He’s the minister ca’d Poe frae the Parish o Ee,
wha loves the winter ahn liked tae skate free,
so pou the haun’l ahn let the chiel flee.

Either tae birk he’ll crash or near tae bull’s ee,
an brither tae whence I shall tell, to target or tree,
when spy-gless peerin tae spier what I see.

Translate:

birk: birch, birch tree.

He is the minister called Poe from the Parish of Ee,
Who loves the winter and liked to skate free,
So pull the handle and let the boy fly.

Either to birch he will crash or near the bull’s eye,
and brother to you I shall tell, to target or tree,
when peering through our telescope to gather information from what I see.

ˈbɪrk
The Scottish Word: birk with its definition and its meaning illustrated and captioned with the word used in context in the Scots language and in English.

The Skating Minister.

So the next time you’re in the National Gallery looking at the skating minister by Sir Henry Raeburn you will know the truth of what was under that ice in the painting. Sentient beavers.

The Sentient Beavers.

And now you will know of the crimes against the sentient beavers. The poor things hunted to oblivion, their intelligence for naught.

Now all extinct along with their brains and everything their nature based sustainable technology might have taught us. All lost.

All because of their stupid winter drinking game that accidentally killed too many ministers, the misuse of their own technology, their bad poetry, and too much awfully strong tree lichen beaver beer.

Justified?

Some say Henry Raeburn was justified in his campaign to totally remove the deadly threat to his skating ministers. But then again we will never hear the beavers’ side of the story.

Why Beavers.

This drawing came about because of a recent news report of Michael Gove fully supporting the re-introduction of the Beaver into the UK.

Yet again conflating England with UK. Beavers have been active in Scotland since 2008.

Only six miles or so from where I stay there are wild beavers and a beaver dam.