Bewitched
Castle of the Wolf
Betrayal
The Lily Brand
Excerpt
Secrets
Reviews
Miscellany
From Form to Form
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
                             
Tweedledee & Tweedledum
 
"'And here we are.' Justin threw his arms wide. 'Tweedledee and Tweedledum, complete with bag and baggage.'"
 
Tweedledee & TweedledumMost of you will know the famous twins, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, from Lewis Carroll's THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: "They were standing under a tree, each with an arm round the other's neck, and Alice knew which was which in a moment, because one of them had 'DUM' embroidered on his collar, and the other 'DEE.' 'I suppose they've each got 'TWEEDLE' round at the back of the collar,' she said to herself."

So, "Wait a minute!" you might say. "What are they doing then in a Regency romance?" It is true, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS was only published in 1871, and there is no way Justin de la Mere could have known about Carroll's book in 1816.

 
"Aha!" you will say. "It is an anachronism!" But no, indeed, it is not. Many of the characters in the Alice books are actually characters from old nursery rhymes. So when Alice catches sight of the twins, she bursts out with that rhyme:
 
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.
Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
As black as a tar-barrel;
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel.
 
And of course, at the end of the Tweedledee & Tweedledum episode in THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, the twins do start a quarrel over a rattle, and Alice runs away when the giant crow arrives.
 
According to the OXFORD DICTIONARY OF NURSERY RHYMES, ed. Iona and Peter Opie (1997), it is not quite clear who first coined the phrase "Tweedledum and Tweedledee." John Byrom uses it when he describes the feud that broke out between Bononcini and Händel in 1725, but the phrase is also attributed to Swift and to Pope.
 
All considered, it is indeed likely that Justin would have known about Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
 
 
 
[Welcome] [About the Author] [Bookshelf] [Fridge Poetry] [Appearances] [Gallery] [Links] [Contact]