In 'English' classes inschool we were told to 'stick to the subject',when writingor in a debate.

In some colleges, prospective studentsare assessed on their ability to stick to the main thread of the conversation and follow it through.

All this I know and understand to some degree but, today,I couldn't help reflecting on the part 'association' plays in my mind.One idea leads to another, the thought of apple pies leads to pastry coffins, to coffins, to woollen shrouds, to apple pies with cloves, is there enough butterin the fridge to make two pies, to 'Four and Twenty Blackbirds Baked in a Pie', to Charles 11.

I was born in the Carmarthenshire countryside. My favourite fabric is scorched flannelette, (scorched because everything had to be aired properly in our house). I was wrapped in flannelette (gwlanened) blankets. (The saying 'Don't give me flannel' doesn't apply to me.)

Woolirritates my skin butI should like it becauseCarmarthen was a wool town in the early Middle Ages. By the middle of the 17th century, though, the wool trade was declining in the country as a whole.Charles 11 wanted to protect the industry andfrom 1666 to 1680 'Woollen Acts' were passed by Parliament.

These Acts required that the dead were buried inwoollen shrouds, unless theywere victims of the Plague and records for Llanddewi Brefi, mid-Wales, record this. Wool was costly but ignoring this edict was costlier,resulting in a fine.

Which brings me to pies. In former times, pies were not baked in tins but meats such as partridge, pheasant, pigeon, eggs, swan, (all manner of things, lovely or not) were wrapped in a pastry 'coffin', a sort of parcel. This pastry was discarded when cooked, merely being a container.

Developments in pastry-making included adding enough lardto makethe pastry edible. The'top table' at a banquet were servedthe toplayer of pastry, hence the term 'upper crust', denoting a social ranking. ('Below the salt' refers to the underlings, who had to wait for the salt to be passed to them).

The lower orders often had to eat pies made from liver and otherpieces of offal and, as their role was to be 'ever so 'umble', the aphorism 'eating humble pie' came about. Which reminds me, Charles Dickens' novels are full ofpuddings and pies.

Yet feasts have never beenabout food alone butextravagant entertainment, too.

A pie, with a pastry lid concealing 'Four and Twenty Blackbirds' was supposed to have been served to Charles 11 for his delectation and amusement. (Judge people by the prevailing standards of their time, I say.)

Which leaves me with an apple pie to bake, studded with cloves, because I like a 'bite' of flavour in my cooking. Bwytewch, Mwynhewch! Eat and enjoy!