The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1911-05-08
TRUE IRISH BULLS.
They Have a Flavor All Their
Own, "the Effect of Climate"
BRANDS FROM OTHER LANDS.
The Best Of the French Bulls Are
Acted, Not Spoken-Some Droli Ex-
annpIes of the Italian, Portuguese,
Dutch and German.

Sir Richard Steele explained why his
countrymen made bulls: "'Tis the eff
feet Of the climate, sir. If an English
man were born in Ireland he would
make as many" said he. 1t is not ev
cry one who knows a bull when he
sees her. 1t may be no bull, but
merely blunder - a betise, as the
French have it. To make sure that
we have the true criterion let us first
set down a few of the genuine, ortho-
dox Irish kind:
He built the wall wider than it was
high, SO that when it fell down 1t
should he higher than it was wide.
Two weary and footsore Irishmen
come to a milestone, ten miles to Dub
lin. "Arrah," says one, ats but rive
miles apiece"
Disputing of the date Of st. Patrick's
birthday, "He couldn't have had two
unless he was twins"
An Irish sailor reported that in Phil.
adelphia they copper bottomed the tops
Of the houses with sheet lead.
Give me the loan of Ratchet to saw
an empty barrel Of flour In two to
make the cog a plgpen.
His estate is divided by impenetra
BILE furze bitches made of quarried
stones set on edge.
An Irishman describing glorious
fight, said, "There was only one whole
nose in the house, and that was the
taypot's."
In these and in hundreds like them
nf Trtc
bull.
There are genuine bulls In French,
but they are rare. The genius of the
language does not lend itself to any
thing less than neat precision.
French bull is usually nothing more
than betise. Still, French bulls exist.
Leon, Bishop and Count Of Lisieux
wrote to the Duchess of Brissac as fol
lows:
Madame, knowing how fond you
are Of red cartridges, l send you here
with half a dozen. Three of them ara
gray, and one is q woodcock. You will
Hnd this letter in the bottom of the
basket"
A Frenchman used large stone jar
for pillow, explaining that 1t was not
hard because he had stuffed 1t full of
hay.
The very best French bulls are acted,
not spoken. The Duke de st. Simon
relates that lady, lying Ill, was much
disturbed by the ringing Of the church
bells. To deaden the noise her lover
had the street in front Of her house
laid with straw.
A spoken bull in French is apt to be
something different from the Irish va
riety, something more like a betise, as
has been said. And 1t is difficult to
retain the flavor in translation. "Ce
sont toujours les memes soldafs qui Sc
font tuer," says Marshal Bugeaud OF
his army. This loses a little when one
translates, at is always the same sol
diers who get themselves killed."
EN- fait d'inutilites Il ne fault que lie
necessaire'' is more highly colored in
the French than in Its translation.
"Only so many useless things are re-
quired as are strictly necessary"
Here is the translation of part of an
Italian letter:
1--WE have had most famous earth
quake. If by the mercy of God 1t had
: lasted for another half hour we should
all have gone to paradise, from which
may God deliver us. Whether you re-
ceive this letter or not, please advise
me in either case"
Here is Portuguese bull. In offer
ing a reward for the recovery of the
corpse of a drowned man his relatives
remarked that the deceased might bt
identified, If found, by slight impedi
I ment in his speech.
After much research it has been sc
far impossible to discover a genuine
Spanish bull, but here is Dutch bull:
1.-THE pig had no marks on his ears
3 except a short tall"
( And here is German bull:
b der Zahn der Zeit, der ale ThraneI
q trocknet, wird auch uber desc Sacht
!, Gras wachsen lassen" C'The tooth O.
time, that wipes away all tears, will
permit grass to grow over this mat
l. ter also'O.
s Blunders in English speech are no
e uncommon. The orthodox bull OF Ire
# land has scarcely crossed the channel
A fellow of the Royal society speak
of "the earthquake that had had tn
honor to be noticed by the Royal SO
81 ciety."
1.-THE West Indies will now have
future which they have never had i
the past sounds promising until on
sees that its bullish quality is mer
blunder by which the word emporium
ty" was omitted. There is none of tn
% favor of the famous definition of sal
U by the Irish schoolboy, "Salt is tina
Ks which makes your potatoes taste mast
d. II you don't put It in."
ID Even the best of the foreign bulls 1
l., Latin tongues evoke the suspicion tbs
y they are mere translations from Iris
10 originals. The Dutch, the German
and perhaps the English may have th
genuine article at times. No distin'
lively American bulls have emerge