This Guest Post is by Patricia Cole. Patti was a founder member of Pens Around the World. She left us when she and her husband moved back to England after 15+ years in Greece.
This is taken from Vanessa Feltz’ Breakfast Show. You are given four rarely used words and asked to weave them into a short paragraph or poem.
Crottle – A common lichen found on rocks, used in Scotland to make dye to stain the wool for making tweed.
Gainsaid – Refuse to accept something as the truth (usually used in the negative)
Dipterist – A person who studies or collects flies.
Jitterbug – A dance in which couples swing, balance and twirl.
Here (as they say in Blue Peter!) is one I made earlier.
Hamish looked fine in his tweed, the colour of which came from crottle.
He had oatcakes and porridge, and quietly tucked away in his press was a bottle
Of whisky of course and it can’t be gainsaid, be sure of this, listen my brother.
This tipple I?m sure is the Scot’s favourite drink, not gin or vodka no other.
The midges were dreadful that year, in the season they were at their height.
The jitterbug was seen on the street and the green, as people avoided their bite.
A dipterist would have been in fly heaven as these insects invaded the town.
People smoked pipes and cigs, as they danced their jigs and waved their arms up and down.
So, we’ll leave Hamish in peace with his dram and his tweed, coloured nicely with crottle.
He’s happy you see, between just you and me as long as there’s whisky in the bottle.
Quite an achievement, Pat, with those arcane words! But since noting your Scottish heritage, I shouldn’t be surprised you’d come up with this poem.