Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-06-01
true IRISH BULLS,
They Have a Pungent Flavor Pc.
culiar TO the Green Isle.
BLuNDERs LINKED WITH Wit.

Of Speech, but the Emerald Brand
Holds the Prize For Point and visor.
In Bulls. Ancient and Modern" J.
G. Percy. the author, contrasts the
English and Irish variety to the ad-
vantage Of the latter. Although the
most diverting bulls are usually ia.
thered upon Irlshmen. they have not
BY any means monopoly. All nations
mix metaphors and fall into self con.
Trajectory blunders. Englishmen make
bulls probably just as often as Irish.
men, but there is difference. The
English ones are seldom amusing.
The Irish ones almost always are.
Mr.. Gladstone never limited at Irish
blood In bis veins. yet be once warned
an NJ. p. that it was no use for him
Ito shake his head In the teeth OF bis
own words" Mr.. Balfour has spoken
Of ian empty theater Of unsympathet.
lc auditors" Lord Randolph Churchill
referred to an item Of national credit
"A "a mere flea bite In the ocean Of
our expenditure" II further proof be
called for It was Yorkshireman who
told meeting Of shareholders In some
place Of entertainment at Leeds that
they had been, catering for class
which does not exist and which now
goes to Bradford" 1t was an English
chairman Of a railway company who
said 1T would pay better to carry
third class passengers for nothing
rather than let the tramways get
them"
Why ia It. then. that bulls are sup.
posed to he native to Ireland? It can
hardly be for tho reason that they are
supposed to take their name from q
certain Obadiah Bull. an Irish harris.
ter who practiced In London during
the eighteenth century. Mr.. Percy &C.
cepts this derivation. though there IL
another which relates the name with
the traditional remark Of the timid
woman who was "afrald to cross a
field full of cows In case one Of them
might be a bull" That has the favor
Of the true Irish bull. 1t Is pungent,
sharp to the point. The meaning
flashes out quick and clear. Other
bulls result from lack Of oil In the
headworks Irish bulls are really due
to mental quickness. which takes a
short cut rather than the high road
and relies upon the hearers to show
equal agility. That Is why they leave
an Impression. while the bulls of other
nations pass unnoticed or fade directly
from the mind.
Here. for example. is delightful
ellipse. One woman. describing anoth.
er. said: ''She would talk the head of
you. am hoarse listening to her"
Most Of us have felt that. but it need.
ed real wit to phrase 1t so APPLY. Quite
as funny. though less witty, was the
advice given to cyclists in an Irish
paper. 1.-THE best way to pass cow on
the road when cycling is to keep be-
hind it. One is reminded OF the man
who said there was only one way to
ma ke donkey follow you-that was
to 70 behind and push. The same writ.
er on cycling once selected "a shady
nook and basked there In the sun.
shine" 1t was he. too. who described
some one as having received g grand
reception when he went away"
In Irish political speeches bulls
abound. The speakers are carried
away by their subjects and their elo-
quence. Images leap to their lips and
are uttered before their incongruity
hus been noticed. Why" asked Sir
Thomas Myles 10 Dublin during the
Boer war-"why should lrishmen stand
with their arms folded and their hands
In their pockets when England calls
for uid?" Lord Russell Of Ktllowen
was denouncing coercion bill In 1850
and its interference with free speech.
III this measure is passed." he declar.
ed. no man in ireland will be able to
speak on politics unless be Is born deaf
and dumb" Mr. O'Shea. NJ. P. drew
piteous picture of the desolation OF
farm in ireland. rs it not a fact" be
asked. that the only living animals
On this farm are the seagulls which hy
over 1t?''
In every one of these cases the bull.
far from being source Of confusion.
adds immensely to the effect Of the ar
gument. There are bulls. however.
even In Ireland, which are born OF