Part 1
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MR. PUNCH'S COCKNEY HUMOUR
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PUNCH LIBRARY OF HUMOUR
Edited by J. A. HAMMERTON
Designed to provide in a series of volumes, each complete in itself, the cream of our national humour, contributed by the masters of comic draughtsmanship and the leading wits of the age to "Punch," from its beginning in 1841 to the present day.
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MR. PUNCH'S COCKNEY HUMOUR
IN PICTURE AND STORY
_WITH 133 ILLUSTRATIONS_
BY
PHIL MAY, CHARLES KEENE, L. RAVEN-HILL, TOM BROWNE, C. SHEPPERSON, E. T. REED, BERNARD PARTRIDGE, J. A. SHEPHERD, G. D. ARMOUR, GEORGE DU MAURIER, AND OTHERS
PUBLISHED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH THE PROPRIETORS OF "PUNCH"
THE EDUCATIONAL BOOK CO. LTD.
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THE PUNCH LIBRARY OF HUMOUR
_Twenty-five volumes, crown 8vo, 192 pages, fully illustrated_
LIFE IN LONDON COUNTRY LIFE IN THE HIGHLANDS SCOTTISH HUMOUR IRISH HUMOUR COCKNEY HUMOUR IN SOCIETY AFTER DINNER STORIES IN BOHEMIA AT THE PLAY MR. PUNCH AT HOME ON THE CONTINONG RAILWAY BOOK AT THE SEASIDE MR. PUNCH AFLOAT IN THE HUNTING FIELD MR. PUNCH ON TOUR WITH ROD AND GUN MR. PUNCH AWHEEL BOOK OF SPORTS GOLF STORIES IN WIG AND GOWN ON THE WARPATH BOOK OF LOVE WITH THE CHILDREN
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EDITOR'S NOTE
Cockney humour smacks, of course, of the town and makes up in smartness and shrewdness what it lacks in mellowness. The Cockney is as a rule a conscious humorist; you laugh _with_ him very often, whereas you nearly always laugh _at_ the rustic humorist.
George Du Maurier concerned himself a good deal with Cockney character, but he was not in sympathy with the Cockney; generally he had an obvious contempt for him, and most of his jokes turn on the dropped H, the mispronounced word, and educational deficiencies. He portrays some of the Cockney's superficial characteristics; he despises him too much to be able to get at the heart of him and reveal his character.
Take Phil May's pictures and jokes, and the difference is at once apparent. He was fully alive to the Cockney's deficiencies of manner and culture; now and then he quite genially and without the least touch of scorn or self-complacency makes fun of them; but he really gives you the Cockney character. Take, for instance, such a picture as his "Politics and Gallantry," his "I say, 'Arry, don't we look frights!" his "Informal Introduction"--(the self-consciousness of the girl's expression, and the blatant pride of the man's)--here, and in almost any of his drawings you turn to, you have the absolutely natural Cockney; his types are full of character and so true and free from condescension that not only are we moved irresistibly to laugh at them, but the Cockney himself would be the first to recognise their truth and to laugh joyously at them too. We may say pretty much the same of Charles Keene, of Mr. Raven-Hill, of Mr. Bernard Partridge, and of others of the "Punch" artists represented here, who illustrate the essential Cockney character, and do not go on the easy assumption that dropped H's and mispronounced words and aggressive vulgarity are the beginning and the end of it.
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MR. PUNCH'S COCKNEY HUMOUR
"All's swell that ends swell," as 'Arry remarked when he purchased a pair of "misfits."
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'ARRY AND 'ARRIET'S FAVOURITE ITALIAN POET.--'Ariosto.
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MOTHER WIT.--_First Coster._ I say, Bill, wot's the meanin' o' Congress?
_Second Coster._ A shee heel. Female of conger.
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A LONDONER'S RURAL REFLECTION.--The Hayfield is better than the Haymarket.
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'ARRY'S LAMENT
"A public meeting was held at Hampstead last night to protest against the tampering with the Heath by tube railway promoters."--_Daily Paper._
Wot! Toobs on 'appy 'Amstid? A stytion at _Jack Strors_? I 'old the sime a bloomin' shim An' clean agin the lors, Leastwyes it oughter be-- If lors wos mide by me No toobs yer wouldn't see On 'appy 'Amstid.
Wy, wheer are we ter go, Liz, Ter git a breath of air? Yer'll set yer teeth agin the 'eath When theer's a toob up there. A pinky-yaller stytion By wye o' deckyrytion-- I calls it desecrytion, 'Appy 'Amstid.
Oh! sive us 'appy 'Amstid! It's Parrydise, you bet! Theer ain't no smoke ter 'arm a bloke. Nor yet no smuts as yet. An' so I 'opes they'll tell This bloomin' Yanky swell Ter send 'is toobs ter--well, Not 'appy 'Amstid!
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NOTE BY A COCKNEY NATURALIST
The common blackbeetles (_Scarabæus niger_) which so abundantly infest the culinary regions of Cockaigne are alleged to be agreeable, although profuse, in flavour, provided they be delicately larded before crimping, and then fricasseed or simply fried. Care should specially be taken not to injure their antennæ, which, when crisp with egg and breadcrumbs, exquisitely tickle the palate of the gourmet, and provoke him to the liveliest of gastronomic feats. There lurks in vulgar minds a savage prejudice against these interesting insects, by reason, very likely, of the popular impression that at times they have been manufactured into Soy. But this may be assumed to be mere idle superstition, and Soyer, the great _chef_, wisely set his face against it, remarking, as he did so, "_Honi Soy qui mal y pense._"
Among the warblers which abound in the vicinity of the metropolis, one of the most interesting is the little mudlark (_Alauda Greenwichiensis_) whose plaintive cry may nightly be heard upon the shore of the river, where these little creatures congregate in flocks, and pick up any grub which they may chance to meet with.
Doubts have been entertained by sundry Cockney naturalists whether the pyramids of oyster shells, which in the early part of August used to be noticed in the streets, should be regarded as a proof of the migratory habits of the mollusc. That the oyster is a sluggard and objects to leave his bed seems pretty generally admitted; but that he is endowed with the power of locomotion has, fortunately for science, been placed beyond a doubt. Whether oysters shed their shells when they are crossed in love is a point on which the naturalist is still somewhat in the dark.
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SELF-EVIDENT.--It must have been a cockney who said that St. Bees came from St. 'Ives.
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A DEAD LETTER.--Too often H.
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Quoth an eminent literary man, in the hearing of 'Arry, "All George Meredith's poetry might be republished under one title as 'Our Georgics.'"
"Oo's 'Icks'?" asked 'Arry.
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"THE TEACHING OF ERSE IN IRELAND."--"Well," says 'Arry, "it sounds uncommon funereal. O' course I knew an erse and plumes and coal black 'osses is what they call a 'moral lesson.' But why make such a fuss about it in Ireland?"
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AN AWKWARD NAME.--'Arry, on a marine excursion, hearing mention made of the two sea-birds the great auk and the little auk, inquired if the little auk was a sparrow-'awk.
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"He is the greatest liar on (H)earth," as the Cockney said of the lap-dog he often saw lying before the fire.
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DINNER FOR THE H-LESS. GOOD EDUCATIONAL COURSE FOR AN UNEDUCATED COCKNEY.--An _aitch_-bone.
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COCKNEYS AT ALDERSHOT.--_First Cockney._ "'Ere, 'Arry, where's the colonel?"
_Second Cockney._ "The _colonel_, bless yer, 'e's in _an 'ut_."
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HOUSEHOLD NOTE.--_(By a Cockney). What to do with cold mutton. H_eat it.
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COCKNEY CONUNDRUM.--Wot lake in Hengland's got the glassiest buzzum?
Windermere.
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FOR CIVES ROMANI.--The way to 'Ampton races?--The 'Appy 'Un (Appian) of course.
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OUR 'ARRY AGAIN!
'Arry _is at a hotel where the boarding system prevails, and sees the following notice posted on the walls--"Breakfast, 9 a.m."_
_'Arry (to Waiter)._ "Breakfast, and some 'am."
_Waiter._ "We've no 'am."
_'Arry._ "No 'am! _(Pointing to notice.)_ What's that?"
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_Says one 'Arry to another 'Arry._ "I say, old man, the papers say they 'ope 1882 will be the openin' of a new era. What's that?"
_Second 'Arry._ "Openin' of a new 'earer? Why, a telephone, of course, you juggins!"
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A SONG FOR COCKNEY SPORTSMEN
The hart's in the Highlands, Of that there's no fear, And 'tis there you may buy lands For stalking the deer: But the hills are no trifle, And they're windy and cold, So your wish you'd best stifle, Or buy, and be--sold.
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VERY APPROPRIATE.--Says 'Arry, "Regular good place for a medical man to live in is 'Ill Street, Berkeley Square. But why don't he cure it and make it Quite Well Street?"
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COMMENT BY A COCKNEY
Bad-Gastein! Sounds more fit than nice, and yet They say most healing waters there are had. Strange, though, that people fancy good to get By going to the Bad!
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'Arriet read from a daily paper, "Navigation in the Ouse." "I s'pose," said 'Arry, "as the members are goin' to 'ave a 'ouse-boat this season. Which 'ouse? Hupper or lower? Whichever's to steer? The Speaker or Lord 'Igh Chancellor?"
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TWO DISTINCT CLASSES.--The aristocracy and the '_Arry_-stocracy.
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THE BLESSED HERITAGE
["Poverty is a blessed heritage."--_Mr. Carnegie._]
'Ere, Lizer, wheer's yer gratitood? 'E ses, ses Mr. C., As it's a blessed 'eritage, is poverty, ses 'e. Then think 'ow thankful an' 'ow blest we oughter feel, us two, But yet yer that contrairy that I'm blest, Liz, if yer do.
Wot? 'Ungry? Wot is 'unger? Don't it vary the monotony An' Wooster sorce yer vittles, that's supposin' as yer've got any? Then think of them pore millionaires wot misses the delight Of 'avin' 'ad no breakfast on a roarin' happytite.
Then money! I Think, Elizer, of them cruel stocks and shares Wot makes their lives a torter to them martyred millionaires Oh, ain't we much more appy when the sticks is up the spout An' the kids is wantin' dinner and 'as got ter go without?
And don't it make yer 'eart bleed, too, to think of all the care Of mansions in the country and an 'ouse in Grosvenor Square? Ah, what would them pore fellers give if honly they could come An' live with all their fam'ly in our garret hup the slum?
Wot, Liz? Yer'd like ter see 'em come? 'Ere, none o' that theer charf! Yer'd sell yer bloomin' birthright for a pot of 'arf-an-'arf? Lor, Liz! Ter think as you should be in sich a thankless mood! Yer've got a "blessed 'eritage," an' 'ere's yer gratitood!
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'ARRY EXAMINED.--_Q._ "What is meant by 'Higher Education'"?
_'Arry._ "Getting a tutor at so much a week. That's the way I should 'ire education--if I wanted it."
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WHY HE IS SUCH A DULL BOY.
"'Arry," said an eminent comic singer to his friend, confidentially at the Oxford, "I'm exclusively engaged at the music 'alls; mayn't perform in a theatre."
"Then," replied 'Arry, knowingly, "it's all work and no play with you."
The conclusion was so evident that, had it not been for a good deal of soothing syrup at 'Arry's expense, there might have been a serious breach of the peace.
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OBSERVATIONS BY A COCKNEY NATURALIST
A nightingale has been heard singing in Kensington Gardens (_vide Times_, April 19). A salmon has been seen swimming close to London Bridge. A trout has been observed (reposing on a marble slab) near to Charing Cross. Sticklebacks have been captured in the waters of the Serpentine. Plovers eggs have been discovered in the middle of Covent Garden: I myself have found there as many as two dozen in a single walk. There is a rookery in St. Giles's, well known to the police. I have seen a pigeon shot not far from Shepherd's Bush, and I have heard one has been plucked by a member of the hawk tribe at another West-End haunt. Blackbeetles are common in the back kitchens of Belgravia, and bluebottles abound among the butchers of Whitechapel during the warm months. There is another kind of fly, which is said to be indigenous to the stables of the jobmasters, and which also may be seen by observant Cockney naturalists, but less seldom in Whitechapel than near the Regent's Park. Sparrow-clubs have not been established yet in London, but pea-shooters are common in many of its streets. I am told that early risers may hear a male canary singing in the neighbourhood of Islington at four o'clock, A.M., and may also hear a cock crow any morning, except Sunday, between five and six o'clock. The thrush has been observed among sundry of the children, under medical inspection, in the nurseries and infant hospitals of town. Little ducks are plentiful in the _salons_ of Tyburnia, and in Bayswater and Brompton there are numbers of great geese. Welsh rabbits may be seen close to Covent Garden, and wild turkeys have been noticed even in the Strand, hanging by the beak. In the purlieus of St. Stephen's, where are the sacred haunts of the collective wisdom of the kingdom, I have heard the hootings of many an old owl. From information which I have received from members of the metropolitan police, I may assert that larks are common in the Haymarket, and that on the shores of the silver Thames at Wapping there is frequently observable a goodly flock of mudlarks. From similar information, I may add that there are careful observers in the streets who rarely pass a day without their setting their eyes upon a robbin'. Who shall say that in the very midst of the metropolis there is not abundant evidence of a truly rural, and a tooral-looral life?
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NIGHT-BIRDS THAT MAKE WEST-END NIGHT HIDEOUS.--The 'owls of 'Arry after his larks.
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CHARADE FOR COSTERMONGERS.--My first is unfathomable, my second odoriferous, and my whole is a people of Africa.--_Abyss-inians._
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CONSOLATION FOR COCKNEYS.--It is all very well to talk of the fine boulevards of Paris; but in the French metropolis, where the rent is so high, and the living so dear, there is not one street to be named with Cheapside.
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MISTAKES ABOUT SCOTLAND
_(Contributed by a Converted Cockney)_
It is a mistake to believe that every Scotchman, when he goes to Edinburgh, immediately walks down Princes Street clad in the ancient costume of the Highlanders.
It is a mistake to believe that the _pièce de résistance_ at every Scotch dinner-party is a haggis.
It is a mistake to believe that a Scotchman does not enjoy a joke every bit as much as an Englishman.
It is a mistake to believe that a Scotch Sabbath in the country is a whit more _triste_ than an English Sunday in the provinces.
It is a mistake to believe that a Scotchman sets a greater value upon his "bawbee" than an Englishman upon his shilling or an American upon his dollar.
It is a mistake to believe that inns in Scotland are dearer and less comfortable than hotels in England.
It is a mistake to believe that we have a city in England that can compare favourably (from an architectural point of view) with the town of Edinburgh.
It is a mistake to believe that it always rains in the Isle of Skye.
It is a mistake to believe that there are no more "Fair Maids" in the houses of Perth.
It is a mistake to believe that Hampstead Heath is as beautiful as Dunkeld.
It is a mistake to believe that the Caledonian Canal is at all like the Serpentine.
It is a mistake to believe that Aberdeen is less imposing in appearance than Chelsea or Islington.
It is a mistake to believe that the countrymen of Scott and Burns do not appreciate the works of Shakspeare, Milton, Byron, Dickens, Thackeray, and Tennyson.
And, lastly (this is added to the Cockney's list by the wisest sage of this or any other age), it is the greatest mistake of all to believe that _Mr. Punch_ does not like and respect (in spite of an occasional joke at their expense) the kindly, homely, sound-hearted people who live north of the Tweed.
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BY OUR COCKNEY
When is a yew tree not a yew tree? When it's a 'igh tree.
Talking of that, _Mr. P._, what a nice line the Great Northern to Hedgware is, to be sure. I am, as you know, werry partickler about my "H"s, but "'ang me," as my friend 'Arry Belleville says, "if t'ain't 'nough to spoil your pronunshiashun for a hage and hall time to 'ave to 'ear such names of stations one atop of tother, as the followin', as called out by the porters an' guards:"
'Olloway. Seven Scissors Road. Crouch Hend. 'Ighgate and 'Ampstead. Heast Hend. Finchley and 'Endon. Mill 'Ill. Hedgware.
There's a lot for you! And t'other line goes to 'Arford, 'Atfield, and Saint All-buns. Saint _All Buns_ would be a good feast, eh, sir?
Yours,
_Hivy 'Ouse, 'Oxton._
ENERY.
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A COCKNEY RHAPSODY
[A critic in the _Daily News_ accuses artists generally of ignorance in their treatment of rural subjects, and declares that nearly every picture of work in the hay or harvest field is incorrect.]
Come revel with me in the country's delights, Its rapturous pleasures, its marvellous sights; No landscape of common or garden I praise, But Nature's strange charms that the painter pourtrays.
No summer begins there, and spring never ends, It mingles with autumn, with winter it blends; Its primroses bloom when the barley is ripe, Amid its red apples the nightingales pipe.