Note 13 — Chapter I · MEDIÆVAL NEWGATE.
Reading edition
“Our ancestors, with a strong love for practical jokes and an equally strong aversion to falsehood and boasting, checked an indulgence in such vices when they became offensive by very plain satire. A confirmed liar was presented with a whetstone to jocularly infer that his invention, if he continued to use it so freely, would require sharpening.”—Chambers’ ‘Book of Days,’ ii. 45.