Back                    Blueprint                    Next



    (not including endless work on Froissart and fixing
    stuff and learning more tech stuff and typing.








July 8, 2007.  Online, Avebury, Stonehenge, and Silbury Hill, by John Timbs, from Abbeys,
Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales
, enlarged by Alexander Gunn, Volume II,
Midland. Finally proofed, too.  Also finally proofed the other chapters from this book that I
have online already
here.

From Old English comes this proverb-poem (taken from
An Old English Miscellany, by
Morris and included in Ten Brinks
Early English Literature, Volume I, translated by Horace
M,. Kennedy, 1887) p. 214:


    When thou seest a people
    With king that is wilful,
    Covetous judge,
    Priest that is wild,
    Bishop of sloth,
    Old men of lewdness,
    Young men all liars,
    Women shameless,
    Unbridled children,
    The nobles bad wretches,
    The land without law,
    Then, says Beda,
    Woe to the nation.


and another early example on the same page:


    Each day to me come tidings three,
    Of which I think full sorrowingly.
    One is that hence I must away;
    Another, I know not the day;
    The third is my soul's greatest care:
    I know not whither I shall fare.



From Wit and Humor for Public Speakers, p. 304:



    KINDNESS OVERDONE.

        Mistress (puzzled): "Why have you put two hot-water bottles in my
    bed, Bridget?"
        "Sure, mum, wan av thim was leakin', and I didn't know which, so I
    put thim both in to make sure."



From The Proverbs of Wales, by T. R. Roberts, p. 75:



    Hair by hair the head becomes bald.

    O flewyn i flewyn yr ä'r pen yn foel.


From Joe Miller's Jest Book (original title Mark Lemon's Jest Book), p. 53:


    CCXXXVI. -- SHAKING HANDS.

        AT a duel the parties discharged their pistols without effect,
    whereupon one of the seconds interfered, and proposed that the
    combatants should shake hands.  To this the other second objected,
       as unnecessary, -- "For," said he, "their hands have been
    shaking this half-hour."



July 5, 2007.  Pictures, Contents online and so Early English Romances of Friendship by
Edith Rickert is complete!  Ta-dah!


From
The Proverbs of Wales, by T. R. Roberts,  p. 81:


    Idleness and drunkenness make hangmen rich.

    Segurdod a meddwdod a wnant grogyddion yn gyfoethog.




July 4, 2007.  Happy Fourth!


Boyhood in a New England Hotel, by Simeon Ford, online and proofed.

Final proofing done for
Early English Romances of Friendship.

From Wit and Humor for Public Speakers, by Will. H. Brown, p. 207:


       SOMETHING FOR HIS STOMACH.

        McMasters was walking with a beautiful girl in a wild New England
    wood, when she asked him:
        "What is your favorite flower?"
        "Well, I believe I like whole wheat best," he replied, thoughtfully.



And a quote:

        "Those things which now seem frivolous and slight will
    be of serious consequence to you, when they have made
    you once ridiculous."

    - Earl of Roscommon



July 3, 2007.  Online: Amis and Amiloun from Early English Romances of Friendships, Done
into Modern English
by Edith Rickert is partially proofed.  This completes all of the content
for this book.  Half of it has been finally proofed.  This story is also told in Eugene Mason's
collection, though called
Amis and Amile in that version.

Another 100 jokes from Mark Lemon's Jest Book (aka Joe Miller's Jest Book), are online
(partially proofed.)

A song From
Polly: An Opera by John Gay (1685-1732)  (from English Comedies, edited by
John Gassner, Eau Claire, Wisconsin: E. M. Hale and Co., (no date or copyright notice), p.
351:


    AIR

    Woman's like the flatt'ring ocean,
        Who her pathless ways can find?
    Every blast directs her motion;
        Now she's angry, now she's kind.
    What a fool's the vent'rous lover,
        Whirl'd and toss'd by every wind!
    Can the bark the port recover
        When the silly pilot's blind?



Hints:

Vent'rous, poetic for adventurous

Ships were called barks (
barques) in those days.


Online:
The Villager and the Snake,  by George T. Lanigan, and The End of the World by
Oliver Herford.  Proofed even. From Little Masterpieces of Wit and Humor, Edited by
Thomas L. Masson, Volume V,  (1903), p. 17, and 170-172:


And on p. 172,  these quips:


        When Bishop Potter was asked the other day what he thought of
    woman suffrage, he made the diplomatic reply:
        "My dear madam, I have gotten away beyond that; I am trying to
    make the best terms with the sex that I can obtain."

        This brings to mind the mot of William M. Evarts when asked by a
    lady if he did not think that woman was the best judge of woman.  He
    replied
        "Not only the best judge, madam, but the best executioner."




And from Wit and Humor for Public Speakers, by Will H. Brown, (1916), p. 80;


    CRUEL INQUISITIVENESS

        "Ignorance of the law," interposed the judge at a certain juncture in
    a case, "is no excuse for violation of the law."
        "May I inquire, your Honor," asked the prosecuting attorney,
    "whether your remarks are directed at the defendant or his lawyer?"


July 1, 2007.  From The  Proverbs of Wales, by T. R. Roberts (1909), p. 60:


    The snail deserves to reach the end of its journey.

    [Malaen a ddyly ei daith.]



June 29, 2007.  Online: The Introduction to Early English Romances of Friendships, Done
into Modern English
by Edith Rickert is partially proofed.


From
Eve's Daughters, Compiled by a Mere Man and portrayed by Arthur G. Learned,
1905, p. 60:

        Marriage is like a charity bazaar, -- the admission fee is very small,
    but it will cost all you've got before you get out.

    Herman Lee Meader.

and on p. 67:


        It is difficult for a woman to keep a secret; and I know more than
    one man who is a woman.

    Lafontaine.


June 25, 2007.  For Nancy, Bill, Torey and Pauline: a pleasantly satiric and funny Big Kitty
story,
Warrior the Untamed, by Will Irwin is online and completed, pictures by F. R. Gruger,
proofed and everything.


June 22. 2007.  Table of Contents, Title Pages, and final proofing is done for
The World's
Wit and Humor, Volume XIII: Italian-Spanish.
 As usual, I qualify that remark with the
disclaimer that I can spot anybody else's typos but my own.  So if you see one, please let
me know.

From the
Cyclopædia of Wit and Wisdom (1845), p. 207:



        Dr. Franklin. -- When a child he found the long graces used by his
    father before and after meals very tedious.  One day after the winter's
    provision had been salted, "I think, Father," said Benjamin, "if you were
    to say grace over the whole cask once for all, it would be a great saving
    of time."



June 16, 2007.  Online, The Story of Gray-Steel, from Early English Romances of
Friendships, Done into Modern English
by Edith Rickert is partially proofed.

More of Volume XIII, of The World's Wit and Humor is proofed.



June 15, 2007.  Found it!  Nancy enjoyed reading
Limerick Lyrics and The New Pun Book
while she was here.  It, and helping me remodel, inspired her.  This is the result (published
with her permission):


    There once was a painter quite bold
    Who never did as she was told
        She steadied her ladder
        But it didn't matter,
    Now she is on the floor, out cold!


    Nancy A. Pettit,
       © May, 2007.



Cervantes, from The World's Wit and Humor, Volume XIII, Italian and Spanish, is finally
proofread
.


June 13, 2007.  Online, Roswall and Lillian from Early English Romances of Friendships,
Done into Modern English
by Edith Rickert is partially proofed.

From
The New Pun Book, p. 72:


         WIFE -- Will you see that my grave is kept green, my darling?
        HUSBAND -- No, my dear, but I will plant violets upon it.
        "For what reason?"
        "Because I do not wish any grave-robber to dig up your body."
        "How will the planting of violets upon my grave prevent them from
    digging me up?"
        "Your grave will be kept inviolate, of course."




June 12, 2007.  Gamelyn from Early English Romances of Friendships, Done into Modern
English
by Edith Rickert is online and partially proofed.


From
The New Pun Book, p. 79:


        "I'm not surprised that hair-dressers feel so much at ease in the
    society of the great."
        "You're not?"
        "No; they are surrounded at home by any number of big-wigs."

    _____


        She -- They say the eyes are the windows of the soul, I believe.
        He -- Yes; and when a man goes into a drug store and shuts a
    window quickly, the clerk knows just about what the poor soul wants.




    June 11, 2007.  From The Wit and Humor of America, Volume X, p. 1915:



     THE MEETING

        BY S. E. KISER



    One day, in Paradise,
       Two angels, beaming, strolled
    Along the amber walk that lies
       Beside the street of gold.


    At last they met and gazed
       Into each other's eyes,
    Then dropped their harps, amazed,
       And stood in mute surprise.


    And other angels came,
       And, as they lingered near,
    Heard both at once exclaim:
       "Say, how did you get here?"



June 7, 2007.  Sir Amadas, from Early English Romances of Friendships, Done into Modern
English
by Edith Rickert is online and partially proofed.


And adding to your store of knowing more than one verse of a classic:



    THE PURPLE COW

    BY GELETT BURGESS


    Reflections on a Mythic Beast,
    Who's Quite Remarkable, at Least.


    I never Saw a Purple Cow;
       I never Hope to See One;
    But I can Tell you, Anyhow,
       I'd rather See than Be One.



     Cinq Ans Apres.  

      [Five Years Later.]

    (Confession: and a Portrait, Too,
    Upon a Background that I Rue!)


    Ah, yes!  I wrote the ""Purple Cow" --
       I'm Sorry, now, I Wrote it!
    But I can Tell you, Anyhow,
       I'll Kill you if you Quote it!




June 4, 2007.  Nancy waved bye-bye from the Louisville airport.  Boo-hoo!  My only
consolation was stopping in Salyersville, KY.  There, I found a Chevron Station with full
service!  Real full serve, too.  Pumped gas, oil checked, and tire pressures gauged even.   All
gratefully received from a charming young man named Thomas Salyer.   He likes to read to
top off the marvel of real customer service.  No extra charge either.  Thank you, thank you,
thank you!


June 3, 2007.  Scrabbled!  Nancy is here from Arizona, and besides knowing everything
there is to know about painting, she is a demon at Scrabble.  We are talking low-down
mean, no holds barred!  My only edge is that they have some medieval English in the new
Scrabble dictionary.  It doesn't help all the time, but I haven't lost every single game, just
most of them.

While I try to think of words with 7 vowels, she reads the odd book lying around here.  
Nancy liked this:  
Mrs. Bargain Counter Meets a Friend, from Merry Monologues, by Mary
Moncure [Paynter] Parker, 1916.  She was a Vaudeville performer.  According to her
Preface, She did Musical Readings and these monologues were performed with a musical
accompaniment, before Liberace used this style of entertainment.

A Google search yields little detail about her.  Apparently she wrote books, plays and short
stories.  She appears to be from Chicago and possibly could have been a Daughter of the
American Revolution.  


A quote by E. W. Howe, from The Wit and Humor of America, Volume 1, p. 71:


    OPPORTUNITY

        You hear a great many persons regretting lack of opportunity.  If
    every man had opportunity for his desires, this would be a nation of
    murderers and disgraced women.



    [Highlight from Archives]

Uh, oh! Straydoc is a little peeved,  I see!

Find out why here, it's pretty funny.  Hopefully this will help change behaviors, as you
laugh.
 Share the page with your friends and enough publicity could lead to a difference in
abusive corporate business tactics.







    Go to the Archives for the chronological record of the
    additions for the past 2 years.






    Copyright  © 2004-2007 by Elfinspell.com