  | PAGE | | CHAPTER I. | | At the Scufflers’ Club—A stranger at the gates—A somnolent post-office—The best men in London—A sing-song—“Damn their eyes!”—“Qui s’excuse s’accuse”—The philosophy of swearing—A retrospect—“When that I was and a little tiny boy” | 1 | | | CHAPTER II. | | The son of discord—Origin of swearing—Decline of lying as an art—Growth of swearing as a science—The military oath—Religious oath—John the Marshall—Fustian oaths—Legislation begins—“MoralitÉ des BlasphÉmateurs”—George Fox and Margaret Fell—Oath of the King-Maker—Oath of the Bear-garden | 22 | | | CHAPTER III. | | “Odd’s bodikins”—In Socrates’ thinking-shop—The British shibboleth—Don Juan—Beaumarchais—Parny—Joan of Arc a satirist of swearing—La Hire—Corbleu et Cie.—“Jarnicoton”—“?? ???”—‘Jurons de Cadillac’—Little King Goddam—Sir John Harrington—‘Amends for Ladies’—“Don’t care a damn” | 38 | | | | CHAPTER IV. | | Why has a dog a bad name?—Canine swearing—“Jarnichien!”—The cast of the die—Dog oath of Socrates—A nation of swearers—Aristophanes—The Rhodian cabbage—“Mehercule”—‘Ship of Fools’—Amenities of Roman swearing | 60 | | | CHAPTER V. | | MediÆval swearing—The monastic teaching—Cleric and lay—Robert Crowley—Mystery of the five wounds—“God’s bread!”—In a Tuscan studio—Stephen Hawes—Thomas Becon—‘Miroir du Monde’—‘Handlyng Sinne’—Chaucer’s oaths—Plantagenet swearing—“Ventre Saint Gris”—A royal scapegrace—“Bismillah!” | 77 | | | CHAPTER VI. | | The genius of antiquity—A study in dust and cobwebs—The why and the wherefore of swearing—A swearing corps d’Élite—“Swear me, Kate, like a lady”—The freemasonry of swearing—Lord Thurlow—Sir Thomas Maitland—“By jingo!” | 99 | | | CHAPTER VII. | | A bank of swearing—Legislation at work—“The sweirer’s and the Devill”—Aberdeen town records—Across the border—Before the footlights—‘Magnetic Lady’—The wits—Colman the younger—A swearing bureau—Quarter Sessions—Statute of William and Mary—Convictions—A carnival of swearing | 115 | | | | CHAPTER VIII. | | A saviour of society—Joseph Addison—A tradesman of the last century—A clerical apologist—Swearing in earnest and at play—An explanation offered—Blue laws of Connecticut—Bobadil—‘The Rivals’—‘Covent Garden weeded’—BrantÔme’s oaths—Eccentricities of swearing—“Old Harry”—“The dickens”—“The deuce”—“Le diable de Biterne” | 139 | | | CHAPTER IX. | | Utilitarian view of swearing—One touch of nature—The Shandean method—Code of Ernulphus—“SacrÉ froc d’Habacuc”—Mr. William Barley—Philosophy of imprecation—“Bloody”—In the Low Countries—‘The Man of Mode’—Swift without his waistcoat—Sanglant—Retrospect and ending | 171 | | | Appendix | 193 |
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