> Spaekin o' tirst, I chust raicently heard the poem o' "The SS > Politician", on the "Thistle and Shamrock" radio programme. > Apparantly based on a true happening. > > http://www.rampantscotland.com/poetry/blpoems_politician.htm > > http://www.searoom.com/veleda/politician.htm > > "Och, times are hard in Barra" [*snip*] It is a true story, they even made a movie about it. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042040/ "Whiskey Galore" To continue the drinking references: Barra is the ancestral (and current seat) for the Clan MacNeil, and the castle is Kisimul Castle [1]. The Clan MacNeil recently leased it to Historic Scotland (for preservation and restoration) for 1000 years. The annual lease cost? 1 pound and a bottle of whisky. (Scotch to those of us on the left side of the pond) :) -Jot [1] The castle is an interesting place. It sits on an island in the middle of the bay. A freak of geology resulted in it having a _fresh_ water spring, and as a result of the tides, even toilets that flush twice a day. Before heavy artillery it would have been very difficult to seige a force out of it. http://www.castles.org/Chatelaine/KISIMUL.HTM -- Jot Powers <books at bofh.com> http://www.bofh.com/books/ "I'm upping my standards, so up yours!" -Pat Paulsen (1927-1997), Presidential Campaign Slogan