“TELL IT MOT IN GATH"

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 14 June 1930, Page 12

“TELL IT MOT IN GATH"

In spite of its tragic origin, this is probably one of the commonest catchphrases in the world. If a golfer, for instance, were to foozle his drive or miss an easy putt, he might say, “Tell it not in Gath,” meaning, “Don’t tell the other fellows!” If an actor, temporarily out of a job, were to he discovered by an old friend busking on tho beach)' he* would say, “Tell it not in Gatll,” meaning, “Don’t breathe it in Maklen-lane!”

The saying is Biblical in its origin. The first to lifter it was David in liis lament on the death of Saul and Jonathan at the battle of Gilboa. Saul had been jealous of David for years, although Jonathan, his son and hear, was David’s most devoted friend. David, being a fugitive, had settled with a handful of faithful followers at Ziklag, a small town in the country of the Philistines. It was here that there was taken to him the news that Saul had fallen upon liis own sword, after being wounded by the Philistines, and that Jonathan also was dead. lie broke out into one of the finest requiems ever uttered: — How are tlie mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath, Publish it not in the streets of Askalon, Let the daughters of the Philistines rejoice. . . Askalon was a seaport of the Philistines, and Gath was an island city of importance in the same corner of Palestine.