[Mary Meriam]

Could this be him?

[Susan d.S.]

If so, he is a true Renaissance man...U.S. college fraternities and Flemish still lifes!

[Jayne Osborn]

I never had Nick Syrett down as an American, Mary, though now you come to mention it, it sounds as if it could be more of a US name than a UK one!

OK, perhaps it's a pseudonym of Chris O'Carroll's then!!!

Jayne

[Susan d.S.]

Just one tiny Dutch nit about the "Jan de Heem" poem (LL18 and 20). "de Heem" does not rhyme with "cream" if you pronounce it correctly! It's pronounced "de Haim" (!)

[John Whitworth]

I think, Susan, that your nit is quite a big one. I would never rhyme Van Gogh with anything for the same reason. I've no idea how it is pronounced - certainly not 'Van Goff' which is what we say, or 'Van Goe' which seems to be preferred by Americans. Tricky language Dutch.

There are those who pronounce it Van Goff
But I think that's decidedly off
And as for Van Go,
That's bollocks, you know.
It's more of a guttural cough.

[Chris O'Carroll]

Thanks for the thought, Jayne. I had a non-winning horse in this race under my own name, and nothing under any other. And I've never written a book about college fraternities.

(Susan, there must be places in the British Isles where "cream" is pronounced to rhyme with "Haim." English is spoken in a dizzying variety of not always mutually intelligible dialects.)

[Susan d.S.]

And if not, Chris, I'm sure "Heem" is pronounced "Heem" in most English-speaking countries!

John, if you wish to say "van Gogh" properly, you must make a phlegmy eruption out of both "g"s: "eghchhh"!

It takes years of practice, although the Dutch climate helps. As far as I know there is no rhyme word for it, not in Dutch either.

[Ann Drysdale]

I was taught to pronounce it by a Frisian poet I read with at StAnza. It was sort of FON HOOCH (with the first H heavily aspirated, the OO short, as in English "look" and the CH formed half by a Scottish "loch" and half an attempt to clear the throat of something unusual).

But that's probably Frisian dialect.

I have no rhymes to offer.

[John Whitworth]

Cream is pronounced craim in parts of Ireland.

[Graham King]

Originally Posted by Susan d.S.

Just one tiny Dutch nit about the "Jan de Heem" poem (LL18 and 20). "de Heem" does not rhyme with "cream" if you pronounce it correctly! It's pronounced "de Haim" (!)

Yup... I do approve your attention to detail! I wonder if changing cream to crème would have helped matters? (Would a jug of crème be likely on such a feast-table?) Of course, it's academic now...