Did you know the national animal of Scotland is a unicorn? It appears on old coins and heraldic coats of arms, important documents and the like. Why did I not take note of this before?

I guess we can’t throw too many stones here – I mean, Wales has another mythical creature at its heart, the red dragon. And what’s with a lion in English heraldry? Here in Ireland we have the Mountain Hare as our national animal, which makes a bit more sense.

You can probably see where this is leading? Yep! Find yourself an animal (or bird) as your emblem – and write about it.

Create a convincing story as to why you should have this creature to represent you and yours. And clearly, it doesn’t have to be a living animal. For inspiration, you can delve into the National Museum of Scotland’s elaborate story about the history of unicorns here. Apparently they’re not as mythical as you might think…

Here is an opportunity for you to be madly creative – and humorous – in telling the story of why a centaur/porpoise/frog is your chosen animal emblem. Go for 500 words – and include pictures, your own or Google-sourced, your choice.

No prizes for guessing I’ll probably choose a cat as my animal emblem. Not a fancy breed, just a rescued moggy-type. Mine comes with sound, too: purring, of course! The one in the picture, Dotty, has a very loud purr –  especially when she chooses to drape herself across my laptop the minute I turn my back.

See you again next week for another prompt/exercise to kick start your creative writing. As always, 5pm on Wednesday (Dublin time, which is GMT+1). Today’s represents my 300th post here. Phew!