W. W.
"Well's a fret."—When, after a short pause in conversation, any one utters the interjection, "Well!" it is a very common practice in Nottingham to say:
"... and well's a fret,
He that dies for love will not be hang'd for debt."
I have asked a great number of persons for an explanation, but they all use the phrase without any meaning. Can you, or any of your readers, tell me if it have any; or if it be only nonsensical doggrel?
Devoniensis.
Pay the Piper.—This expression surely has a firm foundation. Can any of your correspondents trace it?
W. T. M.
Hong Kong.