Oh, I haven't forgotten you, Salty.

-Eh?

Good girl! Well learnt!

So you're the one who taught her that!

Of course! Salty often pops by for a little dog biscuit, don't you?

You never told me that, did you? Did you?

Biscuit-catching mystery solved! Ice cream, anyone?

-Yes, please.

-LAUGHS

-Look at that! That's a good bit!

-I've got a bit with toffee on!

Mmm! Lovely!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd