Preface

My grandfather was a wonderful man. James Flynn—more commonly known as Jim—was a true multi-hyphenate. Having sat the Leaving Certificate exams twice to double his scholarships, he went on to study civil engineering and somewhere along the line, became the engineer-photographer-poet that I knew.

On family holidays he would take idyllic pictures of Irish scenery, with my mum and her brothers and sister often featuring. He would then use the proceeds from these prize-winning photos to pay for the next holiday, and so went the cycle.

The following is his response to The Lake Isle of Innisfree (1888) by William Butler Yeats (1865–1939). It was likely written between 1980 & 1985 but was most likely never published (so a special thanks to my Godfather, Ronan Flynn, for first bringing the creation to my attention, and more recently for deciphering and transcribing this from the original handwritten draft). In fact, and unfortunately, we can say with great confidence it was not published.

You see, Jim had this lovely copy of “The Hunting of the Snark” ¹ by Lewis Carroll. It is now heavily annotated on my bookshelf, filled with numerous comments on metre and a solid few critiques of where Carroll could have done better. Of course Jim was working on his own long comic story in verse, in a somewhat similar style. He sent it to just one publisher. The reply slip thanked him for the manuscript but stated that the publisher had died. My mother says he could have done with an agent.

¹ A must read for fans of Douglas Adams, who may also enjoy my Words that do not Exist but Should.

Dear Sir,

Regarding the proposals outlined in your communication of the 4^th inst., I am directed to draw your attention to the following deficiencies in your specification:

• The proposed materials, clay and wattle, are unacceptable and moreover would not qualify for any building grants. Our Building Surveyor recommends, as a minimal standard, asbestos cement slates for the roof and 9" hollow block concrete walls.
• Your description “small cabin” does not give an indication of its exact size. Please submit dimensioned drawings (plan, cross-section and elevation to a scale of 1/40) and a location map with scale of 1/1250.
• In dealing with your proposal to have 9 (nine) bean rows the County Agricultural Officer will forward to you the Dept. of Agriculture leaflets relating to the cultivation of beans.
• Your proposal to have a hive for the honey bee has been referred to the Chief Horticultural Officer who has reported as follows:
  While I have no objection in principle to Mr Yeats's proposal to have a hive for the honey bee, I must point out that keeping only one honey bee does not appear to be an economic proposition. I would recommend that since he is incurring the capital cost of a hive, it would be better for him to install an average swarm (5 or 6 lbs, i.e. approx. 25,000 or 30,000 bees). This, in addition to being more practicable, would ensure that he would have an adequately bee-loud glade. One bee would make very little noise, and in any event would be liable to become very lonely if left on its own in the hive.

I have no comment to make on the remainder of your specification, which appears to be somewhat superfluous, but your remarks regarding standing “on the roadway or the pavements grey” have been referred to the County Engineer. He generally advises the better alternative wherever a pavement (grey or otherwise) is available.

Yours etc.,