A 1920s joke book by Lord Aberdeen, which has achieved cult status, is to be reissued
A book full of "bafflingly unfunny" jokes from the 1920s by a bearded Scottish laird is to be reissued after achieving cult status among comedians.
Jokes Cracked by Lord Aberdeen was first published in 1929. Though it has been out of print for generations, it has won fans among comedy writers and performers, and has become sought-after on eBay, selling for as much as £70.
A facsimile edition of the original will be published by the Friday Project this month, with an introduction by John Finnemore, the comedy writer, performer and Lord Aberdeen admirer, who describes its contents as "baffling", "unfunny" and "bafflingly unfunny".
"My favourite of the jokes made me laugh out loud when I first read it. I mean, not much, we're not talking breathless paroxysms of mirth here, but definitely audibly," writes Finnemore in his introduction. He goes on to defend the laird: "As someone who knows all too well what it's like to write jokes that aren't as funny as you hoped they'd be, I find myself oddly protective of the author. I like that he enjoyed cracking jokes; I like that despite being a marquess and a former lieutenant governor of Ireland he didn't think it was beneath him to publish a book of them, and I quite like, ooh, at least six of his jokes."
The juxtaposition of the old bearded laird and his love of jokes is part of the book's charm, says Scott Pack of the Friday Project. There are a lot of jokes about religion – one pokes fun at the bishop of London and others are in Scottish dialect that doesn't immediately translate for readers in the south. "It's not a completely terrible joke book," says Pack. "I imagine him telling them after dinner as the port was passed around, and I'm willing to believe that people laughed."
Here are a selection of the laird's jokes so that you may judge for yourself:
Unsettled
"I've seen better days, sir," said a tramp to an Aberdonian, who replied, "So have I – but I havna time to discuss the weather the noo."
Dinna boast
A young woman who had obtained a situation in the south of England was asked by the lady by whom she was employed: "Annie, I know of course by your tongue that you are Scotch, but you have never mentioned the part of Scotland from which you come. Which is it?"
"I come from near Aberdeen, Ma'am," she replied.
"Oh, indeed," said the lady, "but why did you not tell me before?"
"Weel, I didna like tae dee that, Ma'am, because when I was leaving hame ma Mither said, 'Noo, Annie, be sure an' dinna boast.'"
He couldn't say!
A lady remarked to a former bishop of London on one occasion "Oh! Bishop, I want to tell you something very remarkable. An aunt of mine had arranged to make a voyage in a certain steamer, but at the last moment she had to give up the trip; and that steamer was wrecked; wasn't it a mercy she did not go in it?"
"Well, but," replied the bishop, "I don't know your aunt."
Try the Empire
A reminiscence concerning the late Dr Campbell, bishop of Glasgow, which he probably narrated, or which at any rate would be thoroughly appreciated by him was, that some English friend once addressed a letter to "The Right Rev the Bishop of Glasgow, The Palace, Glasgow." The letter was returned from the Post Office, marked, "Not known at the Palace – try the Empire."
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