[208] The Great Panjandrum
... completely unintentionally, I seem to have stumbled across a theme of
sorts...
So she went into the garden
to cut a cabbage-leaf
to make an apple-pie;
and at the same time
a great she-bear, coming down the street,
pops its head into the shop.
What! no soap?
So he died,
and she very imprudently married the Barber:
and there were present
the Picninnies,
and the Joblillies,
and the Garyulies,
and the great Panjandrum himself,
with the little round button at top;
and they all fell to playing the game of catch-as-catch-can,
till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots
-- Samuel Foote
|
(Composed by Foote in 1755 to test the memory of the actor Charles Macklin, who
had claimed he could read any paragraph once through and then recite it
verbatim. It is not recorded whether or not Macklin was, in fact, able to
memorise the passage at first reading, but he apparently took great pleasure in
reciting both the anecdote and the passage in later life).
Yes, the theme for this week is (as you may have guessed) poems which have
given words to the English language. This one's one of my favourites: like an
Escher etching or a Lear limerick [1], each little part _seems_ to make perfect
sense, while the whole is nonsensical, even surreal.
thomas.
[1] alliteration always amuses...
[while on the theme]
Main Entry: panjandrum
Pronunciation: pan-'jan-dr&m
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -drums also panjandra /-dr&/
Etymology: Great Panjandrum, burlesque title of an imaginary personage in some
nonsense lines by Samuel Foote
Date: 1755
: a powerful personage or pretentious official
-- from MWCD10, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition,
online at http://www.m-w.com
I've heard the phrase 'Grand Panjandrum' as well (especially in the dictionary
sense of the word); perhaps the resonance of the vowel sounds has something to
do with the popularity of this variant.
[endnote]
... this particular poem is the sample text used in a standard Java tutorial on
using file streams... as a result, a web search on 'Great Panjandrum' returned
several zillion sites... :-)
From: Bromleian@
Dear whoever
Maybe you know, or may be you don't, that Randalph Caldecott produced some
glorious illustrations to this nonsense.
Incidentally, another of Foote's claims to fame was to have invented the
matinee (not actually the word but the phenomenon). The Lord Chamberlain
closed down his production of offensive burlesques and imitations of his
contemporaries, The Diversions of the Morning, because the theate, in the
Haywarket had no patent for plays. Foote fought back by inviting his audience
to take "Tea" with him at 3.00 pm, at which he promised that his burleques
would fortuitously happen to appear. It was the first occasion of afternoon
performances and the device became popular.
Regards ----------- Nick Bromley
From: nick@ (nick bounds)
I found your poem whilst searching for 'Sir Gammer Vans'.
This was referenced in Cassells Book of Quotations 1907 under 'Waifs and Strays'
page 449.
'The Great Panjandrum', whilst not given this title the text is the same,
is given this derivation;
'Printed in this form in Miss Edgeworth's "Harry and Lucy, Concluded," Vol.2 p.155 (1825).
According to Miss Edgeworth, the story was by "Mr Foote".
It continues:
"According to a writer on "Samuel Foote" in the Quarterly
Review, No.190, Sept. 1854, these lines were produced by Samuel Foote (1720-1777)
at a lecture given by Chas. Macklin (1697?-1797), in which he stated that
he had brought his own memory to such perfection that he could learn
anything by rote on once hearing it. Foote's sntences were handed to
Maklin at the end of the lecture, with a request that he would read them
and afterwards repeat them from memory. Maklin's lectures were given
in 1754.
The memoirs of Foote and the various books of witticisms and anecdotes
connected with him, do not contain references to the story.
According to a correspondent of 'Notes and Queries' (Nov.16, 1850),
the author of "The Incoherent Story" was James Quin, the actor (1693-1766)
who is said to have laid Foote a wager that he could speak some
nonsense that Foote could not repeat off-hand after him. The version
given is as follows:
'So she went into a garden to pick a cabbage leaf, to make an apple-pie
of; and a she-bear coming up the street, put her head into the shop
and said, "Do you sell any soap?" So she died, and he very imprudently
married the barber; and the powder fell out of the councellor's wig,
and poor Mrs. Mackay's puddings were quite entirely spoilt: and there
were present the Garnelies, and the Goblilies, and the Picninnies,
and the Great Pangendrum himself, with the little round button at top,
and they played at the ancient game of "Catch who catch can," till
the gunpowder ran out of the heels of their boots.'
The various memoirs of Quin do not contain any allusion to
"The Incoherent Story", nor is it mentioned in the Memoirs of Macklin.'
"Sir Gammer Vans" is then suggested as an inspiration for "The Incoherent Story".
I just thought this might be of interest.
Regards
Nick Bounds
From: Philip Boyden <pkb@>
I first heard this quotation in about 1956, when I was 10, when my
headmaster recited it to me to see how quickly I could learn it. I
don't think he had to say it more than than twice and I have retained
a good 90% of it ever since.
The version I remember, though, is the one you quote and definitely
not the version attributed to Quin by Nick Bounds.
Philip Boyden
From: "Anna Matsen" <tansa_menna@>
Thank you so much for the information concerning this poem. I had no
idea why it was written. After I told a friend of mine the first half
of this poem he asked me who Samuel Foote was, and what the poem meant.
This has been very enlightening.
--Sarah N. Mattrison
______________________________________________________________________________
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Hospital: 1 I.V. League
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Larry: I don't know, what?
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From: Diane.Madir@ Wed Oct 24 14:16:08 2001
I just read the last comment by Bromleian@ and wanted to thank him
for clarifying the role of Randolph Caldecott with this poem. The Great
Panjandrum was featured in a much loved childrens set of short stories
from my youth, however it left me with the impression Caldecott wrote
the piece. The illustrations are fabulous and add so much to the story
that I'm glad to be set straight at last on Foote as the author, and
Caldecott as the illustrator. Thanks!
From: "Roger J. McNichols" <roger@>
I ran accross this poem because it is included in the BSD Unix 'fortune'
command database. I found your site subsequently, looking for info on
Samuel Foote...
..............................................................................
Roger J. McNichols, Ph.D. office: (713) 741-0111
BioTex, Inc. fax: (713) 741-0122
EMAIL: roger@ mobile: (832) 338-4371
......URL - http://www.biotexmedical.com......................................
From: harlene <harleneb@>
Subj: Help me on some words
What do these mean ???
Joblillies
Garyulies
-----------------
From the Great Panjandrum
From: Bill Evarts <wmesys@>
Bill Evarts
From: "Tristram Lett" <lett@>
My father quoted this ditty to us when we were kids and made it a piece
of
memory work when we were on car trips. Because of its illogical nature
and
silliness, it wasn't always easy for a five year old to get it right.
Now I
see the correct version 52 years later, my father had a few minor errors
with his version. This has become part of the family heritage as now my
kids have learned it and I know they will pass it on to theirs. Thanks
for
sharing!
Tristram S. Lett
Principal
Reef Knot Financial Ltd.
(905) 689-1919 B
(905) 691-7370 C