'a gentleman, and a scholar'

Posted by ESC on February 20, 2004

In Reply to: 'a gentleman, and a scholar' posted by Ward Fredericks on February 20, 2004

: There are a number of the Phrase Finders, of both genders, who qualify for description by this phrase. I have used it for a long time, and have obviously heard it in many parts of the world without any sense of its origin. Can anyone enlighten me.......?

I don't know if this is the first use. But it is certainly old.

GENTLEMAN AND A SCHOLAR - "His locked, letter, braw brass collar/ Showed him the gentleman an' scholar." "The Twa Dogs," st. 6, by Robert Burns (1759-1796). From Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, by John Barlett and Justin Kaplan, general editor (Little, Brown and Co., Boston, 2002).