It is twenty years since “Hooting Yard” first appeared in print. The words were tucked away in a squib of verse included in the 100-page pamphlet Smooching With Istvan, half of which was written by Mr Key and half by the estimable Max Décharné. Alas, like the complete oeuvre of Dobson, this Malice Aforethought Press publication is now decisively out of print.

On page 96, we find the squib in question, entitled “Slab’s Song”, the first verse of which is:

The man with the hammers is Traitor Bill

His flag is made of shoes

He shut up shop in Hooting Yard

And drowned himself in booze

This was actually written a few years before 1987, but I can’t recall when that might have been with any precision.