These snowdrops came out a few days ago. I saw them one day and intended to go out to photograph them the following day. However, the best-laid plans can go awry, and the next day it snowed.
The snow was swept away by the rain the next day and so I went to visit the spot again.
I didn’t worry that the snow would freeze and kill them, because snowdrops are hardy enough to withstand freezing. On the way I wondered though whether the snow would have flattened the little flowers.
They were fine, however, and I was able to photograph them.
William Wordsworth described snowdrops in his 1820 poem of that name:
“…I see thee bend thy forehead, as if fearful to offend.”
And Mary Robinson described them in similar terms in her 1791 poem,
“…why droops so cold and wan thy fragrant head?”
Peter Pan and Tinkerbell
I don’t see them that way though. I don’t see them hanging their heads, but rather they remind me of the costume that Peter Pan wears or the dress that Tinkerbell wears in the novel Peter Pan – or at least in the Disney film version.
The hems of their costumes seem to have been cut in a zig-zag with an exaggerated pair of pinking shears.
In chapter three of the novel, J.M Barrie describes Tinkerbell as a fairy who mends pots and kettles.
Tinker
The derivation is from tinker – someone who works with tin. And of course, the word tinker is used to describe those wandering people of Irish origin living mostly in Ireland and Great Britain and who traditionally made their living from mending pots and pans.
It makes me think of the ‘You little tinker’ as a way to tell off a child who misbehaves.
Children’s Rhymes
Then there is the counting rhyme: tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief.
We used that rhyme and also one that involved holding out a fist with the thumb uppermost while someone went around the group counting One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes, four. Five potatoes, six potatoes, seven potatoes, more.
Either rhyme ended with ‘You’re it.’
Pinked
When I was making the caption for this last image, I wondered whether pinked was perhaps a word that described the kind of edge made with pinking shears. And indeed it is.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes pink as meaning ‘with a saw-tooth edge’ and mentions that it comes from a Middle English word meaning to thrust, as in he pinked his opponent’s shoulder with his sword.
All good useful stuff to help ward off the still dark February evenings.
To send the snowdrop image as an ecard, click the image at the top of this article.
