My A-Z posts this year
are based on my garden – flowers, animals, the birds and the bees, butterflies
- with a bit of poetry thrown in. For some letters I am expecting to cheat
somewhat – a sort of wish they were here.
J – Jackdaw, Jay, Juniper, Jack, Jasmine
There is a bird who,
by his coat,
And by the hoarseness
of his note,
Might be suppos’d a
crow;
Jackdaw |
The famous poem, The
Jackdaw of Rheims, ends with the jackdaw being made a Saint; however in
a much earlier Conclave than the recent one for the selection of Pope Francis.
The Conclave
determin’d to make him a Saint;
And on newly-made
Saints and Popes, as you know
It’s the custom, at Rome, new names to
bestow,
So they canoniz’d him
by the name of Jem Crow!
When at my daughter's home in Michigan:
Blue Jay |
The Jaybird he's my favourite
Of all the birds they is!
I think he's quite a stylish sight
In that blue suit of his:
Of all the birds they is!
I think he's quite a stylish sight
In that blue suit of his:
But as you can see the jays we see in the local woods are
not blue at all. Often all you see is the flash of their white rump as they
disappear in the trees.
Many of you will know the English nursery rhyme –
Here we go round the
mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning.
The mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning.
However I’ve just learnt that in Scandinavia
the ‘mulberry bush’ is replaced with a:-
Juniper Bush |
Somehow I get the feeling that Jack would find that rather
tiring.
Jack at rest |
This year he will have a long wait to see this climber flowering:-
Winter Jasmine |
Poems:
- The Jackdaw – William Cowper
- The Jackdaw of Rheims – Richard Harris Barham http://www.bartleby.com/246/108.html
- The Jaybird – James Whitcomb Riley
- Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush – An English nursery rhyme and singing game.
- Winter Jasmine – Wildfeuer – CC BY-SA 3.0
1 comment:
Hi Bob .. I see you're unwell - hope things improve ..
But I love your Js and I didn't know that about the Juniper bush either .. knowing Scandinavian folklore - we could have changed it to mulberry bush!
Cheers and feel better soon - Hilary
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