def flatten_dictionaries(input):
    """ Flatten a list of dictionaries into a single dictionary, to allow flexible YAML use
      Dictionary comprehensions can do this, but would like to allow for pre-Python 2.7 use
      If input isn't a list, just return it.... """
    output = dict()
    if isinstance(input, list):
        for map in input:
            output.update(map)
    else:  # Not a list of dictionaries
        output = input
    return output