Parson's Nose (1836, 1839)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   The newest volume of DARE has "parson's nose" (also called "pope's nose) from 1839.  OED has "pope's nose" from 1796 and "parson's nose" from 1839.
   I knose that's wrong.
   Literature Online has 1836 and 1839 citations.  An earlier citation here doesn't seem to apply.  I'll re-copy the 1836 citation in greater context below.




1. Hazlitt, William, 1778-1830 [Author Record]
The Dandy School [in, The Examiner] (1827) 20Kb
The Dandy School [in, The Examiner. No. 1033. Nov. 18, 1827] 18Kb
Found 1 hit:
THE DANDY SCHOOL. 18Kb

...wits, might be called the [H] parson's nose: or perhaps the title...

2. Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882 [Author Record]
Hyperion. Volume 1 (1839) 253Kb
Hyperion. Volume 1 246Kb
Found 1 hit:
Main text 242Kb
BOOK THE SECOND. 134Kb Half-title.
CHAPTER VI. GLIMPSES INTO CLOUD-LAND. 27Kb

...air, has an epicurean morsel,---a [H] parson's nose; and on this oily...

3. Smith, Richard Penn, 1799-1854 [Author Record]
The Actress of Padua, and Other Tales, Volume 2 (1836) 499Kb
The Actress of Padua, and Other Tales, Volume 2 496Kb
Found 2 hit:
Main text 483Kb
THE MAN WITH A NOSE. 42Kb[1]

...on the dish but the [H] parson's nose, and that was a...

...This will account for the [H] parson's nose having survived the general...

(A LONGER 1836 "NOSE" IS BELOW--ed.)
..through the remark, but he saw the gentleman's
nose clear enough, and that of itself was
worth the best jest in Joe Miller. The traveller
continued the dissection with renewed vigour, and
finally succeeded in dismembering the goose; but
during this undertaking his fellow travellers had
each despatched a plate full from another dish, and
were now ready to reap the harvest of his labour.
He helped them all round, and consulted the palate
of each in his equitable distribution.

"Shall I trouble you for a side bone," grumbled
the pursy gentleman, without raising his chin from
his plate, but kept his gastronomic powers in full
operation until such time as more grist should be
ready for his grinders. The carver complacently
undertook the task, and, bracing every nerve, laboured
until large beads of perspiration stood on his
forehead, and his nose


"Dropp'd tears as fast as the Arabian trees
Their med'cinable gums."

Alcides, it is said, cleansed the Augean stable, but
it is no where to be found on record that he ever
severed the back bone of a goose similar to that
under consideration. The carver was a man of resolute
spirit; he persevered---and what will not perseverance
accomplish? His labour done, he wiped
the sweat from his brow with a white linen handkerchief,
which still retained the marks of its folds,
and then helped the pursy gentleman to his favourite
part. The carver had not yet tasted a mouthful.
The goose had flown before the incessant fire
kept up by the travellers; not a particle remained
on the dish but the [H]->parson's nose, and that was a
favourite mouthful with the patient gentleman. He
understood every branch of the science of carving,
and the least important is by no means that which
teaches the carver how to help the company satisfactorily,
and still retain his favourite part upon the
dish. This will account for the <-[H]parson's nose
having survived the general havoc. The traveller


[Page 032]


[Page image - Page 032. ]

now rested from his labour, and casting a complacent
glance upon the dish, stuck a fork into the delicate
morsel. He raised it, and was about to translate
it to his own plate, when the lady of the bandbox,
who was seated close at his left elbow, watched
his motions like a cat, and thrusting her plate immediately
beneath the sorry remnant of the goose,
exclaimed, "I'll thank you for that." The gentleman
bowed, the morsel dropped from the point of
his fork, and the next moment it was mumbled between
the nose and chin of the old woman. The
carver dropped his knife and fork in despair, and
the stage driver's horn now informed him that the
time he had devoted to politeness should have been
devoted to eating. He took a mouthful of bread
and a glass of brandy and water, and returned to
his seat in the stage. The little tragedian was in
an ill humour at being disturbed before he had emptied
more than half the dishes---and the pursy gentleman
growled something about the extortionate
charges, but his voice stuck by the way, unable to
pass through the quantity of dinner he had swallowed.

The lady with the bandbox resumed her seat beside
the man with a nose, and the rest of the company
being packed as before, the driver flourished his
whip, and we left the inn at a brisk pace, which
promised much, but promises are not always realized.
Any one who is at all acquainted with the
nature of man, must have remarked that, if ther