"I told him, that I heard Dr. Percy was writing the history of the wolf in Great-Britain. . 'The wolf, Sir! why the wolf? Why does he not write of the bear, which we had formerly? Nay, it is said we had the beaver. Or why does he not write of the grey rat, the Hanover rat, as it is called, because it is said to have come into this country about the time that the family of Hanover came? I should like to see The History of the Grey Rat, by Thomas Percy, D.D., Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty,' (laughing immoderately). . 'I am afraid a court chaplain could not decently write of the grey rat.' . 'Sir, he need not give it the name of the Hanover rat.' Thus could he indulge a luxuriant sportive imagination, when talking of a friend whom he loved and esteemed."
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James Boswell, (1st edition 1791)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Percy_(Bishop_of_Dromore)
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Thomas Percy (Bishop of Dromore)
Thomas Percy (13 April 1729 – 30 September 1811) was a bishop and magazine editor. His Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765) was the first of the great ballad collections, though he may have written some of it himself based on ballad fragments.
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