The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1866-11-09
From Chambers Journsl.
Irish Bulls.

distinguished for bull-making, or WHY
there should exist among the natives Of
Ireland such an innate and irresistible
propensity to blunder,i it is difficult to con-
lecture or decide. Mr. and Mrs. Edge.
worth, in their inquiry into the etvmology
OF Irish bulls, endeavor to account for il
thus: That the English, not being the
mother tongue of the natives of Ireland,
TO them it is foreign language, and, con-
seqnently, ii is scarcely within the limits
OF probability that they should avoid
making blunders both in speaking and
writing" However thi, may be, an Irish
bull /, a thing more easily conceived than
defined Perhaps, did We search for its
precedent among the long list Of bold
troops and figures handed down to us from
the old Greek writers and orators. the
nearest approach we could find to it would
be under the title of Cutact,esis-a catach-
re>ls being the "boldest OF any trope, neces-
<'ty "'ahes It bo'ror and employ an expression
or term contrary to tie thing It means to er.
pres" This certainly conveys a Just idea
OF what an Irish bull is or should be.
Many of the following examples we
give as orr ginal; they occurred within our
own personal knowledge, and were never
before published. The rest We have select
cd from variety of sources, and have
been careful always to distinguish between
b!unders and bullS-a distinction which is
often neglected. Even Mr.. and Mrs.
idgcwouh themselves have misappre-
hended the difference in more instances
than that of the renowned Paddy Blake,
who perpctrated what they call "a most
perfect bull" On hearing an English
gentleman speaking in praise of the fine
echo of Killarney. which repeats the sound
forty times. Pat promptly replied. '.Faith,
sir. that's nothing at all to the fine echo
IN my fathers garden in Galway, for If
y"H say TO ii, How do you do, Paddy
Flake : 1t will Immediately make answer,
'i'rctty well, thank you, sir. -
Now this echo Of Paddy Blake's. which
has long been the admiration OF Chrsten-
dom, does not 1T all deserve the name or
appreciation of an Irish bull 1t is rather
an exquisite specimen Of that wit, quick
ness Of repartee, and good-humorcd drol-
lcry for which the Irish are famous. but it
docs not present to our mind the double
arrangement Of thought and expression 50
absolutely essential 10 the proper con-
,truction of a genuine JuN
One OF the richest specimens OF Il real
irish bull which has ever fallen under our
notice was pcrpetrated by the clever and
witty, but bIundcrin4 irish knight, Sir
i'ichard Steel, when inviting certain
/ English noblcman TO visit linn III, sr,"
-"id he, YOU ever come within mile OF
my house, / hope yoa rW dqp there r.
Another by the same gentleman is well
worth recording. Being asked how lac
accounted for his countrymen making so
many bulls, he replied: Il cannot tell, if
il /, not the etit;t of climate. fancy if
an EnylSlm.aH ~ay JoIn IL ireland he would
just make as many
/ This, again. reminds Us of that we'll
known instance of wounded Irish pride re-
lated OF the porter OF Il Dublin grocer, WHO
was brought, by his master, before :! mag
l>trale on charge OF stealing chocolate,
10 which he could scarcely plead mot
guilty" On being aSkeu to whom he
sold it, the pride Of Patrick was exceed
ingly wounded $50 whom did | sell
il ~ cried Pat. Now, do YOU think
was 50 molae as to take ii TO SELL" PRAY,
then. sir said the }. T.. what did vou
/ DO with it ?' ''Do wild it! Well, then,
since YOU mast know, | took it home.
and me and my ould oman made tag Of
it,"
/ y rich bull is recorded of an Irshman
at cards, who, on inspecting the pool,
found 1t dciicicnt = Here is Il shilling
short. said he: ''who put it in !'
/ This bull was actually pcrpetratcd: so
also was the following: Two eminent
members OF the Irish bar. Dovle and Vel
verton, quarrclied one dav so violently
that from hard words they came to hard
I,l,v.s n,,,Io ,ho n,nro ,,o,varf,l u., 81
the two l,t n. fist. at lo,.tl LnocL.d
DOWN ii. ,t,,aron;st ,w;co ynbemantlv ex-
c.;mino .ynn sco,rdroj III ..lo ro,
bcbnvc vourseyf like oantlnnon" =" 10
which YcIverton r;s;,o rpnl;pl with
coual INDIGNATION v\o sir never
dety vou, l detv Won, yam couU uot do
tr
Tie newt drcl,rot;on of ;rJononJor.o
we record occurred to our own KNOWLEDGE.