The distinctive voice of secondary teachers, as the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association fondly describes itself, has found even more distinctive voices.
In his presidential address at last weekend’s annual conference in Aviemore, George Sturrock enquired: “Faur ir wi noo?”
Answer: “No as faur as wi thocht wi wid be.”
As for David Eaglesham, the union’s general secretary, he preferred Jabberwocky from the world of Lewis Carroll:
“Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.”
Sheer poetry in motion after motion as the pace picked up. This was not unrelated to a later hotel booking. Delegates had to hurry out to make way for a boxing match between the North of Scotland and the North of England.
The Educational Institute of Scotland only got its ears boxed, metaphorically.