John Cheap, the Chapman's Library. Vol. 1: Comic and Humorous: The Scottish Chap Literature of Last Century, ClassifiedGraham, Dougal
General
John Cheap, the Chapman's Library. Vol. 1: Comic and Humorous: The Scottish Chap Literature of Last Century, Classified
Graham, Dougal
Chapbooks, Scottish; English literature -- 18th century; Graham, Dougal, 1724-1779; Popular literature -- Scotland
A certain worthy divine from the north, who visits the general
assembly of the kirk of Scotland every year, has for time
immemorial taken up his annual abode in a certain tavern in
Edinburgh. This healthy mountaineer has an instinctive horror at
all deleterious mixtures in human food, whether solid or liquid;
and the reason he assigned for frequenting the above tavern was,
that he could always command the luxury of fresh eggs to breakfast.
These he always boiled himself, and would take none except he
found them hot from the nest. This year he appeared as usual,
like the bittern at her appointed time; but, unfortunately, he
laid his forepaw on a couple of plump eggs, but quite cold, and
apparently not laid yesterday. The man of the church waxed wroth,
and summoned the waiter. Betty assured him they were fresh, but
could not explain why they were cold. The landlady was next taken
to task, and threatened with the loss of a customer unless this
suspicious phenomenon was satisfactorily cleared up. ‘’Deed, sir,’
replied the hostess, ‘I am unco sorry for’t; but to tell Gude’s
truth, sir, I couldna get the cat to sit on them this morning.’
A SAILOR’S NOTION.--A Sailor, seeing some of our domestic
slave-traders driving coloured men, women, and children on board
a ship for New Orleans market, shook his head and said, ‘Jim, if
the devil don’t catch them fellows, we might as well not have any
devil.’
An American paper says--‘Travellers should be careful to intrust
their baggage to proper persons only, as a gentleman a few days
since, on alighting from a stage-coach, intrusted his wife to a
stranger, and she has not been heard of since.’
MONTAIGNE retained during the whole of his life an elderly female
in his service, who had been the nurse of his childhood, and to
whom he was in the habit of reading his compositions, on the
principle that if she could understand them everybody else must.
On one occasion the philosopher, whilst sipping his morning dish
of coffee, accosted her as follows:--‘Nurse, I have made a deep
discovery this morning.’ ‘Indeed,’ replied the old lady; ‘what is
that?’ ‘Why, nurse, you need not tell any one, but I have actually
found out what no one else could suspect.’ ‘And what is that, Sir.’
‘Why, that I am an old fool.’ ‘La! Sir! is that all?’ observed the
good woman; ‘if you had but asked me I could have told you that 20
years ago--I have seen it all along.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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