The Local Yarn

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“James I was always boasting of his skill in what he called kingcraft; and yet it is hardly possible even to imagine a course more directly opposed to all the rules of kingcraft than that which he followed…he enraged and alarmed his Parliament by constantly telling them that they held their privileges merely during his pleasure, and that they had no more business to inquire what he might lawfully do than what the Deity might lawfully do…his cowardice, his childishness, his pedantry, his ungainly person and manners, his provincial accent, made him an act of derision…On the day of the accession of James the First our country descended from the rank she had hitherto held, and began to be regarded as a power hardly of the second order.”
Thomas Macaulay, History of England.
( There is a note appended.)

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I often wondered when I cursed,
Often feared where I would be –
Wondered where she’d yield her love
When I yield, so will she.
I would her will be pitied!
Cursed be love! She pitied me…
Attributed to Lewis Carrol
( There is a note appended.)

Re: “I often wondered when I…”

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This is a “square poem”: it can be read vertically (first word of each line, second word of each line, and so on) as well as horizontally.

“One of Carroll’s most remarkable poems, if indeed he wrote it, was first published by Trevor Wakefield in his Lewis Carroll Circular, No. 2 (November 1974). The poem is quoted in a letter to The Daily Express (January 1, 1964) by a writer who tells of a privately printed book titled Memoirs of Lady Ure. Lady Ure, it seems, quoted the poem as one that Carroll wrote for her brother. Wakefield says that no one has yet located a copy of Lady Ure’s Memoirs, but whether this is still true I do not know.”
Martin Gardener,The Universe in a Handkerchief, p. 20
—Joel Dueck

Accepting Footnotes

Most posts on this site now accept submissions for additional notes. If something in a post jogs your memory — reminds you, perhaps, of a related experience or something in a book which sheds further light on the subject, we invite you to make the connection for other readers by submitting a note for permanent publication alongside the original post.

That said, if you do get a comment published here, you should add it to your resume.

Keep in mind, you are not simply “commenting” on the original, but actually being invited to try adding to it. Be authorial; be original, be clear. There is no limit on length as long as your writing justifies it. If we see promise in a submission that nonetheless contains non-trivial shortcomings, we may contact you with our concerns and work with you to shape the thing up.

Note that we don’t display the time or date of published comments (although they do appear in order of publication), so readers will not know what year you wrote unless you need to mention it. Avoid statements whose relevance will expire with time – think of writing for a limited-edition book, not a fish-wrap newspaper.

Simple statements of opinion do not have much chance (even if they are nice opinions!). Obvious marketing and incivilities will be shot on sight.

Re: Accepting Footnotes

Two of the best examples of this “reader submission” model that I know of are Edward Tufte’s Ask ET Notebooks (written about at length in his article Moderating Internet Forums ) and the user notes on PHP’s online reference.
—Joel Dueck