20 JUNE 1958, Page 31

History records the activities of such engagingly titled monarchs as

Selint the Sot, Magnus Barelegs and Alfonso the Slobberer, not to mention our own Ethelred the Unready. Competitors are in- vited to supply an extract (or extracts) from a biographical dictionary of an imaginary country, introducing three rulers with piquant designations and indicating briefly how they earned them. Limit: 150 words in all. Prize: six guineas.

Entries, addressed 'Spectator Competition No. 436,' 99 Gower Street, London, WC1, by July 1. Results ori July 11.