scrollable cursor in functions

Dear members of the list,

on a server 8.1.9 I try to do this:
++++++++++
create or replace function dummy() returns void
as
$$
DECLARE liahona SCROLL CURSOR with hold FOR SELECT * FROM album ;
BEGIN

--DECLARE liahona SCROLL CURSOR with hold FOR SELECT * FROM album ;
-- Set up a cursor:

-- Fetch the first 5 rows in the cursor liahona:
FETCH FORWARD 5 FROM liahona;

FETCH PRIOR FROM liahona;

-- Close the cursor and end the transaction:
CLOSE liahona;
COMMIT;

end;
$$ language plpgsql;
--------------
I do get:
++++++++++

ERROR: syntax error at or near "CURSOR"
CONTEXT: invalid type name "SCROLL CURSOR with hold FOR SELECT * FROM
album"
compile of PL/pgSQL function "dummy" near line 1
--------------
If I put the cursor declaration in the begin->end block it does not matter.
If I do:
+++++++++++
BEGIN work;

DECLARE liahona SCROLL CURSOR with hold FOR SELECT * FROM album ;
-- Set up a cursor:

-- Fetch the first 5 rows in the cursor liahona:
FETCH FORWARD 5 FROM liahona;

FETCH PRIOR FROM liahona;

-- Close the cursor and end the transaction:
CLOSE liahona;
COMMIT WORK;
-------------------------
I do get the expected results. Thus I conclude that the scrollable
cursors are enabled on the server.
I've seen some posts in the mailing list archives about some related
problems like
*BUG #2970
-Are scrollable cursor forbidden in *PL/pgSQL? I did not see such a restriction explicitly in the doc.
-If not, am I doing something wrong?
-If not, is it a bug?

have a nice day

cedric

**