wetherspoons mag

[carriewass]

what's the missing word? Dirty British (something) with a salt caked smoke stack.

[jno]

coaster. Not the beer glass sort.

[Artful]

I've not heard (or read) that in a long, long time and how it used to soothe me...

[jno]

here it all is, Cargoes by John Masefield, one of my favourite poems.

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amethysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.

Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.

[SteveD]

Scroll down here:

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/United_Kingdom/Wales/South_Glamorgan/Cardiff-315777/General_Tips-Cardiff-Cardiff_Bay-BR-1.html

If you go to Cardiff's Mermaid Quay, you'll find the poem inscribed on the dockside.