Poggy

Every Wednesday I go to a canoe club lunch social in the Southsider pub in Edinburgh, and in the flats opposite there seems to be a war raging between a lady who likes to feed the pigeons, and an older lady next door who shoos them off her windowsill. It’s hilarious to watch, and reminded me of a resident seagull in Ormsaigbeg named Poggy.

Poggy was Bunty Punchard’s seagull. Bunty had such a pristine garden, and a feature of her garden was this very fat seagull who liked to sit on her fence, feeding off the bread crusts she left for him. You always knew it was the same seagull because Poggy is a very fat bird. I used to see him as I walked to and from work at the Ferry Stores.

After the tragic news of Bunty’s sudden and unexpected death, as well as remembering seeing her zoom around in the smart Mercedes she used to drive, and her cheerful visits to the shop, I expected that Poggy would vanish back to the normal seagull feeding grounds but, fortunately for him, May and Jim Angus next door seem to have taken over Bunty’s job, and Poggy – pictured here sitting on the house he now owns – remains a regular feature of Ormsaigbeg.

RLH