all creatures great and small

[patnlcc]

have 99 out of 100 answers. only doubt is 'Whilst at Trinity, applied for the Diplomatic Service'
Have had 2 suggestions - either platypus or diplodocus (dinosaur). any thoughts?

[adewebster]

Platypus seems watertight......

'I had a duck-billed platypus when I was up at Trinity,
With whom I soon discovered a remarkable affinity.
He used to live in lodgings with myself and Arthur Purvis,
And we all went up together for the Diplomatic Service.
I had a certain confidence, I own, in his ability,
He mastered all the subjects with remarkable facility;
And Purvis, though more dubious, agreed that he was clever,
But no one else imagined he had any chance whatever.

I failed to pass the interview, the board with wry grimaces
Took exception to my boots and then objected to my braces,
And Purvis too was failed by an intolerant examiner
Who said he had his doubts as to his sock-suspender's stamina.
Our summary rejection, though we took it with urbanity
Was naturally wounding in some measure to our vanity;
The bitterness of failure was considerably mollified,
However, by the ease with which our platypus had qualified.'

From Patrick Barrington [Magdalen College, Oxford], 'The Diplomatic Platypus', in Songs of a Sub-Man (1934)

[patnlcc]

thank you, adewebster, I have all 100 answers now