Nothing further to report on the Kettins Poetry War, although there are moves afoot to start a campaign to persuade the aforementioned Mr Gow to replace the offending garage roof with something considerably lower and preferably flatter. Rumour has it that the campaign is to be known as TROGG for Take (the) Roof Off Gow's Garage, but we shall see what happens.

I think I mentioned that the land on which Mr Gow has built his new bungalow and garage was once known as 'The Kettins Mortification' - and wondered what was the reason for such a peculiar title?

Well I found a possible clue yesterday in an item about a building in the churchyard of a neighbouring village called Collace. The building is known as 'The Mort House' and was a secure building in which bodies were stored to putrefy before being buried. The reason was that at the time (upto 1832) grave robbing was a very common practice in Scotland, (Remember Burke and Hare?) and the bodies were much less valuable for dissection if decayed! Grisly or what? It is just speculation of course, and I can't find any record of a Mort House in Kettins, but it seems a plausible reason for the patch of land acquiring such an odd name.

The name of course may be much older indeed, since a church has been there since probably AD 600 and in those days it wasn't trainee doctors who were responsible for body snatching but the then native wolf packs which roamed this area.

Makes one wonder why these grisly associations could be the reason why the piece of land was not built on before? Villages have long memories.