I really thought winter was over when I was able to sketch outside last Sunday week. But no. Not yet. Not for a while.
This is one of those sketches where the connection with Ulysses is tenuous. But it made sense to me at the time, based on a memory of a previous exhibition held at Dublin Castle. I bet there are plenty of connections like that in Ulysses, where no-one can figure out what Joyce was alluding to, just because the answer could only be found in Joyce's head. Not that I'm comparing myself to James Joyce!
Lots of tours around Dublin Castle at this time of the year. One of the tour guides I heard said that the pattern on the lawn in front of the Chester Beatty Library is a Celtic pattern that means Welcome. It doesn't quite match the information on the Dublin Castle website, which says that "At the heart of the gardens is the grassy sward of the Dubh Linn Garden, where patterns representing sea serpents are cut into the lawn. This lawn is on or near the site of the original dubh linn or ‘black pool’, where the Vikings harboured their ships and set up a trading base. It was this pool that gave its name to the city: Dublin." The tour guide did talk about the black pool and said that it was originally believed that the dark waters of this pool were the reason Guinness was black! So there you go, Dublin is the original Blackpool, and you can never be sure tour guides are telling you the truth! (PS: you will find this same paragraph on Dublin Sketchers' website, but since I wrote those lines, I think that's ok!)
I had great fun at home playing with the acronym so it would stand out.
—He can kiss my royal Irish arse, Myles Crawford cried loudly over his shoulder. Any time he likes, tell him.
While Mr Bloom stood weighing the point and about to smile he strode on jerkily."
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