The Flechitorium

`The Flechitorium presents an enormous range of subject matters, forms, styles and language but all of them are lynch-pinned by the author's deep and sometimes ambivalent relationship with his native Fife ... But what is a "Flechitorium"? You'll have to read the poem therein to find out, dear reader, but be careful - this is a collection with a real bite to it. `On the bill in this particular Flechitorium are a fistful of narrative ballads, historical and humorous to get us off to a flier. Then the mood changes and becomes more reflective and sombre ... That old Scottish literary tradi on of flyting is resumed and developed in the contretemps between the allegorical squirrel and the peacock in Dunfermline Glen .... And as a bonus, the gathering of braw poems is enhanced by a sulfurous tale to conclude - though one more RLS than Hammer House of Horror. `The Flechitorium is a delicious Fife broth or even Langtoun bouillabaisse ... with its many hints and references to other literary cuisines beyond Fife and Scotland. At mes it is funny, at others serious, it is always humane in its span of concerns from bawdy to spiritual yet the poems are crafted to address and engage intellectually as well as emotionally. Whether supped with short or lang spuin it will satisfy all tastes.' From the Preface by William Hershaw