Ye politicians tell me pray
Why thus with woe and care rent?
This is the worst that you can say,
Some wind has blown the wig away,
And left the hair apparent!
We may assume that this was the germ of the riddle “What is the difference between the Prince of Wales, a bald-headed man, and a monkey?” One is the heir-apparent, the second has no hair apparent, and the third is a hairy parent.
GRAMMAR OF A SORT
When is whiskey an adverb?
When it qualifies water.
When does a cow become a pronoun?
When it stands for Mary.
Can the conjunction “and” be used otherwise than as a connecting link?
Yes, as in the puzzle sentence, “It was and I said not or,” which, if no comma is placed after “said,” no one can read easily at sight.
A TONGUE TWISTER
The tragedy “William Tell” was to be played many years ago at the old Drury Lane Theatre, and an actor, familiarly known as Will, asked the exponent of the part of Tell, on the eve of its production, whether he thought the play would tell with the critics and the public.
The following question and answer passed between them, in which only two different words were used, in an intelligible sequence of twenty-five words:—
Will.—“The question has arisen Tell, ‘will Will Tell tell?’ Will Tell tell Will ‘will Will Tell tell?’”