The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-07-21

the priory. and. kneeling on two sharp
stones before the prior and conventual as
sembly. die swear and maintain that they
neither repented Of their bargain. nor had
had any dissension. were entitled to fitch
Of bacon. which came to be known as the
Dunmow Fitch. This old custom fell into
desuetude. but Of late years has been re-
vived. The knowledge Of the institution
was at first purely local, but its unique rxl-
ture gradually attracted public attention. 1t
became OF general reference, and the happy
couple who. after having nearly qualified
for the necessary term. but had been all OF
a sudden apparently just on the verge Of a
quarrel and yet averted the commission.
were said to have ''just saved their bacon
The extension Of the saying to other near
escapes beside Quarrels was easy and Of
natural consequence.
ITO take her down a peg" IS nothing but
sailors direction as to the lowering Of the
ships colors
Put that into your pipe and smoke It.
Is an allusion to the pipes Of peace or war
that are solemnly smoked by some Indian
tribes.
To pay down on the nail' means to give
ready money. In the center OF the exchange
in the town Of Limerick Is pillar with a
circular plate Of copper. about three feet In
diameter. called the mail" On this metal
disk the earnest Of all Stock Exchange
bargains has to be paid. A similar custom
Id % <}yyon In shave in
the main street. Just outside the Corn Ex-
change are still to be seen two large cop
per pillars. resembling two hugo nails. Il
have nailed 1t" refers to the same custom,
and implies having clinched q bargain.
Tho phrase. It'll cook your goose for
you." originated in this manner: Eric, King
Of Sweden, coming to a certain town, be-
sieged it. but, having few soldiers. was
obliged to desist. The inhabitants in de-
rision hung out from the walls goose on
a pole Later, Eric returned with re-
endorsements. and, in reply to the challenge
Of the heralds. observed that he had come
ito cook their goose for Them" and pro-
ceeded to storm the town and make It hot
! for the Inhabitants.
ITO give a Roland for an Oliver" in the
sense Of matching one lie. more or less In
credible with another, takes u back to the
| times Of Charlemagne and his twelve peers
| whose doings were so ridiculously. and Will
! so much exaggeration, described BY the old
. writer's AS two Of the most famous Of thes<
] heralds bore respectively the names Of Ro'
: land and Oliver. their names have gained
| the invidious distinction involved In thu
| spirit Of the above phrase.
! Turning the tables" IN the sense o
bringing q counter charge against IN &C
cuser, has classic origin. In the days o
| Augustus Imperator q regular craze seize'
the men of Rome to compete with one an
other for the possession Of the costlies
specimens Of certain description Of tabl
, made for the most part of Mauritania WOO
inlaid with ivory-"mensarum insania," o
table man, as Pliny called 1t. They wer
sold at most extravagant prices. Whe
the men accused the ladies Of sumptuar
I extravaganza, the latter naturally retorte
by reference to the money sQuandered
their lords on these tables. and 80 ''turne
l the tables on them Dy tnfoWlu8 SuSu
! metaphorically. in their teeth.
To have the gift Of gab' means the I'll
Of the (use Of the) mouth. '.gab'' being tn
Scotch word for mouth.
To sleep like top has probably . yer
, different origin to that which appear
TOP is thought to be corruption Of Il
French tauoe, mole. This interpretatie
is far mose in accordance with the i'd
usually conveyed. that Of . prolonged nj
disturbed sleep like that Of mole in VII
ter. rather than the short-endurins, 8
called Sleep. Of top when It reyolves {
its axis with a gentle humming sound.
"Scot" means tax. To go scot free
: therefore. really means tax free. and henc
n generally. to get of without the impost
: any tax or forfeiture. to escape entire
= from any evil consequences Of ones act.
r To say that q thing IL . mine days wo
r der means that we regard It as Q wond
0 for nine days. and then our eyes ere open,