A Kerry and a Parrot

By Paul English
Copyrighted 1998 by Paul English

In 1926 my father was in the army in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. His Captain had recently returned from a spell in Southern Ireland (at the time when Micheal Collins of IRA fame owned and showed Kerries). He brought with him, back to Wales a pair of Kerries called Paddy and Kerry. They subsequently mated and Kerry had her puppies in a rabbit hole on Barracks Hill, Pembroke Dock.

My father decided he would like to keep one of the puppies and got a male which he named Inky. Inky turned out to be a terror with other dogs, but like all Kerries wonderful with children and people.

Despite Inky hating all other dogs and killing quite a few. One day my father was out in Pembroke Dock when coming down the street was the Captain with Inky's sire, Paddy. My father thought "Oh no, here we go!" but as the two dogs got close they circled each other, sniffed and then surprisingly greeted each other like long lost friends. My father always said if they could have slapped each other on the backs, they would have done.

The bane of his existance was an African Parrot called Polly who my father had brought back from the Gold Coast where he had previously been posted. Polly was a wonderful mimic. Inky used to love to sneak off to go rabbiting on Barracks Hill but if Polly ever saw him he used to shout out "Inky come here!" in my fathers voice and poor Inky used to slide back into the house when Polly would greet him with gales of laughter, having fooled him yet again.

Last Update:   Terms of Use and Disclaimer.