LAW AND LAUGHTER
BY GEORGE A. MORTONAND D. MACLEOD MALLOCH
ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS OFEMINENT MEMBERS OF BENCH & BAR
T. N. FOULIS
LONDON & EDINBURGH
1913
Published October 1913
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh
TO
THE MEMORY OF
D. MACLEOD MALLOCH
Try various arts to get a double cause,
So does an author, rummaging his brain,
By various methods, try to entertain."
PREFACE
The scope of this volume is indicated by its title—apresentation of the lighter side of law, as it is exhibitedfrom time to time in the witty remarks, repartees,and bon mots of the Bench and Bar of Great Britain,Ireland, and America. The idea of presenting such acollection of legal facetiæ originated with the late Mr.D. Macleod Malloch, and it is greatly to be regrettedthat by his untimely death, his share of the work hadreached the stage of selecting only about one-half ofthe material included in the book. His knowledge oflaw, and his wide reading in legal biography, was suchas would have increased considerably the value of thisvolume.
In addition to sources which are acknowledged in thetext, I have to mention contributions drawn from thefollowing works: W. D. Adams' Modern Anecdotes;W. Andrews' The Lawyer in History, Literature andHumour; Croake James's Curiosities of Law; F. R.O'Flanagan's The Irish Bar; and A. Engelbach's comprehensiveand entertaining Anecdotes of the Benchand Bar. I am further indebted to Sir James BalfourPaul, Lyon King of Arms, for permission to include"The Circuiteer's Lament," from the privately printedvolume Ballads of the Bench and Bar, and to the editorof the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch for a numberof the more recent anecdotes in the Scottish chaptersof the book.
GEO. A. MORTON.