Headnote

The figure to whom all pay court in this dialogue is Henry Herbert (1656/7– 1733), eighth Earl of Pembroke and fifth Earl of Montgomery, in his role as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (‘L.L’). The Dublin Castle location gives rise to ‘the Castilian Language’ (with a play on the language of Castile as the standard form of Spanish). Pembroke had been appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1707 and Lord High Admiral in November 1708, but would be replaced in the former role and agree to resign the latter in 1709. The punsters include Thomas Ashe (‘Tom A.’); Sir Andrew Fountaine (‘Sr A.F.’); Dillon Ashe (‘Dill’); St George Ashe, Bishop of Clogher and Swift's former tutor (‘Bp.Cl.’). Of the Ashe brothers, cherished members of Swift's social circle, Thomas was the eldest, St George the middle brother, and Dillon the youngest. The figures on whom the punsters hone their wit appear to be Swift's physician Dr Richard Helsham (‘Dr. H.’); Thomas Molyneux, a key figure in the Dublin Philosophical Society (‘Dr. Molnx.’); and Pembroke's chaplain Thomas Milles, formerly Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford, soon to become Bishop of Waterford (‘Dr Mi.lls’). Mr F. makes a single literally minded contribution thatmay identify him as Charles Ford, who did not share Swift's love of punning.

Davis regretted that ‘though there is some attempt at imitation of the different manner of speaking, the conversation is mainly a string of puns or riddles’. Jokes are indeed made at the expense of companions presented as tediously pedantic in their attachment to the literal, and Mayhew, placing the piece in the wider context of Swift's love of puns, conjures a milieu in which punning was of the essence: