Treasures New & Old: Barber, Barber, Shave a Pig!

The nursery rhyme goes;

Barber, barber, shave a pig!

How many hairs will make a wig?

Four-and twenty, that’s enough.

Give the barber a pinch of snuff.

I’m guessing that this nonsense is three or four hundred years old; that’s when rich people wore wigs.

I also guess that there never was a time when any one pig could furnish enough hair or hairs for even one wig. But when did nursery rhymes have to be factual?

As promised last week, a hog, or pig if you prefer, met its end yesterday.

I had pictured this creature as Mr. Porker, a generic swine, just a pig. Therefore when our swine appeared and w...