The Tug of War Old Jack's Boat

Ha! Oh!

-Good day to you.

-HE CHUCKLES

# 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

# 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 the song of the sea

# Hoist the sail I'll tell you a tail

# 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. #

SEAGULLS CRY

Oh, Salty,

do you have to carry that smelly blanket round with you everywhere?

Honestly, it is a bit smelly.

-HE SNIFFS

-In fact, it is very smelly.

SEAGULL SCREECHES

Oh. Ooh. Well, come on.

Perhaps Emily won't notice the smell.

Poo! Dear me. Oh!

-Hello, Emily! A good washing day.

-It is, it is.

Oh, poo, what's that terrible smell?

Oh, it's Salty's blanket.

-It's a bit dirty and it's very whiffy.

-I'll say.

Now then, young Salty, see that seagull up there,

it's been winking at me all morning. And you know what they say -

when a seagull winks an eye, hang your washing out to dry.

-Oh, right.

-So I've decided today is going to be laundry day.

I think Emily is offering to wash your blanket, Salty. That's it.

-Oh, hey!

-Oh, Salty!

-Come here.

-It needs to be washed, Salty!

Oh, honestly!

-Salty!

-Salty!

JACK WHISTLES

Oh! Go on, go on.

Salty!

-Oh, there she is, Jack.

-Salty!

Salty. Salty, girl, come here.

Yes. Where have you hidden that blanket? Heh, heh?

Let me see.

EMILY GASPS

-What?

-Blanket ahoy.

-Well done, Emily.

Er, Jack, why don't you go down to the Rainbow and take Salty

and I'll carry on looking for the blanket(!)

What a good idea! We will see you later, Em.

Come along, Salty.

Right, time to wash that old thing.

There she is, the Rainbow. What have you got for us today, my dear?

SHIP'S HORN SOUNDS

-Hey-hey. Come on, Salty.

-HE HUMS A TUNE

Here we are.

Good girl, Salty, in your bed, go on, that's it.

You curl up in there.

And we won't mention smelly blankets, will we, heh?

HE CHUCKLES

Although I do remember the last time your blanket was really stinky.

Oh! Do you? Poo!

Right, let me get the comfortable and I'll tell you the story.

Ah, yes, Salty,

this'll make your whiskers whiffle, this one will.

Once upon a twinkly time, the Rainbow set off from Staithes,

waved goodbye to Whitby and disappeared over the horizon.

It was a breezy day

and a rather whiffy smell was wafting on the wind. Poo!

Despite that, Salty and I started to sing.

# Just Salty dog and me Upon the briny sea

# The wind is keen The waves are high

# There isn't a cloud up in the sky

# And although something's stinking At least we're not sinking

# Just Salty Dog and me # Hey!

"Right, Salty," I said, "let's find out what's causing that smell

"and throw it overboard."

I followed the smell, all around the deck

and it led me to Salty's bed and Salty's blanket.

SALTY WHIMPERS

Now, Salty's blanket is her favourite thing.

But, sometimes, it gets very whiffy and it needs to be washed.

"Come on," I said, "let's dunk it in the sea."

I tied the blanket to a rope

and threw it overboard, where it swished through the waves

as the ship skimmed along.

Things were fine for a while,

when, suddenly, I heard the ship's emergency bell ringing.

Clang, clang, clang! And it was Salty who was ringing it.

BELL RINGS

"What is the matter, Salty, my girl?" I said.

-IMITATES SALTY HOWLING

-"Look," she howled.

And she pointed a paw to the stern.

Oh, dearie me, there was the rope, swishing through the water,

but there was no blanket tied to it.

Salty's blanket had gone. "Don't panic," I said.

"We will just have to go and look for it."

And before you could say "scuttling spider crabs",

we were under the sea.

Well, we hadn't gone far when Mr and Mrs Cod swam up to us.

"Ask if they've come to help us with the tug-of-war, Harold,"

said Mrs Cod. "Yes, dear," said Mr Cod.

But before he could say another word,

Mrs Cod nudged me with her nose.

"You can be the referee," she told me.

"And you, she said, rolling her eyes at Salty,

"you can help to pull the rope."

"Actually, we're looking for a blanket," I said.

"You haven't seen it, have you?"

"Have we seen a blanket, Harold?" Mrs Cod asked her husband.

Mr Cod said, "Yes, dear."

"I think, hm, we've seen it somewhere," said Mrs Cod.

"There isn't time to look for it. The tug-of-war is about to begin."

Before we knew it, I was on the referee's spot

and Salty was standing in line behind the tigerfish.

Soon, lots of other sea creatures had taken their places behind Salty.

Angela, the anglerfish, she came with her lantern dangling.

Nicola the pufferfish, she arrived.

She puffed herself up to her fullest size.

Next came Percy, the pipefish, and the two blobfish.

And even a couple of sea horses bobbed up

and took their places in the line.

The tigerfish called out, "We can't win,

"we do this every year and every year, we lose."

Well, Salty and I, we were a little surprised. "Why is that?" I asked.

"Because we are playing against him," said the tigerfish,

pointing at a huge creature that was approaching.

"Blistering barnacles," I exclaimed. "It's Bluey the blue whale."

"Hello, everyone," he called, swishing his enormous tail,

"lovely to see you again."

Well, Salty buried her head in her paws.

"It's not fair," she whined, "we'll never win, we don't have a chance."

"Remember, the one left holding the rope

"wins the tug-of-war trophy," said Mrs Cod.

"Right, Harold, give the referee the hooter."

Mr Cod swam up to me with a little horn.

And I blew it.

And the tug-of-war began.

Everyone picked up the rope and started to pull.

"Come on," cried the tigerfish. "Heave-ho!"

But there was something unusual about the rope.

It didn't really look very rope-like.

It was slightly woollier than a rope should be

and it was a little, hm, smelly.

Salty gave the rope a sniff and let out a howl.

HE IMITATES SALTY HOWLING

"It's not a rope, it's my blanket! It must have come loose

"when we were dragging it and then it sank to the bottom of the sea.

"That's why the tug-of-war team have it now."

So Salty started to pull extra hard.

She wasn't worried about winning the tug-of-war trophy,

but she was worried that Bluey the whale might keep her blanket.

So, she started tugging.

"Heave-ho, heave-ho."

"I can't keep going," cried Angela, the anglerfish,

"my strength has run out."

"Us, too, said the two blobfish and they let go.

"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"

"My fins ache, they feel like they are going to fall off,"

cried the tigerfish. "I'm going to have to let go, too."

Everyone was tiring.

Bluey the whale had such a powerful grip.

And soon, it was only Salty who was left tugging at the blanket.

"Come on, Salty, you can do it," I cried.

"Come on, heave-ho, hold on to your blanket. Don't let go!

"Good girl, go on!"

Bluey the whale was super-strong,

but Salty just wouldn't give up on her blanket,

for dogs are very attached to their blankets,

as you probably know.

And with one more enormous tug, she pulled it free

from Bluey's grip.

"Hurray! We have a winner," I cried.

"Salty's won the tug-of-war."

"Well done, cried Bluey, "what fun.

"Who'd have thought that a little dog would be so strong?"

"Congratulations," said Mrs Cod.

And she gave Salty the tug-of-war trophy.

Salty said that her underwater friends could keep the trophy,

all she wanted was her blanket.

"Your blanket?" said Mrs Cod.

"Well, I never. I told you it was strange rope, didn't I, Harold?"

Mr Cod nodded. "Yes, dear," he said.

I turned to Salty.

"Time to be getting home now," Salty, my girl, I said.

Before you could say "jiggling jellyfish",

Salty and I were back on board the Rainbow.

"You know, I never knew you were so strong, Salty," I chuckled.

-After all that time in the water...

-HE SNIFFS

..cor, your blanket isn't stinking any more!

-Is it? No.

-HE CHUCKLES

Well, we both laughed as we set our course for Staithes and home.

Do you like that story, Salty? All true, of course!

Mind you, my stories always are.

HE CHUCKLES

Oh, look! See that?

Come on.

Listen, Salty, I've got a confession to make.

While we were away, Emily washed your blanket.

HE LAUGHS

That's not it, is it?

Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.

Oh, that's not your blanket. That's too small.

It must have shrunk in the wash.

Well, at least it will be easy to carry around

and probably smell a lot better.

-Hello, you two.

-Hello.

-You all right?

-Well...

I've washed the blanket and it's dry, too. Here you are, Salty.

Well, what's that?

It's one of my tea towels, why do you ask?

For a minute, I thought it was Salty's blanket, shrunk in the wash.

I wouldn't shrink Salty's blanket! I know how precious it is.

What a relief! There you are, Salty. Look at that. Yes.

It smells lovely. You're a very lucky dog.

Say thank you to Ems. That's it.

-You know, you saved the day, you have.

-My pleasure.

-Thank you.

-Come on, Salty. Thanks again, Em.

-Bye now!

-Bye-bye.

We were getting really worried about that!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd