Many half-timbered houses acquire slightly twisted or lopsided characters at the age. The supporting timbers can warp with the passage of time and substance of the land beneath sometimes causes quite severe disalignment in building.
   There is an old British nursery rhyme that goes: "There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile; He found a crooked sixpence against a crook stile; He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse; and they all lived together in a little crooked house."
   It is likely that this rhyme is of seventeeth century origin and refers to religious differences between England and Scotland during the reign of Charles I.
   The crooked man is a Scottish general, the sixpence represents the King, the crooked stile is the border between Scotland and England and the crooked cat and mouse are symbolic of the Scottish and English armies.

"Crooked House" was sculpted in 1986 but not released until the following year. Look out for colour variations on the conical roof; the triangular section on early pieces were painted green before being changed to grey. This is the only David Winter Cottage to feature a drainpipe.