May 2006 Newsletter
VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3
Newsletter of the
2nd Hayle Scout Group
Page 1 Quiz time
Page 2 Skips Campfire Yarn
Page 3 Old Wives Tales and superstitions
Page 4 Group News
Quiz Time
Nature
Quiz
The answers to these questions is true or false
1. The difference between a mammal and reptile is that a mammal is warm blooded.
2. A stag beetle has horns like a stag.
3. In Africa, there is a dung beetle that likes to eat elephant dung.
4. The nuts from a horse chestnut tree are shaped a bit like a horse.
5. A male swan is called a cob.
6. A humming bird hums because it can't whistle a tune.
7. Paper comes from trees but cardboard doesn't.
8. You can make tea from nettles.
9. The earth is fatter round the equator than around the poles.
10. Eating cat food will help you see in the dark.
11. Your hair and nails still grow even if you are dead.
12. One oak tree produces enough oxygen to keep two people breathing.
13. Leather is made from animal skins.
14. Cotton comes from a moth like silk.
15. A golden eagle gets it's name because it nests near old gold mines.
16. Some worms can grow over 2 mtrs long.
17. Slugs are snail that have broken their shells.
18. All snakes bite their prey.
19. Cocoa comes from coconuts.
20. Barn owls always live in barns.
21. You can eat the nuts from a beech tree.
22. Pineapples come from pine trees.
23. Some mammals lay eggs.
24. Every mammal and reptile has red blood.
25. A mushroom is a fungi.
26. Wasps make their nests from wood.
27. Bananas grow facing downwards.
28. A wagtail is Britain's smallest walking bird, anything smaller hops.
29. A palm tree gets it's name because it's leaves are shaped like a human palm.
30. If you watch the sea, every seventh wave is bigger than the rest.
31. In South America people eat guinea pigs.
32. White bread is made from maize.
33. Pigs can fly.
34. A germ is bigger than a virus.
35. In Britain, when water goes down the plug hole it always goes clockwise.
36. Coal comes from old crushed fossilised wood.
37. A tree has rings because it is married.
38. A dingo is a wild dog.
39. A rabbit's teeth never stop growing.
40. Man used to eat dinosaurs.
41. Ink for pens comes from octopi.
42. Cats always land on their feet.
43. A bald eagle has to wear a wig.
44. Polar bears eat Emperor Penguins.
45. A female blackbird is brown.
46. Oil comes from the little creatures that build coral reefs.
47. Bats will fly into your hair in the dark and there is no such thing as Vampire bats.
48. Orange or lemon juice are acids.
49. Giraffes never lie down.
50. Money grows on trees.
We will give you the answers in our next issue.
Page 1
Skips Campfire Yarn
This is a story that I heard a long time ago, when I was a small Cub, so that is why I am writing it with an oldie worlde script. In fact it was so long ago I had to shake the cobwebs off my poor old shrivelled brain to try and remember this true story.
This story concerns a group of Cubs that were camping in the wilds of Scotland many years ago. They were up in the mountains sleeping in an old shepherds hut. It was so far out of the way it didn't have any running water, toilets or electricity. Their Leaders had turned it into a bunkhouse so the Cubs could all take it in turns to go up into the mountains to learn about the wildlife such as the deer that roamed freely. They also learned about the Mountain Spirits that try and get people lost when the fog comes down by calling out so you follow their voices and get lost.
It was the end of the September when these Cubs and their Leaders went up to the hut, quite late in the year but they wanted to get one last weekends sleepover before winter set in. Once that happened no-one could get up to the hut and it was left to the Mountain Spirits until the following spring. The Cubs arrived on the Friday evening and put all their kit away. They played some games until it got dark, and the candles and lanterns had to be lit. Having been camping many times the campers settled down to sleep fairly quickly.
Now every Cub Pack or class has a know-it-all. You know what I mean. The one who knows all the answers, sticks their hand up all the time, interrupts their Leaders when they are being taught something because they think they know better. Always showing off to the other Cubs and bossing them around. As you are reading this you have probably thought of someone. the one that tells you how to add your sums correctly, the one who says your reading a map wrong and their way is right.
Well
the
Cubs
hadn't
been
asleep
for
long
when
know-it-all
woke
up
bursting
for
a
pee.
Now
I've
already
said
the
hut
didn't
have
a
toilet
so
they
had
to
outside
to
a
small
shed
with
a
hole
in
the
floor.
Now
Their
Leaders
had
always
said
if
any
of
them
needed
to
go
to
the
little
shed
they
had
to
go
in
pairs
so
the
Spirits
wouldn't
get
them.
So
this
Cub
woke
up
another
one
and
asked
if
he
would
go
outside
with
him
to
the
shed.
The
other
Cub,
who
was
nice
and
warm
in
his
camp
blankets,
there
were
no
sleeping
bags
in
those
days,
said
to
him
to
go
away,
he
didn't
need
him
because
he
was
so
clever
he
wouldn't
get
lost
and
be
led
away
by
the
spirits.
Now
most
know-it-alls
like
to
be
praised
about
how
clever
they
are,
show
smart
compared
to
anyone
else
and
this
Cub
was
no different. As
soon
as
the
other
Cub
said
that
he
wouldn't
get
lost
because
he
was
so
clever,
his
held
swelled
and
he
thought
to
himself,
"He's
right,
I
don't
need
anyone,
I'm
smart".
So he put on some clothes, lit a lantern and went outside. But there was a problem, it was snowing, winter had come early. The snow was as thick as anything, but he was really bursting. Being big-headed he thought, "I don't need help", and walked off towards the shed. He also knew that he could follow his own footprints back to the hut. He found the shed and closed the door to have his pee. Once he had finished he opened the door to go back but the snow was even heavier and had covered his footprints. Once again his big-headedness took over and instead of waiting for the snow to stop or for sunrise he decided to head on back to the hut. He thought I won't get lost, I'm too smart for that.
So he sets off in the direction of the bunkhouse.
The next morning the other Cubs woke up and find him missing. They go and tell their Leaders who go outside to look for him. Outdoors is completely white. It has stopped snowing, the sun is up but the snow is up to their waist. It had snowed all night and totally covered everything, footprints, the lot.
The Leaders gather everyone together and sort out search parties. The search parties take blankets with them to wrap him up in when they find him. The search parties go off North, South, East and West and spend all morning looking for him. At dinner time they all meet back at the bunkhouse and report what they had seen. One lot had seen some tracks but they belonged to a mountain fox, another had seen some deer in the distance on the brow of a hill. Another had found a frozen stream but the ice wasn't broken. The last search party had found some footprints leading to a bridge over a river, but they had stopped half-way across as if the person had disappeared. That afternoon they all went to the bridge and sure enough the tracks stopped before they reached the other side.
The Cubs called the bridge "The Bridge Of The Mountain Spirits", because by now they knew their friend must be scared stiff being lost and on his own all day or the spirits have had him. They searched under the bridge and down both banks of the river. The snow was deep but there were no tracks. Who or what-ever had made those tracks had vanished into thin air.
Their Leaders take them back to the bunk house and then a couple of them go o get help. The Cubs watch as the Police and Mountain Rescue Squad arrive to help search for the Cub. They bring sniffer dogs and they start the search strait away. They look in every building, in patches of trees and undergrowth, everywhere, but they can't find him. They poke the snow with long poles in case he had made a snow hole to sleep on. They don't find him. The next day they look again but it starts to snow again. they give up and say that they will have to wait until the following year when the snow melts so they could find him.
The next spring the rescue teams go looking for their friend but they don't find him. He has disappeared without a trace. And to this day no-one has ever seen him.
But this is true, if you are a Cub or Scout and are half-way across "The Bridge Of The Mountain Spirits", your right hand will suddenly go cold. They say that this is the spirit of the lost Cub holding your hand because he wants you to take him home.
Another tale from the camp-fire circle next time.
Skip
Page 2
Old Wives Tales and Superstitions
We all know a few old wives tales and superstitions. You think you don't know any but you must have heard some of the obvious ones. There listed below plus some you may not have heard. If you know more please use our forum to write down some of them. We will take the best and put them on our site. We would like to know why is heather supposed to be lucky, same as a horse shoe.
It's bad luck to walk under a ladder.
It's good luck if a black cat crosses your path (funnily it is bad luck in America).
It's unlucky to walk on the cracks in a pavement.
One Swallow doesn't make a summer
Never leave a clout (piece of clothing) till May is out.
Red sky at night, shepherds delight, red sky in the morning shepherds take warning.
Its going to rain if there is a ring around the sun.
If the horizon looks close it's going to rain.
Seven years bad luck if you break a mirror.
It's unlucky to put new shoes on a table.
A four leafed clover is lucky.
If you spill salt you must take a pinch and throw it over your shoulder to stop you having bad luck.
When you finishing eating a boiled egg you push your spoon through the bottom of the shell to let the devil out.
Use our forum on our home page to add more old wives tales or superstitions
Page 3
(This information is also posted under the News Banner on our Home Page)
We have had a word with the owner of the Poldark Mine about some of us from our Group, plus some from 2nd Redruth, spending the night down the mine on a sponsored sleepover. He said we could, so we are going back in September after the season to talk to him. The chap is a ex-scout who used to be in 2nd Redruth. Hopefully we could get the closest Friday night to the longest day of the year. Skip could read some of his ghost stories to everyone. We could call it "The Night of 1000 Tales"!
Skip says -"You would come out shivering wrecks the next morning. My tales are too scary for you lot."
Next year we are thinking of going on a narrowboat trip on the canals around Warwickshire instead of camping. We have some brochures and will discuss it with our Cubs, Scouts and Explorers. We can get 12 berth single bunk boats for roughly £720 each per week during August or roughly £60 per person. We have looked at the price of the Jamborees for next year and they want £140-160 each just to camp. Time we add in food, transport, etc we are looking at £260 each.
We aim to fundraise the boat money by sponsored walks (Challenge 350), sleepovers (see above), and doing car boot sales. Everyone going will have to muck in. Rough cost is £60 plus food and transport will be £150. Add on £50 per person for activities such as Cadbury World, Drayton Manor, etc. Watch this space. We might go for 2 weeks if we can afford it.
Perhaps we could have one boat for Scouts and Explorers, and one for Cubs. There will be 2 adults per boat see we are looking for 20 youngsters to come with us.
During it's first 26 days our website had 223 visits from 88 unique sites. During the 223 visits you opened 2579 pages of info.
We will hand out any badges gained at our Group AGM so everyone can see what each youngster has earned.
We are trying to set up a day with the Warden at Carwynnen Campsite for our Scouts so they can help on the site and so finish their Outdoor Challenge Award.
There is a shop in Redruth that sells uniforms for all Sections (save going to Truro). Up the main street to the town clock. Turn left and it is one of those in that small street. We will find out which one and put the name on this site.
We are still looking for a small piece of open ground so we can do fire lighting, play games practise camping, etc. Anyone know of anything?
Page 4
More news in our June Newsletter.