[Aileen]

I think he feels his thoughts are impure, and wishes to be more holy, but I could be wrong! The latter continuation makes me think that more than the original.

I'm sure that was the case, particularly as frogs were seen as symbols of evil in some cultures - take the biblical plague of frogs as an example - while fish were seen as being symbols of good, so therefore the good thoughts in his soul were being killed off  by the bad, or impure, ones.

[Aileen]

^  Shhh! - neither did I until I googled it!

[Aileen]

Well I do enjoy doing research .....  In fact I once did it for three years on a salaried basis for a friend.  It was historical research which meant looking at old MSS, letters and things like that in the National Archives of Scotland.  Fascinating!

[Aileen]

Strangely enough I didn't think had an aptitude for research until I started doing it, and that was me hooked.   This is why I enjoy threads like this one because I like having the chance to look further into things I never really knew much, if anything, about.

[moonglow]

This is how to remember the fate of King Henry VIII's wives:

Divorced, beheaded, she died
Divorced, beheaded, survived

& this is the sequence of the Stuart kings:

James was nearly blown sky-high,
Charles, his son, knelt down to die.
Charles-the-next hid in an oak,
James-the-next was a bigoted bloke.

These are taken from a book written by R.F. Delderfield called "To Serve Them All my Days".
Out of all the books that I've read in my life "To Serve Them All My Days" is my favourite. 
I think I first read it 40 years ago!  & I still read it today.  I wouldn't want to be without this book - ever!

[Aileen]

^ Good mnemonics these.

[ATS]

Slubberdegullion is another good word