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Redwall Wiki | Brian Jacques and Redwall Information

Scouse with the Lid Off was the fourth published work of Brian Jacques. It was published in paperback by Raven Books and printed by Anvil Press in December 1977.

Scouse with the Lid Off is a collection of Liverpudlian poetry, with illustrations by Bill Tidy.

The book is currently out of print.

Back Cover Text[]

The text on the back cover is a quote from Reg Brookes, a producer at BBC Merseyside:

"We have it on the authority of Brian Jacques that the Romans tried to land at Gladstone Dock - 'The Union wouldn't wear it, they sent Caesar on his way'. So he makes a ridiculous myth, combines it with a recognisable attitude, and we laugh at the absurdity of it all. He's imaginative, an observer of our foibles and frailties, and a vernacular genius ('Eh, Reg, lad, what does this mean - are yer sayin' I'm the best of the kacjered?'). I'm reminded that in According to Jacques - A Mersey Bible, the Lord (otherwise the Boss) said to Adam: 'She's all yours, so take 'er off home, but I'm puttin' the blocks on heavy pettin' - an' leave the apples alone'.

Brian Jacques is earthy - but so was Chaucer. And as Jakesy himself would say: 'They named a street in Bootle after him!'.

And if earthy means, as it ought to mean, a realisation of the source of nourishment, then Brian Jacques draws deep from his roots to remind us that the essential Liverpudlian - male and female - is matey, irreverent, has a distinctive way with words, and is that curious mixture of the tender sentimentalist and the hard-case.

He's at home on television and radio, in the Folk Clubs or at a typewriter. But that's all on the side. He earns his living as a dock man (something to do with freight movement). And his spiritual home is amid the banter of the quaysides and the dock sheds ('Then all the Romans began to chant, 'Liverpool is a slum'. So all the dockers sang, 'Ee Aye Addio, Caesar is a bum' ').

Yes, a man of many qualities - and with a face I often think would make a good line in cheerful wall plaques. Except that plaques would fall off the wall - laughing."



Early works of Brian Jacques

Get Yer Wack: A Liverpool Anthology | Yennoworrameanlike | According to Jacques: A Mersey Bible | Scouse with the Lid Off | Jakestown: My Liverpool | Brian Jacques Meets Paddy Kelly | Brown Bitter, Wet Nellies and Scouse | Infirmary Tales | Wordplays 1 | Fireside Tales

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