[Editor: This untitled article was published in the “Society” section of The Bulletin (Sydney, NSW), 17 June 1893.]
[The old Breakwater Pier lighthouse-keeper]
It is an old story about a certain grim, taciturn keeper of the old Breakwater Pier lighthouse at Williamstown (Melb.).
So notoriously unsociable was this now dead-and-gone identity, that a number of Williamstown residents hit upon the humorous idea of inviting him to a complimentary “spread.”
He duly accepted the honour, did the silent man of the lighthouse. They gave him the place of honour on the chairman’s right, and one after another they rose up and extolled his genial qualities, concluding with “He’s a jolly good fellow” and three cheers.
Then the guest of the evening came out of his shell. In “well-chosen words” he thanked the gentlemen present, nodding to each separately, for their kind expressions of goodwill, &c. “But,” said he, with sudden, solemn intensity, “you ——s, do you mean it?” They swore, by everything holy, that they did mean it, and for the rest of his days the lighthouse-keeper was, comparatively speaking, a merry old soul.
The little joke touched a long-hidden spring in his salt sea heart, and made him lively.
Source:
The Bulletin (Sydney, NSW), 17 June 1893, p. 13, column 2
Also published in:
The Katoomba Times (Katoomba, NSW), 23 June 1893, p. 3
Editor’s notes:
—— = two em dashes (or a variant number of em dashes) can be used to indicate swearing, just as “****”, “$#*!”, “#$@&%*!”, or similar, can indicate swearing (a series of typographical symbols used to indicate profanity is called a “grawlix”); an em dash is an extended dash (also known as an “em rule” or a “horizontal bar”), being a dash which is as wide as the height of the font being used (em dashes can also be used in place of a person’s name, so as to ensure anonymity; or used to indicate an unknown word) [in this article, the censored word is likely to be “bastard”]
&c. = an alternative form of “etc.”: an abbreviation of “et cetera” (also spelt “etcetera”), a Latin term (“et” meaning “and”, “cetera” meaning “the rest”) which is translated as “and the rest (of such things)”, used in English to mean “and other similar things”, “other unspecified things of the same class”, “and so forth”
He’s a jolly good fellow = “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”, a popular song that is sung to congratulate someone on a significant event (such as a birthday, promotion, retirement, or wedding); for females, the song is sung with the main line changed to “For she’s a jolly good fellow”; for a couple or a group, the main line is changed to “For they are jolly good fellows”
See: “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”, Wikipedia
Melb. = an abbreviation of “Melbourne” (the capital city of Victoria, Australia)
spread = a feast; a large meal, especially one spread out (laid out) on a table; a feast which has been prepared for a special occasion, especially one with a wide variety of good food
taciturn = to be reserved in speech, reticent to join in a conversation, or temperamentally inclined not to talk
Williamstown = a suburb of Melbourne (Victoria), located 11 km (6.8 miles) south-west of the Central Business District of Melbourne; it is situated on the eastern side of Port Phillip Bay
See: “Williamstown, Victoria”, Wikipedia
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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