(I was sure that I posted this last night, but all I could find today was a earlier draft version which I’ve amended from memory – sorry if you’ve already seen this via rss.)

I haven’t paid much attention to my flickr account lately, though I’ve had the odd comment or group invitation from time to time. Today I had an interesting one, the Figurehead group invited me to submit the following pic to their photo pool:

It’s the figurehead of the Cutty Sark, a clipper ship which is held in dry dock in Greenwich. She looks quite attractive from this angle, doesn’t she? All long flowing locks and pert bosoms. Interestingly, she looks quite different from the other side of the ship:

Not so pretty now, eh? I did some research and discovered that her name is Nannie, and she is a witch from a Robert Burns poem:

Tam saw that among the ugly group of witches, there was one which was young and beautiful. Her name was Nannie, and she wore only a ‘cutty sark’, a short shift. Tam was bewitched and, as her dancing became wilder, in his excitement, he cried out “Weel done cutty sark!” The witches then pursued Tam who fled for his life to the bridge over the river Doon, for he knew that witches could not cross running water. Nannie was faster than the others and, as the mare galloped over the bridge, she seized it by the tail, which came off in her hand. Hence, the figurehead is always shown holding a horse’s tail in her left hand.

Written by PJ | Posted in Uncategorized

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