Hello Mike – In a curious way, your poems and Michael’s translation of ‘Bothwell’ have both given me a good excuse to bang on about monarchy! ‘Bothwell’ is well on the serious side, and that leads to thoughts about the cruelty of the institution because it consigns someone like Mary Stuart to a life ‘on the run’ and an early death on the block. I don’t suppose it would be very easy to write humorous verses about Mary, but when it comes to Henry, there’s something inherently ludicrous about his shenanigans – even though we know it wasn’t funny for Anne Boleyn or Kathryn Howard in particular.

Anne Boleyn seems to have been an admirable young woman – not easy to refuse to get into bed with the King. The business of divorcing Catherine of Aragon and marrying Anne was known at the time as ‘the King’s great matter’ – well, more like ‘The b***h is nearly 40 and hasn’t produced a son, so I’ll have this young looker instead! What? the Pope won’t allow it? Sod him, I’ll start my own church and make my own rules!’ Then, when Anne couldn’t produce the goods either it was (Alice in Wonderland style) ‘Off with her head!’ Look at it one way it’s all serious stuff, but look at it another (which is easy to do) and it’s a farce – and Henry is a fat clown. All I’m saying is your comic verses spotlight the farcical side of it, which helps us keep a sense of proportion vis-à-vis Henry and monarchy in general.

I like this:

It’s an example of what I mean – you think, well, no doubt there was more to it, but that just sums it up. When all’s said and done, that’s more or less what it amounted to. Same applies to your lines about Kathryn Howard, who

Nobody could bring him to the block for flirting, of course, but if any of the women did it they were for the chop.

Well, it’s what I said at the start – an excuse to bang on, seriously or mockingly, about monarchy. These are very entertaining, so much so they spark off ideas for more of the same – which I couldn’t write but you could. One about Henry’s dealings with the Pope, for instance. Pope Clement VII was no fool; he saw through Henry right from the start. Again, it’s quite a complicated story, but I dare say you could sum it up in a few mocking, neatly rhymed lines.

James.