(Source: Mike Mearns)

Mike sent these with the following note : ' . . . . one latin bumper sticker, picked up in Melrose in 1993, referring to the Roman camp on the slopes of the Eildon Hills; and the label off the bottle of Thibarine, which is the liqueur from Tunisia, which was first produced by the White Fathers.

If you recall I said it tasted like alchoholic cough medicine.

You recommended a little soda to " help the medicine go down". I'm sure the bearded lady couldn't have given the stuff away down at the Jubilee. In fact, in a rush of the Mardi Gras spirit, I finished the bottle last night, two years after the trip to North Africa.'

Footnote : Mike didn't supply a translation of the bumper sticker, so I am grateful to the friend who bought me an excellent Latin dictionary (publ. Harper Collins). The textbook that I have always regretted losing, however, was my personal copy of the Shorter Latin Primer by Kennedy. It was a slim, brown book — laid out in such a logical way that all you had to do was learn the stuff ! I really miss that book. Has anyone got one that they are willing to sell me, please ? (It wasn't this version on the left, by the way).

Return to Top