Today's word: mutine (n.) rebellious, threatening mutiny.

On this day (28th April) in 1789, William Bligh and eighteen other crew members of The Bounty were set adrift in a rowing boat in the middle of the Pacific, after a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian.

Until fairly recently, the way this story was often portrayed was that of a harsh and intolerant Bligh, and a brave and heroic Christian. In more recent times, historians have looked more favourably upon Bligh, and shown him to be quite capable of showing compassion. My approach here is purely pragmatic - the position taken makes the poem work.

My much-treasured Christmas present for 2017 is a book by Paul Anthony Jones: "The cabinet of linguistic curiosities". Each page contains a descriptive story about some obscure or archaic word. It occurred to me it would be a fun exercise to try and write, each day, a poem featuring the "word of the day" from the book.

Thanks for reading.

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