Poems by Lois

Last word on nightjar

There was a crossword clue today “dialect word for nightjar”; we couldn’t think of anything at all and looked it up and found several suggestions (none of which fitted) whip-poor-will, whip o’will. nighthawk, puck … and goatsucker…. what? Goatsucker? Really? “Doe niet zo belachelijk!!” Goatsucker Old goatherds swear how all night long they hear The […]

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Poems by Lois

Where are the birds?

We moved down her initially many years ago when I was eighteen; I let and moved north, but eleven years ago we moved back. I remember when we lived here before, in the evening there would be magnificent wheeling clouds of starlings every evening as they few off together to roost. We didn’t see many […]

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Archaeology and geology by Lois

Thor’s sacred wood

I read an interesting article  in ‘Irish Archaeology’, about the defeat of the Vikings in Dublin by the great  Irish king, Brian Bóruma (Boru) in 999. After his victory over Sitric Silkbeard, at the Battle of Glen Máma, instead of marching straight in to ravish Dublin, Brian diverted some of his troops to go and […]

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