Andrew means “manly” I can live with that though I once had a yen to be Martin
Briefly
My family name is Wilson – Son of William – whoever he was in the mists of history
Unknown
My recently widowed Grandmother demanded I be commemoratively named Arthur
Unwise
Andrew Arthur doesn’t sing right so my rebel parents named me Andrew Frewin
Defied
Frewin – Anglo-Saxon “Frea-ing” – Friend of the Ruler!
No way…
© Andrew Wilson, 2024
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, Laura Bloomsbury in Meeting the Bar: Critique and Craft, invites us to write the poetry of names using a
WaltMarie poetry style…
10 lines
Even lines are just 2 syllables
Odd lines are longer but without syllable restriction
The even lines make their own mini-poem if read separately
The meter and rhyme are unspecified
And the theme of your poem should be
The history/meaning of your name
or one you wish you had
or an imaginary one
I was born in the gatehouse of Frewin Hall, Oxford which is part of Brasenose College of which my father was then a don. In return for this subsidised college house, part of his duties was to lock the gates at 9pm each night as the students were curfewed in those days – imagine! My Grandfather on my Father’s side died during my Mother’s pregnancy with me and this poem tells the result of the conflict between my domineering Grandmother and my parents…
There is a Frewin family who presumably built Frewin Hall but as far as I know, I am the only person to have Frewin as a middle name, so if you have ever wondered about my “handle” Frewin55, now you know. (I was born 8th March 1955.)
