There are entire industries I’d like to try this trick on.
The scene of one of these was the pretty village of Grosmont, where a reputed wizard called “Old Jenkyns” punished the landlady of the Cock and Feathers. Jenkyns had some bread and cheese and beer, and on leaving asked how much it was.
“Oh,” said the landlady, “let’s see, six and four’s ten, that’s tenpence, please.”
Jenkyns said it was too much, but he paid and left. Soon after the landlady was seized with a species of fit and kept running round the table, exclaiming as she did so—
“Six and four’s ten,
Here’s off agen’!”The poor woman kept this up for a couple hours—in fact, till old Jenkyns was found and removed the spell.
– The Evening Express, May 3, 1904
In addition to being a wizard, Old Jenkyns was also an economist:
Recent Posts You
May Have Missed
Did you click through Facebook or Twitter? We got lucky—don’t let social media algorithms keep you from seeing a post! Save yourself a click, and subscribe to have stories delivered to your inbox as soon as they’re published.
Disclaimer: The modern era is far from the first to grapple with rampant “fake news.” As I am neither a historian nor journalist, I make no claims about the accuracy or lack thereof of the above sources. I assert only that they make for a good story.