'I can't see the Dorty Bizzums making it big. That's what Donnie McPhartney told me anyway, as he piped black pudding mixture into genuine organic casings.'
Tuppence was distraught. He'd been all the way to Inverness, on a high after our Hogmanay triumph (more on that later) hoping to get more'gigs', and Donnie McPhartney was the very man to see, so he'd heard.
'Wherever did you hear such a thing?'
'Someone said something at the Puff Inn after our Hogmanay gig. I can't remember who - it was late on.'
'But Donnie McPhartney's a butcher. He's renowned for his black puddings, but...'
'That doesn't preclude him being a booker and promoter and talent scout as well. He bought Eve Graham a vodka at the Station Hotel in 1978 - and that was when she was big. He's a good fellow to keep on the right side of.'
'But he doesn't think much of the Dorty Bizzums.'
'No.'
'He hasn't seen us perform though.' I didn't like to say 'play'. 'So how can he know?'
'He said he has a nose for talent. He says he can smell success before he sees it. And I just smelled of cheese and onion crisps, plasticine, and someone else's stale tobacco. That would be yours Uncle Tuppy but I never said anything. I did say that we might add in comb and paper, and whistling, and maybe rubbing the rims of several wine glasses with differing levels of fluid in, to make ourselves more current, but he just shrugged and continued filling his black pudding casings.'
'For goodness sake. You'd think he'd have someone to do that for him. After all, it's a well-established business.'
'You mean like a modern-style apprentice, like I was, at £3.50 an hour?'
'Well...'
'The thing is, he likes to do it all himself. The black pudding contains a secret ingredient, you see, that makes people develop not just a taste for it, but a craving. They get physically and psychologically addicted, very quickly. It's like crack cocaine.'
'And he doesn't want anyone to find out what the ingredient is. Well I'm not surprised. It sounds like it's probably illegal.'
'Nothing wrong with that Uncle Tuppy. And I suspect you're right.'
next time - after a top-level meeting back at the Outcrop, we decide to go to Inverness to find out what exactly Donnie McPhartney is putting in his black puddings.
Tuppence was distraught. He'd been all the way to Inverness, on a high after our Hogmanay triumph (more on that later) hoping to get more'gigs', and Donnie McPhartney was the very man to see, so he'd heard.
'Wherever did you hear such a thing?'
'Someone said something at the Puff Inn after our Hogmanay gig. I can't remember who - it was late on.'
'But Donnie McPhartney's a butcher. He's renowned for his black puddings, but...'
'That doesn't preclude him being a booker and promoter and talent scout as well. He bought Eve Graham a vodka at the Station Hotel in 1978 - and that was when she was big. He's a good fellow to keep on the right side of.'
'But he doesn't think much of the Dorty Bizzums.'
'No.'
'He hasn't seen us perform though.' I didn't like to say 'play'. 'So how can he know?'
'He said he has a nose for talent. He says he can smell success before he sees it. And I just smelled of cheese and onion crisps, plasticine, and someone else's stale tobacco. That would be yours Uncle Tuppy but I never said anything. I did say that we might add in comb and paper, and whistling, and maybe rubbing the rims of several wine glasses with differing levels of fluid in, to make ourselves more current, but he just shrugged and continued filling his black pudding casings.'
'For goodness sake. You'd think he'd have someone to do that for him. After all, it's a well-established business.'
'You mean like a modern-style apprentice, like I was, at £3.50 an hour?'
'Well...'
'The thing is, he likes to do it all himself. The black pudding contains a secret ingredient, you see, that makes people develop not just a taste for it, but a craving. They get physically and psychologically addicted, very quickly. It's like crack cocaine.'
'And he doesn't want anyone to find out what the ingredient is. Well I'm not surprised. It sounds like it's probably illegal.'
'Nothing wrong with that Uncle Tuppy. And I suspect you're right.'
next time - after a top-level meeting back at the Outcrop, we decide to go to Inverness to find out what exactly Donnie McPhartney is putting in his black puddings.
