The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1872-06-19

have been was purely accidental or
designedly concoctcd
One explanation, presented in null
tiplicd form, is based upon the phrase,
Make man Of him. that is, rem
dcring some substantial service. In
Rhenish, Prussia, the story is told
somewhat in the following way:
mine tailors were working together
in warm, comfortable room: the
season was mid-winter, and all with
out was sleet, snow, and bitter cold.
A poor. hungry ill-fed tramp knocked
at the workshop door, and solicited
aims. saving that be had walked many
mile. and was faint for lack OF
warmth and food. The kindly tan
ors not only shared their meal win
him. but sent him away rejoicing with
a few oroschea in his pocket; and he
exclaimed gratefully, You have made
man ormerr If nine tailors make
a man" in Mts sense, 80 much more
to their credit.
But then this gives the honor to
Germany, an arrangement which GER
tain English versions of the story do
not endorse. Here is one of the vcr-
sions: "In l742, an orphan boy ap-
piled for aims at fashionable tailor ;
shop in London, in which some jour
neymen were employed. His inter
esting appearance opened the hearts
of the gentlemen of the cloth, who
Immediately contributednine shlllings
for the relief of the little stranger.
With this capital, our grateful hero
purchased fruit, which he retailcd at
a profit Time passed ON, and wealth
and honor smiled upon the young
tradesman; so that when he set up
his carriage, instead of troubling the
Heralds, College for crest, he paint
ed the following motto on the panel !:
"Nine tailors make me a man" As
far back as 1852, in 4 book called
Grammatical Drollery," one of these
stories made its appearance, in a vcr-
silied form AZ
There is prOverb which has been Of Old,
And many men have likewise been 80 Told,
To the dscredit of the taylur's tride,-
Nine taylor's 20 To make n msn they said.
But for their credit / II unriddle Il { ye:
draper once fell into p0vertie;
Nine taioTs loined their purses together then.
TO set him up, and make him man agen.
But perhaps the most novel and un-
expected attempt at an explanation is
one contained in a monthly magazine
two or three years ago. The author
docs not seem to be poking fun at US:
he is a clergyman, and follows his
chain of reasoning steadily He ad-
duces the well-known phrase, 10
tell bell, as the means of announc-
ing n decease; lie states thatthc orig
inal and proper form is, "To tell a
kncll on a bell;' and, in connection
with this telling" OF "tolling,n he
contrivcs to bring in the nine tailors
In some places, he proceeds TO inform
us, after kncll, a certain number OF
distinct bell-strokcS are made, to de-
note whether the deceased was aman,
woman, or child; often the number
were, nine for aman, six for a woman,
and three for a child. These strokes
on the church-bell, were listened 10
and counted by the parishioners OF
VILLAGERS who heard them; and then
the kncll at conclusion was said TO
be told" or counted. BY degrees
/ this idea became confused or lost, and
the participle 'loll'd" was referred to
a supposed infinite ito toll" instead
of its natural infnitivc ITO tcll'' OF
count" So mnch for this little bit
of grammar and etymology; and now
/ for the tailors The strokes told oI
counted at the end of a knell were
/ according to the theory now under
consideration called, from their office
/ 'tcllers"
There is, however, another set OF
old Jokes, which comes heavily on the
fraternity in regard to honesty. In
! bvgonc times, the tailor was wont to
got the houses of his customers, and
make garments of cloth which they
had purchased: the last and small
cuttings were acknowledged to be his
pcrquisitc; but he was constantly ac.
cused of appropriating other portions
of the cloth Sometimes the tailor
worked in his own shop, but still upon
materials which had been furnished
to him; and a like unfavorablc accu.
sation was often hurled at him. The
jokes seem to point to a period when
the tailor was unusually a workman
/ plying the needle for a customer; the
master or employer, if there We're one,
being a draper, and often so called.
In Flanders, there is a saving which
separates a debt to a tailor from all
others, as an honorable debt one
that need not be paid in a hurry, as
the creditor has already found some
means or other to pay himself par
tally if not wholly. Massingcr says,
in one of his plays
Were one of ye nights Of the needle.
Paid 10y the ninth part OF his customers.
Once in nine years. the ninth part Of his bill
He would be nine times Oycrpaid.'
an almost appalling example of the