How Ogopogo Was Born
His Father Was A Whale
By Mabel Johnson

(Vancouver Province Vernon Correspondent)

VERNON- Not too much is known as to what use will be made of the copyright held by CJIB radio station manager A. J. Seabrook on "Ogopogo," the mythical lake monster.

"However, I felt by the copyright that Ogopogo could belong to the Okanagan Valley as a whole, and could be shared equally by the cities of Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton, and not made a commercial venture," Mr. Seabrook says.

"Many persons have wondered who christened the lake monster "Ogopogo". The answer seems to have been given by the late W. H. Brimblecombe, of Vernon, who wrote in the fourth annual report of the Okanagan Historical Society.

According to Mr. Brimblecombe after World War One, there was in Vernon an organization of amateurs who, under the title of "The Kalamalka Players" gave many entertainments, and raised thousands of dollars for charitable projects. Mr. Brimblecombe was one of them.

In one of the "folly" performances, Mr. Brimblecombe sang the Ogopogo song, originally created by. Davy Burnaby of the Co-optimists, who, after World War One, captivated England.

One summer day in 1912, Aug. 13, a luncheon for the Vancouver Board of Trade was given at the Kalamalka Hotel, Vernon, by the Vernon Rotary Club and Vernon Board of Trade. Mr. Brimblecombe sang during the entertainment period, and chose the Ogopogo song, because there was then considerable talk about the mysterious denizen of Okanagan Lake.

So keen was the interest in the monster that the late H. F. Beattie, secretary of the Board of Trade end of the Kalamalka Players, wrote a parody.

At the luncheon, the name and tune caught on, and guests left the Kalamalka Hotel to spread the fame of Ogopogo far and wide.

The chorus of Davy Burnaby's Co-optimist song ran as follows:

"I'm looking for the Ogopogo. The funny little Ogopogo.
His mother was an earwig, his father was a snail;
I'm going to put a little bit of salt on his tail.
I want to find the Ogopogo while he's playing on his old banjo.
The Lord Mayor of London; The Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London wants
To put him in the Lord Mayor's show."

The Parody by Vernon's H.F. Beattie; chorus only, is as follows:

"I'm looking for the Ogopogo
The bunny-hugging Ogopogo
His mother was a mutton and his father was a whale
I'm going to put a little bit of salt on his tail
I'm looking for the Ogopogo
As told me by Harwood (Joe)
The Lieutenant-Governor The Lieutenant-Governor
The Lieutenant-Governor wants
To put him in the B.C. show."

The allusion to the word "mutton" was probably caused because Ogopogo had often been described as having a head like a sheep.

About that time the late J.L. Logie of Okanagan Centre "saw" Ogopogo rushing at a tremendous speed. Mr. Logie chased it for some distance along the road, which at that place, follows the lake shore. The report of this chase with an automobile, after making the rounds of B.C. newspapers, eventually found its way into the columns of Britain's famous Punch.