At first glance, this appears an odd theme for day reserved for the Steward of Tara and all things Irish, but needed to balance out all the recent cat posts.
In reality, this post is nothing about dogs in general, less about my covering a dog shelter's grand opening today for The Herald-News and more about the "Fido" fact I quite by chance discovered today while searching the origins of another idiom.
It seems that the aged line of "seeing a man about a dog," was in the 1866 play Flying Scud by Dion Boucicault. This Irish playwright, you may recall, is the author of Robert Emmet, an actual play that was actually performed at the actual (and former) McVickers theater in Chicago, and which is featured in Bryony.
“So,” Melissa said, hoping to
sidetrack him. “What are we seeing tonight?”
“Dion Boucicault’s
‘Robert Emmet.’”
Melissa looked blank.
“The play revolves around the leader of an
Irish rebellion against the British in 1803,” Henry said.
“Oh,” Melissa said. “Does he win?”
“No, he is convicted and hung.”
Melissa fell silent. It didn’t sound very
interesting, but she wouldn’t tell him. After all, Henry arranged this night
for her at her request. Again, he read her mind.
“I am rather in the mood for Boucicault tonight,” Henry said. “Perhaps you would prefer, ‘The Vampire, A Phantasm in
Three Dramas’? Say the word, Melissa.
It’s your night.”
She looked up at Henry. The corner of his eyes
barely crinkled. Vampires, again! Was he making fun of her?
He leaned close to Melissa’s ear. “Robert
Emmett has quite a nice love story to it, which you might find poetic. He was
so passionately in love with Sarah Curran that, although he was in jail and at
the expense of her safety, he wrote onefinal letter to her. The authorities
intercepted it.”
Henry grinned and raised an eyebrow. Melissa
relaxed into her seat and decided whatever else happened this evening, it would
not be boring.
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