About the Poem

Would you be more scared of Shuggy McGurk because he's said to eat children, or if you knew he really ate children? Sometimes uncertainty is more upsetting that certainty.

Style

Rhyming poem

Length

12 lines

Key Stage

KS2, KS3

Author

Max Scratchmann

The Ballad of Shuggy McGurk

Down in the cellar where the bed bugs lurk,
There lives an old man called Shuggy McGurk,
His face is black as day-old pitch, his suit is made of rags,
And he wears a hat of finest silk and ancient canvas bags.

They say that he eats children, I suppose it could be true,
His teeth are stained, his lips are chapped, how does it look to you?
He sleeps all day and stalks by night, look out, he’ll come your way!
He's carrying a knife and fork, don’t hang around today!

Just buy a ticket to Timbuktu and get there by first class,
Or he’ll have you on his luncheon plate with a grubby pint of Bass,
So lock that cellar door, m’dears, make sure that it’s shut tight,
And keep old Shuggy safely in, so you can sleep tonight.