MM Links September 2011 Week 1
This is Manx Queenie offering you a new challenge!
As my name implies, my father’s family came from the Isle of Man and my daughter and her family currently live there, although I left some years ago. Now, in the current financial climate, I cannot afford to return there permanently, but I do love the little island with all its quaint ways.
Everyone knows about the cats with no tails that symbolise the Isle of Man, and there are still quite a few around in the island, although they are no longer bred there. The true “rumpy” has no tail at all but this is actually a deformity and in order to produce healthy specimens it is necessary to introduce long-tailed varieties at intervals which, of course, produces tails of various lengths from “normal” to “stumpy” in order to get the true rumpy. Talking of long-tails, this is the Manx name for a rat. They are a superstitious lot over there and think that by not mentioning the dreaded rodents, they will not exist. Not true, I am afraid. The Pied Piper of Hamelin could be gainfully employed on the Island..