God was fed up with the Scots and English always fighting, so he suggested a way to resolve matters. There would be a poetry competition. It would be a 4 line poem including the word Timbuktu.
The English chose Wordsworth, and this was his poem
I went into a foreign land
I came upon a silver strand
A sailing ship hove into view
Her destination – Timbuktu
The Scots asked Rabbie Burns to be their poet and he wrote
Tim and I a walking went
We spied three virgins in a tent
Since they were three and we were two
I bucked one and Tim bucked two
(I found this masterpiece in the Times yesterday.)
odespinner 