DOI Heft:
April 24, 1858
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16621#0172
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
[April 24, 1858
A NEW JDEA FOR THE ALDERMEN,
Y dear Mr. Punch,
" Allow me a place in
your inestimable columns,
that I may call the atten-
tion of the Lord Mayor to
THE PRINCE OP WALES AT THE BLARNEY
STONE.
" The Groves of Blarney, they are so charming,"
Sure the place and the po'me we all of us knows :
But more iligant posies and shuparior roses,
almost Interesting state-1 Henceforward will bloom in the sweet Rock-close,
ment, which was puolish-' Since the hope of the nation for recreation
To it condiscinded to repair,
The daffydowndillies, likewise the lilies,
Houlds their heads a dale higher in the open air.
ed the other day in the
Times :
"Most Unfair in April.—
The attention of several pro-
vincial butanists has been called
within the past few days, to a
fungus of a remarkable and, it
is believed, unprecedented de-
velopment now growing in a
tunnel in a sandstone rock in
the immediate vicinity or Don-
caster. The plant is 13 ft. 6 in.
in diameter, and very much re-
sembles a white lace skirt with
a richly embroidered border
spread out flat. It has been referred to the Hydnum barba Joms, but much uncer-
tainty.prevails as to its true classification, as nothing like it is on record, and its
peculiar growth is believed to have been due to the singular conditions under which
it has been produced."
*' Now, my dear Sir, I believe you are aware that a great many of
these fungi, commonly called toadstools, and supposed to be poisonous,
are, in fact, wholesome, and uncommonly good eating. The fungus
above described may belong to a hitherto unknown genus; but it may
also be a mere variety of a recognise d one. If it is a Hydnum, it may
be good to eat, like the Eydnwm repandum, which, when stewed, forms
an excellent dish, with a slight flavour of oysters—and just consider
what an adjunct this would be to cod's-head and shoulders. Its
appearance, described as that of 'a white lace skirt with a richly
embroidered border,' must be very inviting, and, had I access to it,
I should be stronglv tempted to impair its beauty a little for the sake
of testing its flavour. You cannot think—nor does the Lord Mayor And lick his shoes, Sir, wid salaams and kotoos, Sir,
suspect—how nice some of these things are. -Llke ^ sepoy, or Chinese lurk.
" The concluding portion of the account of this mycological curiosity , To ^ ^ , ^
conveys a still more vivid idea of its enticing look :- ^ Sur£ ^ ^ ^,Uy ^ ^& ^ ,g ^
" The plant has attained its present size in 10 months, and is still growing vigor-
ously It at present extends nearly over the roof, and half-way down the side of
the tunnel, and, when examined with a lighted candle, the fibres radiating from the
roof to the outer circle shine like threads of silver, while the thick deep border of
snowy white substance sparkles as if set with brilliants. It is altogether a very
striking and beautiful object, and great numbers of persons have been to view it.
The roi.t of the plant is attached to an oak beam, which supports the top of the
tunnel, and which is well saturated with moisture from the soil above."
If Lady Jeffreys still graced the nation,
'Twould rise her dandther, to think this royal flower
Should n't be attinded wid more consideration,
Of his lofty station, climbin' up the tower.
Sure 'twas a blundther, that might confound hei,
That a Queen's son should wandther like a private gent,
And visit Killarney and the Groves of Blarney,
Wid Gibbs, that larned him his rudiment.
And Captain de Ros, too, it's well he was close to
The Royal Offspring his legs to secure,
While Biddy Casey, that keeps the kays, she
Was takin' it aisy on the second Sure.
Little she was dthramin, how the Prince was schamin
To be let hang craning down over the wall,
For a kiss o' the stone there, which it's well known there,
Makes a man a deludther, for good and all.
But though his Highness, for all his slyness,
Wasn't let to jine his lips to that stone,
Sure in Cork or Dublin, without much throublin,
He '11 find its ennoblin' effects well shown.
It's they that can carney and tip the blarney,
In every bar'ny from Cloyne to Cork,
Your Saxon snobs, Sir, may hide their nobs, Sir,
It's our Irish mob, Sir, bates them black and blue.
Their own kings onc't, Sir, Connaught and Munster,
Likewise Ulsther and Leinsther, they did enjoy,
And till ejected, it's they wor respected,
From Brian Boru to the prisint Viceroy.
If lie thinks he's goin, Sir, quite unbeknown, Sir,
Lave Ireland alone, Sir, to spoil that game.
" The Fistulina hepatica—which looks like a calf's liver, and, when
sliced and fried, tastes like it too, smacking also as though of a squeeze
of lemon—grows out of the oak, but out of the living oak; still there ( Not a Kingston carman, or a Lea-road barman,
is no reason why esculent fungi should not grow out of oak beams. [ To Lord Bandon in armine, but would think it shame
The Agaricus ostreatus grows on dead trees, and is eatable, though it j Let hioiwalk or ride, oh, on every side, oh
has nothing in common with oysters but the shape of their shell. The
Doncaster tunnel fungus seems to look rather like a gigantic specimen
of the Polyporus frondosus ; but this does not grow in the dark, but in
hedges and at the roots of trees ; it is delicious. It is the gigantic
size of the fungus of Doncaster tunnel which makes me desirous of
notifying its existence to the Lord Mayor. Suppose it to be as good
as it is great. What a splendid addition it would then make to the
two or three hundred tureens of real turtle that are consumed at a
civic feast! where the guests, by the bye, eat peacocks, swans, and all
manner of odd things. Truffles are merely a sort of subterraneous
toadstools.
"Let me, then, suggest to his civic Majesty the Lord Mayor, how
desirable it would be to try the magnificent toadstool which is now
growing in the Doncaster tunnel, and, but for the passing of the
trains, might soon fill it, as the fungus which grew out, of the cask of
wine bunged up Sir Joseph Banks's cellar. To preclude the deve-
lopment of preternatural excrescences on the noses of Aldermen,
or any other evil consequences which might arise from excessive
indulgence in the new luxury, the toadstool might first be tried on
lower animals than the Corporation—may I say pigs?* They also
are omnivorous feeders, and the experiment, tried on them without
injury to pork, might be safely repeated on the corporate body.
Believe me, a living example of impunity, after devouring many such
a dish as that which I propose for the Mansion House table.
" Boletus Cottage, April, 1858." " Mycophagus."
* Put some of it in their wash.
How Society is Reported.—When a reputation is wrung in the
drawing-room, the report of it soon makes itself heard in the kitchen.
— The House I Live In. chants, and British tax-payers
Like Venus or Dido, he would shine out;
Spite of Gibbs's dthryness, and De Ros's shyness,
" Long live his Highness " it. 's meself 'ud shout.
When a town he'd arrive at, I'd not lave him private,
His cyar 1 'd drive at—the Royal Boy—
With shouts obstropolous, from Cork's metropolis
To the Giant's Causeway, sure I'd wish him joy.
Oh, was I a herald, or S. Fitzgerald,
Or Sir Bernard Burke, the Ulsther King-at-Arms,
He'd be hard of hearin' e'er he left Green Erin,
What wid shouts and cheerin' and big guns' alarms.
The Qualifications of Property.
We have often been told that " Property has its duties as well as
its rights." We little suspected, as proved by the Property Qualifi
cation humbug in Parliament, that one of its Duties was to cheat, and
dissemble, and commit perjury by swearing to estates it never pos
sessed, merely to obtain the Right of adding two parliamentary initials
to its name. The great qualification of Property, judged by these
unworthy facts, is to induce needy Members to perjure themselves
In fact, the M.P., under such misrepresentations, might stand for
" Member Perjured," or " Master of Perjury."
stopped and staged.
If Mr. Ricardo's account of the Stade duties is borne out by tne
inquiries of the Select Committee on the subject, the sooner these
duties become stopped, as well as Stade, the better for British mer-
[April 24, 1858
A NEW JDEA FOR THE ALDERMEN,
Y dear Mr. Punch,
" Allow me a place in
your inestimable columns,
that I may call the atten-
tion of the Lord Mayor to
THE PRINCE OP WALES AT THE BLARNEY
STONE.
" The Groves of Blarney, they are so charming,"
Sure the place and the po'me we all of us knows :
But more iligant posies and shuparior roses,
almost Interesting state-1 Henceforward will bloom in the sweet Rock-close,
ment, which was puolish-' Since the hope of the nation for recreation
To it condiscinded to repair,
The daffydowndillies, likewise the lilies,
Houlds their heads a dale higher in the open air.
ed the other day in the
Times :
"Most Unfair in April.—
The attention of several pro-
vincial butanists has been called
within the past few days, to a
fungus of a remarkable and, it
is believed, unprecedented de-
velopment now growing in a
tunnel in a sandstone rock in
the immediate vicinity or Don-
caster. The plant is 13 ft. 6 in.
in diameter, and very much re-
sembles a white lace skirt with
a richly embroidered border
spread out flat. It has been referred to the Hydnum barba Joms, but much uncer-
tainty.prevails as to its true classification, as nothing like it is on record, and its
peculiar growth is believed to have been due to the singular conditions under which
it has been produced."
*' Now, my dear Sir, I believe you are aware that a great many of
these fungi, commonly called toadstools, and supposed to be poisonous,
are, in fact, wholesome, and uncommonly good eating. The fungus
above described may belong to a hitherto unknown genus; but it may
also be a mere variety of a recognise d one. If it is a Hydnum, it may
be good to eat, like the Eydnwm repandum, which, when stewed, forms
an excellent dish, with a slight flavour of oysters—and just consider
what an adjunct this would be to cod's-head and shoulders. Its
appearance, described as that of 'a white lace skirt with a richly
embroidered border,' must be very inviting, and, had I access to it,
I should be stronglv tempted to impair its beauty a little for the sake
of testing its flavour. You cannot think—nor does the Lord Mayor And lick his shoes, Sir, wid salaams and kotoos, Sir,
suspect—how nice some of these things are. -Llke ^ sepoy, or Chinese lurk.
" The concluding portion of the account of this mycological curiosity , To ^ ^ , ^
conveys a still more vivid idea of its enticing look :- ^ Sur£ ^ ^ ^,Uy ^ ^& ^ ,g ^
" The plant has attained its present size in 10 months, and is still growing vigor-
ously It at present extends nearly over the roof, and half-way down the side of
the tunnel, and, when examined with a lighted candle, the fibres radiating from the
roof to the outer circle shine like threads of silver, while the thick deep border of
snowy white substance sparkles as if set with brilliants. It is altogether a very
striking and beautiful object, and great numbers of persons have been to view it.
The roi.t of the plant is attached to an oak beam, which supports the top of the
tunnel, and which is well saturated with moisture from the soil above."
If Lady Jeffreys still graced the nation,
'Twould rise her dandther, to think this royal flower
Should n't be attinded wid more consideration,
Of his lofty station, climbin' up the tower.
Sure 'twas a blundther, that might confound hei,
That a Queen's son should wandther like a private gent,
And visit Killarney and the Groves of Blarney,
Wid Gibbs, that larned him his rudiment.
And Captain de Ros, too, it's well he was close to
The Royal Offspring his legs to secure,
While Biddy Casey, that keeps the kays, she
Was takin' it aisy on the second Sure.
Little she was dthramin, how the Prince was schamin
To be let hang craning down over the wall,
For a kiss o' the stone there, which it's well known there,
Makes a man a deludther, for good and all.
But though his Highness, for all his slyness,
Wasn't let to jine his lips to that stone,
Sure in Cork or Dublin, without much throublin,
He '11 find its ennoblin' effects well shown.
It's they that can carney and tip the blarney,
In every bar'ny from Cloyne to Cork,
Your Saxon snobs, Sir, may hide their nobs, Sir,
It's our Irish mob, Sir, bates them black and blue.
Their own kings onc't, Sir, Connaught and Munster,
Likewise Ulsther and Leinsther, they did enjoy,
And till ejected, it's they wor respected,
From Brian Boru to the prisint Viceroy.
If lie thinks he's goin, Sir, quite unbeknown, Sir,
Lave Ireland alone, Sir, to spoil that game.
" The Fistulina hepatica—which looks like a calf's liver, and, when
sliced and fried, tastes like it too, smacking also as though of a squeeze
of lemon—grows out of the oak, but out of the living oak; still there ( Not a Kingston carman, or a Lea-road barman,
is no reason why esculent fungi should not grow out of oak beams. [ To Lord Bandon in armine, but would think it shame
The Agaricus ostreatus grows on dead trees, and is eatable, though it j Let hioiwalk or ride, oh, on every side, oh
has nothing in common with oysters but the shape of their shell. The
Doncaster tunnel fungus seems to look rather like a gigantic specimen
of the Polyporus frondosus ; but this does not grow in the dark, but in
hedges and at the roots of trees ; it is delicious. It is the gigantic
size of the fungus of Doncaster tunnel which makes me desirous of
notifying its existence to the Lord Mayor. Suppose it to be as good
as it is great. What a splendid addition it would then make to the
two or three hundred tureens of real turtle that are consumed at a
civic feast! where the guests, by the bye, eat peacocks, swans, and all
manner of odd things. Truffles are merely a sort of subterraneous
toadstools.
"Let me, then, suggest to his civic Majesty the Lord Mayor, how
desirable it would be to try the magnificent toadstool which is now
growing in the Doncaster tunnel, and, but for the passing of the
trains, might soon fill it, as the fungus which grew out, of the cask of
wine bunged up Sir Joseph Banks's cellar. To preclude the deve-
lopment of preternatural excrescences on the noses of Aldermen,
or any other evil consequences which might arise from excessive
indulgence in the new luxury, the toadstool might first be tried on
lower animals than the Corporation—may I say pigs?* They also
are omnivorous feeders, and the experiment, tried on them without
injury to pork, might be safely repeated on the corporate body.
Believe me, a living example of impunity, after devouring many such
a dish as that which I propose for the Mansion House table.
" Boletus Cottage, April, 1858." " Mycophagus."
* Put some of it in their wash.
How Society is Reported.—When a reputation is wrung in the
drawing-room, the report of it soon makes itself heard in the kitchen.
— The House I Live In. chants, and British tax-payers
Like Venus or Dido, he would shine out;
Spite of Gibbs's dthryness, and De Ros's shyness,
" Long live his Highness " it. 's meself 'ud shout.
When a town he'd arrive at, I'd not lave him private,
His cyar 1 'd drive at—the Royal Boy—
With shouts obstropolous, from Cork's metropolis
To the Giant's Causeway, sure I'd wish him joy.
Oh, was I a herald, or S. Fitzgerald,
Or Sir Bernard Burke, the Ulsther King-at-Arms,
He'd be hard of hearin' e'er he left Green Erin,
What wid shouts and cheerin' and big guns' alarms.
The Qualifications of Property.
We have often been told that " Property has its duties as well as
its rights." We little suspected, as proved by the Property Qualifi
cation humbug in Parliament, that one of its Duties was to cheat, and
dissemble, and commit perjury by swearing to estates it never pos
sessed, merely to obtain the Right of adding two parliamentary initials
to its name. The great qualification of Property, judged by these
unworthy facts, is to induce needy Members to perjure themselves
In fact, the M.P., under such misrepresentations, might stand for
" Member Perjured," or " Master of Perjury."
stopped and staged.
If Mr. Ricardo's account of the Stade duties is borne out by tne
inquiries of the Select Committee on the subject, the sooner these
duties become stopped, as well as Stade, the better for British mer-