Not much writing done today - Rugby World Cup this morning and a dozy afternoon doing odds and sods around the house. And its been a "dreek" sort of day.

Dreich, or dreigh (pronounced dreek) is a Scottish word which has multiple meanings which I will get to in a minute. Not to be confused with 'dreik' (pronounced presumably dreek, meaning excrement), dreich is mainly applied to weather, although it can also mean slow, or tedious or close -fisted.

When used for the weather it means dull, or dreary or persistent bad weather, the sort of misty, rainy and mostly damp drizzly weather that if you are out in it gets you wet, miserable and depressed. Weather which can chill you to the bone, soak you through and make you feel in urgent need of the reviving comfort of a warm fire and a glass of the native spirit. It is no accident that the Scots invented Whiskey, it is their genius that converted barley and the pure water we get here into 'usquebagh' (a word which means water of life and of which there are at least 7 ways to spell it and innumnerable varieties of it to drink).

This small expedition into Scots etymology I suppose is occasioned by watching the Scots rugby team get beaten by the Australians this morning, thanks largely to the most incompetent and biased display of refereeing I have seen in a long time. "We wuz robbed" and it will give me great pleasure to (hopefully) watch New Zealand eradicate the Ozzies well and truly in the semi finals next weekend. Wales of course play England tomorrow and it will be a day for heroes and legends.

The Welsh care for rugby with a passion which borders on the religous, and play it with a spirit and flair which at its best is truly magical. England are the supreme professionals, and the struggle between the two teams reflects the age-old differences between the Anglo-Saxon/Normans and the Celtic races which persists to this day.

Ireland I think play the French and that too will be worth watching. Both nations are as mad as hatters. The French have recently dedicated a Roman Catholic church to rugby somewhere in the rugby mad south of the country and the Irish of course, know all about keeping the Old Faith, so expect, instead of linesmen, a couple of priests if not cardinals.

In short, the antidote to a dreich day is to contemplate what would have happened had the English (Anglo - Saxon variety) not lost the Battle of Hastings, or King John not managed to lose France, or better still, if Captain Cook had never discovered Australia, or William Webb Ellis never picked up that ball and run with it.

And if all this talk of ancient rivalries, rugby and wet weather leaves you unmoved, think on this dear reader, its a sad life into which a little rain never falls and a sadder one if you haven't got a hat.