h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Chai .

It ain’t so tough being a Bard,
The pay’s not much, but the work’s not hard.
Just prat about and sing some songs,
Tell some jokes, and bang some gongs.
Oh tell some tales about Frere Renard,
Yeah, it ain’t so tough to be a Bard.

Being a Bard is quite a lark,
We grace your lives, but leave no mark.
A temporary cease, in the rush of days,
Time to breathe, a sacred space.
And just when it can get no madder,
We smack you with a pigs bladder.

Being a Bard ain’t no prob’,
We’ll make you laugh, until you sob.
Break down pretence and pomposity,
With our comic warrior’s ferocity.
But when the evening’s revels done,
Come listen to our final song.

For being a Bard is a sacred duty,
To sing the tales of love and beauty.
Of broken dreams and shattered hearts,
Of courage found in foreign parts.
So come sing with us, and lift a verse,
For rhymes like this don’t get much worse.

The Broken Bard,
Matholwch /|\.

PS: Hope you don't mind old man but I am minded to put you on my friends list, seeing as you are a fellow-bard. We also share some good friends here, such as Azahar .

AAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

I hate it when the Microsoft apostrophe goes all 8217 on me, apologies!

Blessings,
Matholwch /|\.

Dear Math,

It is an honour to be counted among the friends of a druid, a bard and a pantheist to boot. May I reciprocate?

And yes, eternal imprecations upon the head of Bill Gates and all the infuriating defaults hee's had built into Microsoft. I"ve treid a zillion times to try to replace Ariel with Times New Roman on my email settings, without success. I always have to re-set it everytime I write. Grrrrrrrrrr

PS. How do you pronounce Matholwch? Presumably its Welsh? If it were over here in Ireland, the 'th' would be silent, but I don't know is that sort of thing applies to Welsh.

Hi Chai .

Of course, befriend away!

'Matholwch' is Welsh, though of course in The Mabinogion he was the King of Ireland . Pronounce 'Mathol' as it is with the 'th' intact. 'wch' is more difficult, a bit like the 'euch' in 'Yeeeuch!'. You really have to hear it I suppose...

'Matholwch' is not, of course, my real name. It is a name given to me by my guide Mochenddu. He felt that it would help me to remember the pride and naivety of my namesake in The Mabinogion when I dealt with others.

I'm not sure that the specific label 'pantheist' applis cleanly to me. I do believe and work with a small group of gods, but also with the spirits of the land and of my ancestors. My worldview is much coloured by my animist 'lenses'.

Complicated? Yes.
Logical? Not yet.
Complete? Not in this lifetime.
Confused? But in the nicest way.

Blessings,
Matholwch /|\.

Ah. In Irish it would probably come out sounding like Mawlu. Irish is a bugger to read because of all the unpronounced modifying letters. Thus the main Dublin ferryport, spelt Dun Laoghaire ( which the poor Sassenachs pronounce " Dun Lay oh gaire," is actually pronounced Doon Layra in Irish,( which I can't speak much of any more ) and Dun Leery in Dublinese ( which I can speak fluently when I have to ). And the Irish for Halloween is Sahmain, pronounced "Soun," no, not soon, but as in sound.

You and Moth and Azahar have been talking about love and spirituality, so I am posting a new poem on my Journal space about all that.

Hope you enjoy it. I wrote it last year for my beloved.

PS I read your per/space testament. Wah! Somewhat intimidating. A lot to live up to.

Night,

Blessings,

Chaiwallah