The San Francisco call., 1899-04-07
THE SCOTCHMAN
As A HUMOR|ST
AND AS A LOVER
Second of Ian Mac
laren's Lectures.
PECULIARlTIES OF THE RACE
APPRECIATE A JOKE IF GIVEN
TIME TO DIGEST 1T.
Various Kinds of Humor Character
istics of Different Nations Enter
tainingly Defined by the
Novelist.
APPRECIATE A JOKE IF GIVEN
TIME TO DIGEST 1T.

The humor of the Scot and the senti
ment were described in a most enter
tanning manner by Dr. John Watson Gan
Maclaren) before large and apprecia
tive audience at the California Theater
last evening. Barring a habit of lowering
ms voice at the close of d sentence until
the final two or three syIlables are in
audible and his hearers have to euess
at them, the noted author has a pleasing
delivery and is careful to avoid too much
dlaIect, except when reading from his
works.
ian Maclaren has made the character
isIcs of his countrymen. a life study.
that is evident even more from his lectures
than his books; and while he is quick
10 discern the difference in their natures
from the traits of other peoples. he does
not hesitate to draw comparisons, firm
ly believing that the Scots will not suffer
by the showing. Nor do they.
Born under the dull, gray clouds and
nurtured by the strong east winds, he
sald II was not surprising the Scotch took
their humor seriously. 1t might take
Scotchman tWenty-four hours to give a
jest the consideration he deemed it neces
sary, but If he finally became convinced
that 1t was a jest nobody would do il
greater honor than he
Humor, said the lecturer, covers a verv
wide held, and its different phases are
1T
one sought the most delicate flower of
humor, one must go to France. TIE
iilght, il efeTvescent humor of the Paris
ian was the acme of wit. At the same
time, he asked, is it really safe to cali
VIII humor? - i4
What mean by wit is this: Two men
were rldlng together one day through
Paris one was exceedingly bright and
cleVerl while the other was correspond
ingly ing dull; AS is usually the case, the lat
ter monopol1zed the conversation The
talk of the dullard had become almost
unenourable, when his companion saw a
ma man on the street far ahead yawning-
not the polite, smothered yawn of society,
out good, large cape, with no attempt
Whatever at concealment Look ex
claimed the first man, we are overheard
mat story dlXldes the sheep from the
goats. | was telling it once to a Scotch
lady, who remarked: How could they
have been overheard at that distance?'
Madam, replied, that never occurred to
me before
Il am sorry to say we have no claim TO
wit, nor to John Bull humor, which is
run. with stroke of fun an English
speaker will please an entire audience.
lives would have been better and our re-
ligion better. Nor do the Scotch lay any
claim TO that irresistible humor called
drollery of our Irish friends.
The humor of the American people is
hard to class, it is SO varied; but there
is still another kind of humor that is most
intellectual and ironical, and irony is the
humor of the Scotch. Irony is not genial;
what !. plead for irony is that it is
strong"
The different kinds of humor were IL
lustrated in an inimitable manner by the
speaker, and after he had exhausted the
of the Scot, reading many passages from
his own works to bring out the strong do
mestic affections and the intense love of
home of his people.