Sunday, 26 July 2015

The Dundee Shuffle and the Lochee - A Digression

As a sidestep away from the more simple pleasure of folklore and legend, this post presents a stumble into even stranger territory.  On first hearing, the Dundee Shuffle might sound like an antiquated dance step or an ironic term for the shambolic gait of modern day drunks or junkies.  But it is nothing of the sort. It happens to be one of the most pointlessly complicated bets ever invented.  When I chanced upon across it years ago (during a strange period when I worked in a bookies), I asked several people from my hometown whether they had ever heard of it and the answer was emphatically no.
   It would be interesting to find out the author of this excruciatingly elaborate bet, and whether anyone has ever won any substantial amount with it.   My best guess is that it was invented by a quasi mathematical genius with too much time on his hands in the 1930s.  For anyone foolhardy enough to attempt to win a fortune with this system, here are the simple instructions:

   Select four horses in four full stake singles bets Any-To-Come a half-stake Trixie on the other three, six half stake doubles Any-To-Come a full stake Double on the other two, four half stake Trebles and each way half stake Accumulator.  (Totalling sixteen bets, four at full stake and twelve at half stake.  For example 4 x £1 plus 12 at 50pence, totalling £10 stake.)
   Don't blame me if it goes horribly wrong!

   I discovered another minor mystery the other day connected with my hometown and particularly the western suburb of Lochee.  Apparently there is an entry in the Scottish National Dictionary stating that the 'Lochee' was once a term for 'An ice-cream sandwich, consisting of layers of ice-cream and chocolate or marshmallow.'  News to me.  How was this sandwich constructed and what was the best method of consuming it?  Did you need a fork and knife?  Did its deliciousness outdo its inherent messiness?  Was there bread involved?  The entry states that the term was noted in 1914, which is far too early to have derived from Lochee's most renowned ice-cream parlour Frankie Davie's.  We may never discover where it came from now.  But surely there's a case for an enterprising business person to revive the delicacy and push for it to be recognised under Protected Geographical Status?  There's a fortune to be made for someone surely.
 

 

 

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