The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 356, February 14, 1829Various
History
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 356, February 14, 1829
Various
Popular literature -- Great Britain -- Periodicals
In the 312th Number of the _Mirror_, several solutions are given of
the name of a well-known and high-priced fish, the John Dory, or Jaune
Dorée. Sir Joseph Banks's observation, that it should be spelled and
acknowledged "adorée," because it is the most valuable (or worshipful)
of fish, as requiring no sauce, is equally absurd and unwarranted; for
so far from its being incapable of improvement from such adjuncts, its
relish is materially augmented by any one of the three most usual side
tureens. The dory attains its fullest growth in the Adriatic, and is a
favourite dish in Venice, where, as in all the Italian ports of the
Mediterranean, it is called Janitore, or the gate-keeper, by which title
St. Peter is most commonly designated among the Catholics, as being the
reputed keeper of the keys of heaven. In this respect, the name tallies
with the superstitious legend of this being the fish out of whose mouth
the apostle took the tribute money. The breast of the animal is very
much flattened, as if it had been compressed; but, unfortunately for the
credit of the monks, this feature is exhibited in equally strong
lineaments by, at least, twenty other varieties of the finny tribe.
Our sailors naturally substituted the appellation of John Dory for the
Italian Janitore, and a very high price is sometimes given for this fish
when in prime condition, as I can testify from experience; having two
years since seen one at Ramsgate which was sold early in the day for
eighteen shillings.
JOHNNY RAW.
* * * * *
_THE SELECTOR,_ AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS._
* * * * *
"Anecdotes correspond in literature with the sauces, the savoury dishes,
and the sweetmeats of a splendid banquet;" and as our weekly sheet is a
sort of _literary fricassee_, the following may not be unacceptable
to the reader. They are penciled from a work quaintly enough entitled
"The Living and the Dead, by a Country Curate;" and equally strange,
the cognomen of the author is not a _ruse_--he being a curate
at Liverpool, the son of Dr. Adam Neale, and a nephew of the late
Mr. Archibald Constable, the eminent publisher, of Edinburgh. The
information which this volume contains, may therefore be received with
greater confidence than is usually attached to flying anecdotes; since
Mr. Constable's frequent and familiar intercourse with the first
literary characters of his time must have given him peculiar facilities
of observation of their personal habits. The present volume of "The
Living and the Dead" is what the publisher terms the Second Series; for,
like Buck, the turncoat actor, booksellers always think that one good
turn deserves another. Our first extracts relate to Chantrey's monument
in Lichfield Cathedral, and another of rival celebrity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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