Hoo'd of thoughtwit

By the end of my tale I shall have told you three things that are true. What they are is up to you to decide. I am a very well travelled owl and they do say that travel broadens the mind. Certainly broadens one's vocabulary. I can hoot in fifteen different languages. S'true that is - maybe!

Of course I'm not just any owl. Famous I am. You probably know of me, have seen me around. S'true that is. Maybe!

Fame runs in my family you know, oh yes. My great grandmother Olwyn for example was in 'Under Milk Wood' by Dylan Thomas. "The owls are hunting. Look, over Bethesda gravestones one hoots and swoops and catches a mouse by Hannah Rees, Beloved Wife." That was her. Champion mouser by all accounts. She used to complain that Thomas should have written 'The tylluanod are hunting.' but he didn't speak Welsh much so 'owls' it was. Very 'Welsh' was my great grandmother, but she was fond of Thomas. Said he wrote some beautiful poetry, even if it would have been far better in Welsh. 'Altarwise By Owl-Light' that was one of his, I can't make head nor tail of it, but Olwyn said that she inspired the title.

Then there was my Uncle Rodney. He was the model for 'Owl' in 'The House at Pooh Corner'. Not sure why though because wisdom was not his forte at all, and he very nearly wound up being in 'The Stuffed Owl' which was apparently a collection of bad verse - more Rodney's level to be honest. He did try voicing Owl for the Dramatised Radio version, narrated by that lovely Stephen Fry, but he kept coming out with loud bursts of hooting at inappropriate moments, so the part went to Michael Williams instead.

My Uncle Jules came up with a catchphrase 'Owls about that then?' which was for a while favoured by a now disgraced DJ, and not spoken about now of course. Nor is the catchphrase used by impersonators, you don't see them about any more do you? Probably because there's no one worth impersonating. Just my twopenn'orth. Jules did try to sell 'Hoots mon, where's me owl?' to the late Andy Stewart - Stalwart of the Hogmanay Celebrations for many a year. Mr Stewart declined to buy, but Uncle Jules claimed till his dying day that it had give the Scottish singer the idea for 'Donald, Where's Your Troosers?'

Of course there are claims that we go way back, and I mean way, way back, and my ancestors actually served the Goddess Athena herself. Of course there's no way to prove it one way or the other, but still - makes you think doesn't it? That's where the tie in with wisdom comes. I wonder if Wisdom toothpaste has ever featured an owl? Probably not.

But what about me? Well I wanted my crack at fame too, and for myself I decided upon being a logo. Now don't laugh, but you may well have seen me on the Internet. Ever visited Trip Advisor? Yes, that's me on their logo. Told you I was famous. S'true that. Hoo'd of thoughtwit?



Word Count: 528.