OLD INVITATIONS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 375, 9 November 1932, Page 6

OLD INVITATIONS

QUAINT FORMS iREPLACED BY STEREOTYPED .... FORMULAE OF MODERN FORMALITY. PIQUANT READING. Severe simplicity marks th'e form of social invitation and reply commonly used in recent years; but piquant reading is furnished by some oM invitation cards, particularly those exchanged among England's Bohemian fr-aternity who often aao.p'ted a form , of broken English in inviting each I other to convivial gatherings. The great wits and writers favouxied this style of expression, and Dr^ Thomas Sheridan, the grandfather of' the dramatist, invited his friend Swift to dinner,by sending him the menu s'at out as follows: — Ago use, a paro dux. Sum fis hes, as a paro soles, a paro places. A pud in'. A ricasei. Arabit astu in. Neu pes. Neu Beans. Alam pi fit fora Minis ter of State. Mi liquor is toc qui, it cotu api Stola quart, a real sumptuous repast. Fit for a king, much less for a Minis ter of State. A f-ashionable form of invitation card in the eighteenth century was a playing-card, on the plairi back of which wer-e written the words which bade friends to breakfast, dinner or evening assembly. These invitations were not infrequently written in verse and answered in the same way, hearts •and diamonds being more popular suits than were clubs and sp'ades. The Duchess of Dorset preferred the 10 of hearts to any other card in the pack, and on sending an invitation to' dinner to the' Rev. Mr. Lewis, the incumbent of Margate, about 1740, she received in reply the following quaint acceptanee: — Complimnt by Verse. Your compliments lady, I pray you for bear. Our old English service is much more sincere; You sent me ten hearts — the tithe's only mine; So give me one heart, and burn t'other nine. The celebrated "musical coalman," Thomas Brittton, issued. a stereotyped form of invitation to his musical club as follows: — On Thursdays repair to my palace, and there Hobble up, stair by stair; but I pray you take care That you break no't your neck by a stumble; And without 'e're a souse, paid to me or my spouse, Sit still as a mouse, at the top of the house, And there you shall hear how we fumble. As the "palace" was an attic above a coalshed where Britton sold coal, some such warning was necessary; but it was in these inartistic premises that the finest concerts of the day were given* concerts which attracted all the musical talent and the people of fashion, led by the famous Duchess of Queensberry.

One of the regular performers was Handel, who played the organ; but even the organ was defective, as it only had fivd stops. An invitation card is extant by which Mrs. Inchbold, the celebrated actress and playwright, was invited to Harbecourt Buildings, Temple, "To tea, walk, and talk at half-past seven o'clock." An example of frankness is the following: — "Lord and Juady Spencer request the honour of company at dinner at half after six o'clock on . An answer is particularly desired. Nobody waited for after 7

o'clock." The letters R.S.V.'P,. /were fiirst mentioned in 1781, on the card of Lord and Lady Kerry, and it is only in the last 50 years that this form has been generally adopted in England. The j Duchess on one occasion requested. her lady guests "to come without a hoop1." More invitations were issued in conn,ection°with" card parties than the ordinary social functions, and one can imagine what an intolerable nuisance these hoops are furebelows must have been. When Sir Joshua Reynolds removed to his new house, No. 47, Leicester Square, he sent out a number of invitations for "wine and light refreshments"; but when he saw the amazing effect of my lady's farthingale, he had his staircase widened and curved. Matter of Degree. It is interesting to note the different wording of the cards of invitation which ranges from a command for attendance by the monarch to the "respectfully invited pi'esdnce" by Messrs. So-and-So. Thus we get: — "The Lord Steward has received their Majesties' commands to invite — to dinner at Windsor Castle at such-and-such a date, and to remain until the following day." Whereas the Controller of the Household is desired by their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales to invite Mi\ So-and-so to dinner on such a date. And an Ambassador, as we see in the case of M. le Comte and Madam la Conrpt'esse de Jarnac, prays Mr. So-and-so to give them the honour of his company, Ordinary people of social equality who bade the presence of friends "about the hour when men sit down to that nourishment which is called supper," used the more impersonal announcement, Mrs. So-and-So, At Home.