It has been a long time since this program has given attention to one of my favorite subjects — words. Let,’s begin <\/em>tonight by noting the origin of some of our common expressions. When a story is apparently fake or bogus, we say it is a II Hmoonsh i ne n \u2022 That, is because the light of the moon is on I y reflected light of the sun. So when we hear an incredible statement, usually second- hand, we say it is al I moonshine.<\/p>\n Speak i ng of !lbogus n, what about that word i tse I f? It is a corrupti on of a person’s name, Borghese, a man who, in the 1830’s, did a tremendous business in the rapidly developing Middle West in the distribution of counterfeit bi I Is and bi I Is on banks that didn’t even exist. Westerners shortened the name Borghese to bogus, and his bills were everywhere called bogus currency.<\/p>\n Why are the ar i stocrats of soc i ety ca I led f!b I ue-stock i ngs ~’? Because of a fashionable literary club started in New York about 1840 by a Mrs.’ Montague. One of the regular members who met at the lady’s fashionable home was Benjamin Sti I lingfleet, who wore blue stockings. He was so much revered as a setter of fashion that blue stockings for the male members became an established custom. So, in time, <\/em>blue-stocking became a derogatory term for al J the aristocracy.<\/p>\n How could the term fTshot his bolt” have any connection with bolts, except lightning bolts? And, for that matter, how did a stroke of lightning ever come to be called a bolt? The answer is that the old Anglo-Saxon word i1boltH means an arrow. The arrows used in the famous English cross-bows of the late middle ages were cal led bolts. For a person to shoot his bolt meant that he had used up his ammunition, and in a figurative sense that is just what it sti I I means.<\/p>\n How di d we ever come to say ;’by hook or by crook!?’, when we mean we’ll find some way to do a certain thing? Is there something honest about a hook, and something shady about a shepherd’s crook? Oh, no — the expression has nothing to do with those objects. Its reputed origin is that in 16th century London there were two noted lawyers, Mr. Hook and Mr. Crook. Both were so famous for winning their cases that any firm who came to court as plaintiff or defendant, especially if he felt his case was risky, did his best to employ one or the other of those lawyers. From this start of saying !fif , can’t win by geTting Hook, I wi II get Crook”, long after both lawyers were dead, folks were common I y say i ng n I ‘ I I win or I’ I I do it by hook or crook”.<\/p>\n Let’s close th is top i c wi th the ti me-honored express i on “ear-marked’l. It comes from the very old custom of marking the ears of cattle to signify their ownership. Notching cattle’s ears is much older than branding. In Bible times the custom extended beyond cattle to humans. In the 21st chapter of Exodus we read of a slave: “His master shall bore his ear with an awl, and he shall serve his master forever”.<\/p>\n Now let us get back to our usual subject of olden days in Maine. It was 140 years ago that there occurred the Year of No Summer. The summer of 1954, wiTh its cold and rain, was more remindful of that memorable summer of 1816 than was the summer of 1955, with its repeated heat and high humi di ty. Never ina II The subsequent years has there been a summer quite like that one 140 years ago.<\/p>\n Verification of what happened is contained in the Thomas Almanac for the following year. In those days the almanac not only carried weather predictions for The ensui ng year, but fa i thfu Ily recorded the genera I trend of the weather in the year that had passed. Here are some of the statements in the almanac about That cold summer.<\/p>\n “May 20 – very co I d, vegetaTi on backward.<\/p>\n June 6 – extreme cold, ground frozen at night.<\/p>\n June 9 – continued cold with sharp frost at night.<\/p>\n June 21 – vegetation never known to be so backward; Indian corn scarcely fit to weed.<\/p>\n July 4 – cold; corn and hay very unpromisi ng.<\/p>\n July 26 – people just beginning to hay; crop very thin.<\/p>\n August 15 – light frost, wi nter rye scarce I y fi t to reap.<\/p>\n August 28 – heavy frost, ruilni ng most of the corn that had grown at a II.<\/p>\n September – frost on 10th, 14th, 24th and 25th; crop of Indian corn less than k of norma I; none at a II in the low lands.”<\/p>\n What hasn’t been so widely recorded is the fact that the summer of 1817 started off nearly as bad, but fortunately ended much better. The month by month report in the a Imanac says of the rronth of May: “fi ne weather s i nee the month came in; vegetati on maki ng rap i d stri des and peop Ie are p I anti ng’~. But then came bad news:<\/p>\n “May 16 – coo I nights with frost wh i ch cramps vegetat i on very much.<\/p>\n May 29 – frost cuts down tender plants.<\/p>\n June 1 – water freezes 1\/8 inch th i ck; vegetati on backward. q<\/p>\n But in July the weather took a turn for the better:<\/p>\n HJu Iy 5 – fi ne growi ng weather; corn growi ng we II after s low start.<\/p>\n July 15 – haying just begun.<\/p>\n August – crops grew wei I, although slow start.<\/p>\n Sep tembe r 12 – extreme I y wa rm since month came in.<\/p>\n September 25-30 – frost hits vegetation; on the whole the month has been very fi ne.<\/p>\n October – month genera II y warm and dry; corn Ii tt Ie injured by frost. n<\/p>\n So by the autumn of 1817 a good harvest was in the barns and the people of Maine were on thei r eoonomic feet again. Do you remember how, not long ago; the prophets of doom sai d the western dust bow I wou I d never recover from the ravages done by the long drought and the mighty winds? Well, the rain came and it did recover. Aga i n the desert blossomed as the rose. Doubt less there were prophets of doom around in the spring of 1817 when Deacon Simpson of Winslow parceled out the precious seeds of corn for planting al I along the Kennebec.<\/p>\n Tte land would never recover, said those skeptics. But it did recover. In two short years the who Ie va I ley produced bumper crops. When we th ink some di saster has doomed us, when we see i n the c I os i ng of the Lockwood rv1i I Is the end of economic prosperity, let us remember how our ancestors along the Kennebec recovered from the Year of No Summer, and let us remember too that observing comment of Benjami n Frank lin, who sa i d: “There are croakers in every country a 1- ways bod i ng its ru in” \u2022<\/p>\n . Among the Fred 01 i ver papers, to whi ch this program has frequently referred, is a curious document of Revolutionary times. The British Navy made shipping extremely peri lous in the late 1770’s. It must have been the custom for groups of wealthy men, after the manner of Lloyd’s in London, to group together and ri sk insurance on a cargo runn i ng the Sri ti sh blockade. But I wonder how many of you ever heard of agreeing to pay a sea captain for meeting a British Man 0′ War and getting away? That is certainly news to me. But listen to the document which was signed in Boston on May 3, 1779 by four men, one of whom was our old acquaintance, Captain Samuel Foster~<\/p>\n f~e, the undenmentioned names, do hereby promise to pay unto Charles Rowlandson on demand the sum of two thousand dollars in case he should come in with any British cruiser and clear the brig Venus from her. Upon proof of his so meeting any British cruiser and escaping capture, we promise to deliver the above menti oned sum to him when he sha II arri ve in any port be longi ng to the Ameri can colon i es, or to the Un i ted States of Ameri can.<\/p>\n In 1847, the year when Charles Hathaway first published his Watervi lie Union, two rival academies in Watervi I Ie competed for students, just as the religious sects which had founded those schools competed for members and for public support. One was the school that is now Coburn, Watervi lie Academy, founded by the Baptists. The other was the Universalist-founded school, the Watervi lie Liberal Institute. It is interesting to note the advertisements run by both schools in Charles Hathaway’s newspaper 108 years ago.<\/p>\n The academy ad said: “The summer term wi II begin on Monday, May 24, under the direction of James M. Hanson, A.M., principal, assisted by Miss Roxana Hanscom. Its prominent objects are to provide at moderate expense faci lities for a thorough course of preparation for college; to furnish a course of instruction adapted to meet the wants of teachers in the common schools; and to excite a deeper interest in the subject of education generally.<\/p>\n !’The course preparatory to college has been arranged with special reference to Watervi lie College. It is not known that this arrangement exists in any other preparatory school in the state. As this is a very important advantage, the friends of the College and those who design to enter it would do well to give this their serious consideration.<\/p>\n “Teachers of common schoo I s and those who intend to occupy that high station wi I I find in Principal Hanson one who, from long experience as a teacher in the common schools, undersTands fu Ily thei r wants and wi II set forth every effort to supply them. The Terms for 1847 begin on March 1, May 24, August 30 and November 29.?t<\/p>\n Now let’s see what the promoters of the rival school, Watervi lie Liberal Institute, had to say: “The summer term wi II commence on Monday, May 31, under the charge of Henry B. Maglath lin, A.M., principal. John C. Porter, usher; and Mrs. Susan Phillips, teacher of music. While instruction will be given in the ancient and modern languages, and in the several departments of literature and science, it wi II be the prominent feature in the plan of the Liberal Institute to afford best faci I i ties for pup i Is of both sexes for qua Ii fyi ng themse I ves for the bus i ness of teach i ng \u2022 The course of study for the Teache rs f C I ass, like that pursued in the celebrated Massachusetts state normal schools, is thorough and systematic. The various branches wi II be illustrated at the time of recitation by a variety of useful phi losophical apparatus. Fami I iar oral lectures wi II be given during the term on school-keeping and other subjects.<\/p>\n “Board $1.50 a week. Tuition in the Engl ish branches $2.50 to $4.00 for the term. Languages $4.00 to $5.00.<\/p>\n “The schoo I, under the judi ci ous management of the present ab Ie and efficient principa I, has mani fested such a degree of prosperity that the trustees have authorized extensive improvements of the school room and bui Iding, and no pains wi I I be spared to have it continue one of the most useful and practical institutions of the kind.”<\/p>\n The Coburn, or Watervi I Ie Academy, ad was signed by the secretary of their trustees, Stephen Stark, a man wei I known in both Baptist and political circles throughout Maine. The Institute ad was signed by its board president, Calvin Gardner. should like to know more about that man. Can anyone give me information about Calvin Gardner, who was president of the Trustees of the Watervi lie Libera I Institute in 18471<\/p>\n Now for a final item tonight. I n a day when we are assai led on all sides by doubt — doubt about Russia and China, doubt about everybody we know and sometimes even about ourselves — we may remind ourselves of the Maine judge who, when a lawyer suggested that the justice might be in error on a certain point, replied, “Brother, this court is often in error, but never in doubt.<\/p>\n The verd i ct stands.<\/p>\n Well, anyhow, there is to doubt about our time running out. So we must say good night for old times’ sake.<\/p>\n Year: 1955<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read the script for “Little Talks” program #274, broadcast on October 9, 1955<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[755,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7545\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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