PENWOMEN'S CLUB.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1938, Page 16

PENWOMEN'S CLUB.

BRITISH HUMOUR. A WIDE SURVEY. "Humour of the British People" was tile subject of an entertaining address by Mr. H. McD. Vincent tit the Penwomen's C'lul) on Friday afternoon. Humour, he said, was not a studied thing. It was constantly changing in some degree, hut its roots were tenacious. There were certain fundamental elements peculiar to the people that do not change. The foundations of national humour, said Mr. Vincent, were based on character. Shakespeare was a great humorist, his humour reflecting the influence of his time, being of the punning type.

Mr. Vincent dealt with the differing types of British humour. Wit was not a characteristic of the English people, he <aid. The English, however, had a great sense of humour, and were prone to see the funny side of things. Mr. Vincent considered there was no English paper to-day which really represented the English people. "Punch" had been accused of snobbery, but its outlook to-day was more middle-class.

Th«re were two distinct types of Scottish humour, he continued, Highland and Lov'and. Ireland also had a reputation for humour. Much Irish humnur was quite unintentional, and arising from a too-rapid flow of speech which tends towards confusion of tlioujfht. An example quoted by Mr. Vincent was. "The Irish cup of woe is overflowing, and is not yet full."

The npeitkcr travelled largely in Wales, but was unable to discover there nnv sense of humour. Although extremely musical the Welsh, he said, had not produced any great musicians. They were an intensely serious people. Mr. Vincent remarked that the Canadian writer, Stephen Leacock. was among the great humorists, but he was not typical of British humour. Australia, continued Mr. Vincent, was developing a definite literature of its own, and also developing its own sense of humour. It was sometimes very grim, and often lacking any sense of reverence, he added. New Zealand humour hnd not this lack of reverence. Many of our people lived more out of contact with others than people in the wilds of Australia. Conditions in New Zealand had made many of the people more taciturn and less inclined for conversation. Mr. Vincent considered that New fZealanders had not developed wit because they had not developed the art of good conversation. The Maoris, concluded the speaker, had a strong fund of humour and possessed natural eloquence. Mr. Vincent illustrated his address by typical humorous stories.

The president, Mrs. Nello Porter, pre sided.