Wednesday, January 31, 2007

A couple of Sir Thomas Urquhart expressions from the Tower of London? (and another bridge too far)

bum-fodder

"Its first recorded appearance is in 1651, in the first volume of Sir Thomas Urquhart’s translation of the works of Rabelais." Source:  World Wide Words

"Right as my leg is also from the seventeenth century — it’s in Sir Thomas Urquhart’s translation of Gargantua and Pantagruel, by Rabelais, published in 1664: “Some were young, quaint, clever, neat, pretty, juicy, tight, brisk, buxom, proper, kind-hearted, and as right as my leg, to any man’s thinking”. World Wide Words

In "Rob Roy" (1995, scenes included in Windows 95 launch) Liam Neeson, as Robert Roy MacGregor, escapes from the English John Graham, Marquis of Montrose, by leaping off Urquhart's Bridge in the film with a rope around his neck, very dramatic scene. At least that's what I recall said sign on the bridge.

(An interesting historical connection see "Former Seward Estate Montrose, NY" next to Georges Island State Park, with the state's oldest shell midden, on the Hudson River)

No comments:

Post a Comment