The Muppets, Metre, and a Knight Named Name: The Story of ‘Mourning in Mooring’

Some poems are born from a quiet walk in the Highlands; others are born from a Muppet sketch. “Mourning in Mooring, with Noon at Twilight” definitely falls into the latter category. It is a piece that is as much about the rhythm of the stage as it is about the ink on the page.

Inspired by the Masters of Mischief

The spark for this poem came from a classic Muppet sketch my son introduced me to. If you’ve ever watched them, you’ll know the Muppets were absolute masters at taking an old joke, a traditional song, or a dusty vaudeville sketch and giving it that signature, chaotic “Muppet Treatment.” (You can find the inspiration here).

I watched that video and thought to myself: “I can do something like that—I’ll just put it on steroids.” The result is a linguistic rollercoaster that moves faster than a runaway train.

A Tale of Two Days (and Two Metres)

The creative process for this one was a bit of a marathon. I wrote it over the course of two days, and if you look closely at the structure, you can actually see the “seams” where the sun went down and came up again.

The first four verses (penned on Day One) have a very specific word count and rhythm. However, by Day Two, my brain had shifted gears. The final three verses feature a distinct metre change. I didn’t even realise I’d done it until I sat down to read the whole thing from start to finish and kept tripping up on Verse 5!

Because of that rhythmic “hiccup,” I’ve decided to leave it exactly as it is. It makes it a tricky read for the eyes, so it remains primarily a performance piece—something that truly comes alive when spoken aloud on stage rather than just sitting quietly on the page.

The Knight Who Was Almost a Pun

Originally, there was a much more intricate subplot involving the Knight in the poem. I was going to give him the name “Name.” That way, when someone asked, “What’s his name?”, the reply would be “Sir Name.” You can imagine the confusion:

“What’s his name?”

“Sir Name.”

“Yes, but what is his surname?”

“No, it’s not What, it’s Sir Name!”

It was a bit too “Abbott and Costello” even for me, and far too intricate for a single poem. I kept the idea tucked away in my desk and eventually used it for an even more complex piece called ‘Sir Name the Knight and Lord What of Wye’—but that’s a story for another time.

A Nod to the Archive

For the history buffs out there, the musical bones of this piece likely go back to The Kingston Trio version of the song from the 1950s. But it goes deeper than that; it started as a 19th-century train song popularized by Bob Gibson, who adapted it from Lew Sully’s 1898 version. Sully himself likely “borrowed” the tune from a traditional Irish song.

I love the idea that my silly Highland poem is just the latest link in a chain of storytelling that stretches back over a hundred years.

Catch a Performance: If you’d like to see how I handle that tricky metre change in person, keep an eye on my Events page for upcoming readings.