Hi, hi blackbird
by Graham Smith

Freelance journalist Graham Smith, of Mediaworld, listens to an old whistler and wonders about St Patrick’s Day specs…

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Lock up your dogs, pass the budgie his ear plugs and blackbirds beware, Ronnie’s going to be back in town!

Ronnie Ronalde, the world’s greatest whistler, is returning to the UK from his home in New Zealand for a Spring tour and I am seriously concerned for the blackbird population.

Some time ago I wrote that I honestly thought that Ronnie, a brilliant entertainer still, had run out of puff. He has not. In fact the man who went from whistling for pennies in London pubs to top every conceivable variety bill on both sides of the Atlantic in the forties and fifties, is still whistling and singing fit to bust.

And the blackbirds? Well if their sap is rising when he gives his shows in Weston super Mare next month there’ll be trouble.

Picture the scene. Ronnie does a better blackbird than a blackbird and if Mr and Mrs Blackbird just happen to be billing and cooing in the park when he passes by for his morning stroll and whistling warm up there could be repercussions. I mean they could get over excited.

There’ll be triplets, twins, nests will tumble out of the trees top heavy with baby blackbirds. And it won’t just be the blackbirds. He does the larks, the thrushes, the finches, just be grateful he doesn’t do an albatross or we wouldn’t see the sun this summer for the population explosion.

He gave Laugh at Life an exclusive chuckle this week about the BBC ringing him to plead with him to whistle over the airwaves to an old lady’s bird which hadn’t uttered a cheep since she bought it.

“So I did, ” said Ronnie, “I get some strange requests.”

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