Hence the saying "Straight from the horse's mouth"?
I always wondered about the etymology of that expression! I plan on
reading the Bacon passage to my research methods class, as we just
completed our discussion of ways of acquiring knowledge (authority versus
empiricism).
Thank you Richard and others for supplying TIPSters with this info. One of
the reasons I appreciate this list. (Well, that and the geese thing!).
-Max
On Wed, 22 Sep 1999, Richard Platt wrote:
> A web search produced the following page the content of which follows. The web site
>attributes the story to Francis Bacon.
>
> http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/horse.htm
>
> HORSE'S TEETH
>
> In the year of our Lord 1432, there arose a grievous quarrel among
> the brethren over the number of teeth in the mouth of a horse. For
> thirteen days the disputation raged without ceasing. All the
> ancient books and chronicles were fetched out, and wonderful and
> ponderous erudition such as was never before heard of in this
> region was made manifest. At the beginning of the fourteenth day,
> a youthful friar of goodly bearing asked his learned superiors for
> permission to add a word, and straightway, to the wonderment of the
> disputants, whose deep wisdom he sore vexed, he beseeched them to
> unbend in a manner coarse and unheard-of and to look in the open
> mouth of a horse and find answer to their questionings. At this,
> their dignity being grievously hurt, they waxed exceeding wroth;
> and, joining in a mighty uproar, they flew upon him and smote him,
> hip and thigh, and cast him out forthwith. For, said they, surely
> Satan hath tempted this bold neophyte to declare unholy and
> unheard-of ways of finding truth, contrary to all the teachings of
> the fathers. After many days more of grievous strife, the dove of
> peace sat on the assembly, and they as one man declaring the
> problem to be an everlasting mystery because of a grievous dearth
> of historical and theological evidence thereof, so ordered the same
> writ down.
>
> Francis Bacon, 1592
>
>
>
>
> Richard Platt
> St. Mary's College of Maryland
>
>
Maxwell Gwynn, PhD [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Psychology (519) 884-0710 ext 3854
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3C5 Canada
