I can't believe it!!! At last!!!
I'm almost weeping with joy... no, really, I am. I was begining to think I'd dreamed the whole thing. Let's all meet in the Brit and the first round is on me.
Er... only problem... we still don't know who it is in the grave, do we...

Well done, Nahed, and welcome to the gang.
Dee
)

<Added>

Just a thought... wouldn't it be a let-down if we discovered it was the pet rabbit or something... perhaps we should let sleeping (aka dead) dogs lie...

That, Wordy, is some **** debut: how on earth did you manage it? We've all been going bonkers and then you land on WW and almost instantly solve the mystery. Absolutely wunnerful. As Dee says, welcome to the gang: we may not yet be the darlings of English Literature but we've certainly cornered the market in headstones. Well. Thanks to you. Now then. To the quest as per TC's idea. It's sorta over but TC's absolutely right, large bottle to you. (I guess she meant a full one). The Britannia's a great place to gather on account of the fact that you can -- as I sometimes do -- sit around outside at the little tables whilst the village traffic stops to let a herd of sheep meander its way past the post office and bowling green (clever sheep though: they travel without benefit of shepherd or sheep dog). We could sit and watch the woodsmoke drifting from the cottage chimneys and remind ourselves that Middle Earth did not die. It did not die.

Congratulations, Wordy. And many, many thanks. Now maybe i can get back to what I was doing before Dee set this hare running. . !

'Best -- Richard

Sally: I've had a quick look at funkyformats (well, not that quick: the site seems to have been optimised for broadband, so we poor dialup users have to wait ages for it to load) and have no idea what it's meant to be. There's no substantiation of the claim "we make hit TV programmes and represent some of the funkiest writers around" and it's always a hackle raiser when site owners / runners fail to say who they are or what they're doing. So no. Rather than an established programme maker the site seems to be an extensive classified sales ad in hope of attracting the development people of mainstream channel providers. 'S up to you if you want to continue with 'em but I think you may have done the sensible thing in withdrawing the funky formats link as your home page. Stick with WW. Upload some of your stuff here. There's a lot of enthusiasm and experience here even if not all of us are, er, "funky".

Richard

Pish, posh, Richard. From where I'm sitting you look very funky indeed. Blinging, almost! PHAT, maybe!

Oh, and yes, Wordy's bottle was full...at least it was when I passed it to Dee to hand over...

Hellooooooo Tinyclanger, Richard and Dee! *taking a bow*. I love a good mystery and I love it when a plan comes together.

Thank you for your very kind welcome to the gang. I must admit after I posted the poem, and read your previous posts - I felt like a party pooper :-/ I had brought the very lively jaunt to a halt. I love all the posts and half wished I could delete mine LOL. No matter! Where's that drink?

I thought it spooky how Wordsworth (my sorta namesake) was mentioned as a possible contender. Tiny (can I call you Tiny?), it was written by Hilaire Belloc, born somewhere near Paris in 1870 but moved to England at a very young age. I only very briefly read his Biography so can't remember much else.

I have to admit I got goosebumps when I read the whole poem knowing that someone had used part of it as an epitaph. The final paragraph affected me the most and made me more curious to know who it is that is buried underneath there and 'does not die'. Well, whoever or whatever - may they rest in peace. Cheers everyone! :-D

Hello Wordy! Well, after having been called PHAT by Tiny (howzatt for size discrimination?? And it's no good Tiny claiming it was her spellchecker, I know a libel when I read one) I'm not sure I want to continue on with this quest. Oh. All right. I quite like the idea of being funky. Tiny: you're forgiven. (Be even better if you'd share the blasted bottle before handing it over to Dee though). Anyway, the point is, the quest isn't really over until we find out who is lying at rest near Elterwater. If I get time before Christmas, I'll pop over and make enquiries -- probably in the pub, but I'm sure you'll all be most happy to share in the research costs. Seeing as you're Wordsworth, it can't be you, so maybe Coleridge had one too many in the Britannia.

Funkily yours (hey, I'm beginning to like this)

Richard-Bro-Right-On-Homes

Well, good luck with the funky, Sally. I have an innate suspicion about anything like that, but then I've never had anything published, so I guess that says it all, (cactually, strictly that's a lie, I was poem of the week in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle about 6 months ago,... no need for you all to get up)

Richard, bro' I'm not sure if you are teasing me or not here...PHAT means "pretty hot and Tasty" to yer avarage teen these days. So is an emminently desirable label, bit like being Buff, or Crisp, or tik...no, don't thank me, I didn't expect thanks....(sob!)

Wordy, don't worry about spoiling our fun. We never let a little thing like not having anything to talk about stop us from talking. A mere detail, a bagatellle..If all else fails, we play I spy..

Whose round is it? Mine? OK, what are we all having...

Sally. 'Onest. I am not a cynic. It's just that so many people get targeted by so many sites and operations and whether well intended or not, the outcome is a raising of hopes / expectations that cannot, realistically, ever be fulfilled. I guess it started with vanity publishing, and has moved on. Good luck with funky wotsit, but I still reckon you're better pursuing / exhausting all the conventional routes first. Oh -- if I am being unfair to funky, what were those two TV shows you saw? Output is always a pretty good indicator of quality and intent.

Oh, and c'mon. Bounce some stuff up here at ww and join in the fun.

Richard

TC: my lawyers have advised that it is I who owe you damages and not the other way around. They say your words are the kindest that will ever be published about me, especially as I'm never going to be any good at skateboarding. Accordingly I am in the process of rewriting the jacket blurb wot I have designed for my newly completed novel, so that instead of being led off by quotes from The New York Times, Washington Post, and Heckmondwyke Advertiser, it's going to be you and Jack Higgins. I would also like to take the liberty of incorporating a review from you (no, you don't have to read it) to the effect that the whole thing is hot-wired, baby, and this stuff is where it's at. Totally.

Money's in the post.

Funky Dickie

Sally: The Lake District is where Dee keeps finding strange headstones. Actually, I think I saw something about headstones on the funky site this morning?????

Richard

So, Richard. Do I take it you're going to be published? or have already been published?? It really wouldn't surprise me if you are because the work you've uploaded (which I've been reading and commenting on very ineloquently :-/) is superb!

Already published, Wordy. I write under the name of Delia Titmarsh-Lawson. I was surprised how easy it was to get to the top of the bestseller list but obviously, it's sheer talent because it's not who you are but wot you write that gets you published. (Please email me your address, there's a large cheque here for you!!)

Richardx

Richard

Is that the same Titmarsh-Lawson you mentioned in one of the forums back in November?

John

Hi John. Yup: fame spreads.

Deliax

Deliax / Delia / Richard

Was that Delia x or Deliax?

How many names do you have?

John