The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1905-08-16
AMUSING JOKES.

Members of Scientific Societies.
Nothing is so funny-to the joker-as
the development of a practical joke or
hoax, and the most learned are some
times fooled in this way, to their great
discontinue. An amusing hoax was
perpetrated on the learned members Of
the Dumfries Antiquarian society Of
London, when an alleged Greek charm,
said to have been taken from the dead
body Of BedOuin, was presented for
their inspection and admiration. 1t
was said to have been an heirloom in
the Bedouin's family for many centu-
ries and consisted of scrap of skin on
which was transcribed a mysterious
legend. 1t was circulated among the
members of the august body Of the An
tiquarian society until it fell into the
hands Of DR.. Semple, who, amid much
amusement, deciphered the hieroglyph-
les as "Old Bob Ridley, o." the refrain
Of an old song
One Of the best Of these jokes was
practiced with considerable success by
an eighteenth century wit, who pro-
fessed to have unearthed an ancient
memorial slab on which this epitaph
was just decipherable:
BENE A. tn. TIL. IssT,
ONERE POS. EFT.
H. CIAUD, cos TER. TRIP
E. sELERO, F. IMP.
IN. CT. ONAs. DO.
TIL. HI. sc.
ON. SOR. T. J. A. N. E.
In vain did archaeologists and lin
gusts rack their brains to find a solu-
ton Of this cryptic inscription, which
Its discoverer "humbly dedicated to
the penetrating geniuses of Oxford,
Cambridge, Elton and the learned So
ciety Of Antiquaries," and it was only
when 1t had driven the cleverest men
in England almost out of their wits
that the following reading was sug-
gested by the hoaxer: Beneath this
stone reposeth Claud Coster, tripe sell
err, Of Impington, as doth his consort
Jane"
That, too, was a clever, If rather
heartless, joke which Stevens, the
Shakespeare scholar, played on Cough,
known to posterity as the author Of
"Sepulchral Monuments" Cough had
criticised drawing by Stevens ra-
Their mercilessly, and the latter forth
with planned a revenge which should
hold up antiquity to ridisule. Procur-
ing fiat piece of stone, he scratched
on it, in Anglo-Saxon characters, the
inscription, Here Hardcnut drank
winehorn dry, stared about him and
died." and had it exposed in a shop
which Cough was in the habit Of visit
ing
A few days later Cough called at the
shop, saw the slab, which, he was told,
had been found in Remington lane on
the supposed site Of Hardicanute's pal
ace, and, Overjoyed at his good fortune,
carried it off in triumph as a discovery
Of rare antiquarian value. He showed
it with pride to his fellow members of
the Society Of Antiquaries, a paper
was written on it, a learned discussion
followed and the inscription was pub
lished in the Gentleman's Magazine.
Stevens triumph was complete when
he took the public into his secret and
laughed with them, but what his vic
TINS feelings and language were it
would not have been possible to ex-
press in print
Something over fifty years ago the
ingenuity Of antiquarians was tested
by legend family traced on a time
worn slab Of stone which, SO it's dis
coverer said, had been unearthed dur
ing some excavations in Cumberland.
This was the inscription:
TIL. ISL sAFIAR. DNU. toe. RIA
c. X.
But what language was It and what
could 1t mean? The accepted opinion
was that the legend referred in some
way to Hardicanute or Hardnut, but
beyond that speculation even was
dumb, until the wicked joker had the
effrontery to confess that he himself
had chiseled the inscription, Of which
the true translation was: "This is a
hard nut to crack" And SO 1t was
London Answers.