BILLERICAY

Auckland Star, Volume III, Issue 632, 20 January 1872, Page 2

BILLERICAY

To the Editor of the Evemng Stab. Sib, —Your " Man About Town" is generally absolutely correct in what he writes ; but in his yesterday's critiques on things in general he has made, unwittingly, one small error. He says the parish clerk of Billericay, in Essex, uttered from his desk the astounding words, " Next Sunday being Ash Wednesday, but this year falling on Good Friday, no service will ba conducted in this 'ere church." Now it is well known to geographers that 'acre is a small village not many miles from Billericay called " Gotham" ; and every small boy knows the history of the seven wise men of that place. My grandfather, by the mother's side, was the rector of that same market town of Billericay for a number of years, but never acknowledged the Ash Wednesday business as belonging to that town ; and my mother alwas ascribed the English "bull" to the inhabitants of the wise village of Gotham. The wording, however, was "next Thursday being Ash Wednesday, Divine Service will be held on that day instead of the other." The matter signifies but little, still I wish to wipe from mother's native locality the stigma of having, in the person of any of the inhabitants, been guilty of the horrible " bull." Let Gotham bear it, as she has for the last two generations borne the palm among all English communities for comical xnalprision of the sense of words and phrases. But let not my mother's town, and the fair fame of my reverend grandfather, bo saddled with the stigma of having allowed the parishioners and their leader the clerk to make such a " terrible mull "as this. I don't think much about it, but I do consider Billericay should not be confounded with Gotham." Yours, &c, Thank, i