I would like to thank him for his kind comments. Gwyn searched Wikipedia to find a vegetable beginning with the letter 'D'. He came up with the following list: Dandelion, Drumstick, Dolichos Bean, Daikon, Dobberlocks and Dulce. Unfortunately, none of these are listed in the Oxford Dictionary as vegetables. This was in response to the brainteaser that appeared in the Journal on Friday 6th February, when I asked readers to name categories beginning with the letter 'D'. Personally, I don't believe there is a genuine vegetable that applies. But I still hope someone out there can prove me wrong. Not surprisingly, Gwyn was not very impressed with our horse racing tips. However, he related the story of when, as a young lad, he got off the train in Lincoln just as Prince Monolulu arrived on another train. The Prince gave Gwyn's mum a tip for a horse running at Lincoln races, he ends by saying "you guessed - it lost."Footnote
Prince Monolulu was a well known character around the major racetracks of England between the 1920's and the 1950's, with his famous catchphrase "I gotta horse." He was an impressive figure, standing over six feet tall, the colour of ebony and attired in colourful robes befitting a member of African royalty. He claimed to be the personal friend of owners, trainers and jockeys and punters happily paid ten shillings for his privileged information. He used a clever ploy, telling punters the horse would only win providing they did not pass on the information to anyone who had not paid for it. The implication being that if the horse lost it was not his fault, someone had let the cat out of the bag.
Although claiming to be an Abyssinian chief, in reality he was a West Indian, born in St Croix, Danish West Indies. His real name was Peter Carl McKay. He rose to prominence after picking out Spion Kop to win the 1920 Derby. He died in a Middlesex hospital in 1965. The story of his death is intriguing. A horse racing journalist by the name of Jeffrey Bernard visited Prince Monolulu in hospital and offered him a 'strawberry cream' from a box of Black Magic chocolates he had taken in for him. Prince Monolulu subsequently choked to death on it and Bernard bade him farewell.
