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(i) Martin Howley wrote: > > Carol, > > On St Fiacre as saint invoked by hemorrhoid sufferers, I gather that this > association derives from a play on words, the first syllable of his name > being pronounced similarly to a slang word in French for the fundament, > viz, 'phy'! (ii) Bill East wrote: >Today, 1 September, is the feast of ... > >* Aegidius or Giles, abbot (date unknown) > Once again I offer a limerick about St Giles - alas, far too obscene to put > on the list - to anyone who cares to ask for it on the private line. Could, by any chance, St Fiacre and the subject of the Supple Doctor's limerick be related? A rhyme with "St Giles" seems to demand it. Slightly more seriously, and developing Martin Howley's point, might not the first syllable accounting for St Fiacre being a saint invoked by haemorrhoid sufferers as likely be the 'fi-' from 'ficus', the fig, which I understand gave its name to the Latin for haemorrhoids? I think we should be told ... Darryl ***************************************************** Dr D.M. Ogier Island Archives Service 29 Victoria Road St Peter Port Guernsey GY1 1HU British Isles. ***************************************************** %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%