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Nate, is it Scots gaelic by any chance? In Irish scriobhtha means "written". (The substantive is scriobhnoireacht but maybe S.G. takes a more direct line.) Any of you britpos got access to a relevant dictionary? best Randolph Healy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nate and Jane Dorward" <[log in to unmask]> To: "British-Poets List" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, August 11, 2000 9:03 PM Subject: MacDiarmid > I don't suppose there is anyone out there who knows what the word "scriota" > means in MacDiarmid's "On a Raised Beach"? A very thorough search of > dictionaries & reference books failed to turn it up (& no, it's not in > Chambers, MacDiarmid's favourite dictionary). The passage runs: > > Not so much of all literature survives > As any wisp of scriota that thrives > On a rock--(interesting though it may seem to be > As de Bary's and Schwendener's discovery > Of the dual nature of lichens, the partnership, > Symbiosis, of a particular fungus and particular alga). > These bare stones bring me straight back to reality. > > > all best --N > > Nate & Jane Dorward > [log in to unmask] > THE GIG magazine: http://www.geocities.com/ndorward/ > 109 Hounslow Ave., Willowdale, ON, M2N 2B1, Canada > ph: (416) 221 6865 > > > > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%