Grandma
by Myles Cover (Joyce Hammond’s grandson & Nettie Cubbin’s great-great-grandson)
Presented as part of the launch of ‘Cradled by Man’ at Nettie’s birthday party
King Island July 16th 2016
We would like to give thanks
to a wonderful woman from Manx
Who had a great love of history
and loved to uncover a mystery
Her ancestors you see
had a strong link with the sea
Her grandma Nettie
who you, no doubt, know already
Was born on the shore
whilst the wind did roar
As their ship, the Netherby
was claimed by the sea
But the story does not end there
for although it is quite rare
Our family is amongst the ranks
of those who came from Manx
And Joyce, that is her name you see
knew that it was meant to be
These two islands, at the ends of the earth
were both of very similar girth
This story and many more
she would tell us, and we would never bore
Cause her creativity was amazingly rare
and so was her purple hair
She also had a great sweet tooth
and that, my friends, is the truth
For she would often skip the main
cause it was, simply, too plain
And instead go straight for pud
seconds you ask? Yes she would
And us boys, her grandkids, would try in vain
towards our parents, to explain
That we wanted dessert first, that was our choice
and why couldn’t we, we were just following Joyce
So without Joyce, historian, storyteller and sleuth
and our mum Jenni, in truth
We would not have, to this island flown
cause we would not have known
About our incredible family tale
and how we all hail
From a remote little beach
from here, an arm’s reach