The Duke and I

In May last year I thought it might be fun to see David “The Duke” Dickinson in action doing “The Real Deal” in North Wales. I looked around for something in the antiques and curiosities line that I wouldn’t mind selling and came up with an ocarina given to me by my grandmother.

It’s a small ceramic wind instrument – quite an unusual thing. Luckily for me, the TV team at the event thought so too. Not only did I get myself filmed at the dealer’s table but, not having struck a deal with the colourful Mike Melody, I took the ocarina to auction. All this hobnobbing with dealers and “Cheap-as-Chips” Dickinson went out on daytime tv last autumn. Well, this needed to be immortalised in verse, I decided, so I penned a few lines. In April this year, another chance came up to go to a “Real Deal” day. Off I went and, in a brief interlude between deals going down, seized a chance to corner both DD and MM (Duke and dealer), giving an impromptu performance of my verses. They liked them! Indeed, the Duke was keen for me to do a piece to camera with him. So look out, this autumn, for a performance on Dickinson’s Real Deal of the following:

When The Real Deal came to Wrexham in North Wales
I thought I’d go along because I do like antiques sales.
I didn’t flog my granny but my granny’s china flute
and thanks to David Dickinson I bagged that Real Deal loot.

Dealer Mike said “It’s by Meissen,” and that he had never seen a
flute as cute as this one – I said, “It’s an ocarina.
At fifty quid temptation’s there but I remain immune –
Mike Melody, a few more notes I’ll need to make a tune!”

And so I went to auction and there eighty quid was bid.
“Do you think you got the real deal?” David asked. I said, “I did!”