# Gentleman and a scholar?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentleman-and-a-scholar/56144>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 28, 2001, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentleman-and-a-scholar/56144 "2001-02-28T02:52:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ivan-Osokin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@Ivan-Osokin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivan-Osokin)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentleman-and-a-scholar/56144/1 "2001-02-28T02:52:05Z")

</div>

To those with more brain power (and free time) than myself…

Today at work a friend said that I was a gentleman. Out of almost pure habit I immediately tacked on, “…and a scholar.”

Hours of search engine pounding later and neither of us can figure out where the “gentleman and a scholar” phrase came from. I’m afraid that WAY too many sites have the phrase contained within their pages.

Anyone know who said/wrote this first? Anyone know who that person was referring to?

Any help would be great.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentleman-and-a-scholar/56144/2 "2001-02-28T03:31:06Z")

</div>

Och aye.

The quotation comes from Robert Burns, a Scottish poet who lived from 1759-1796.  
Acccording to Bartlett’s Quotations, the attribution is from _The Twa Dogs_; which contains the lines

- His locked, lettered, braw brass collar  
Showed him the gentleman and scholar. \*  
And here’s a useful Url [http://www.bartleby.com/100/](http://www.bartleby.com/100/)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentleman-and-a-scholar/56144/3 "2001-02-28T03:36:41Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> ‘Twas in that place o’ Scotland’s isle,  
> That bears the name o’ auld King Coil,  
> Upon a bonie day in June,  
> When wearin’ thro’ the afternoon,  
> Twa dogs, that were na thrang at hame,  
> Forgather’d ance upon a time.
> 
> The first I’ll name, they ca’d him Caesar,  
> Was keepit for His Honor’s pleasure:  
> His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs,  
> Shew’d he was nane o’ Scotland’s dogs;  
> But whalpit some place far abroad,  
> Whare sailors gang to fish for cod.
> 
> \*\*His locked, letter’d, braw brass collar  
> Shew’d him the gentleman an’ scholar; \*\*  
> But though he was o’ high degree,  
> The fient a pride, nae pride had he;  
> But wad hae spent an hour caressin,  
> Ev’n wi’ al tinkler-gipsy’s messin:  
> At kirk or market, mill or smiddie,  
> Nae tawted tyke, tho’ e’er sae duddie,  
> But he wad stan’t, as glad to see him,  
> An’ stroan’t on stanes an’ hillocks wi’ him.

And a pointer to [The Official Robert Burns Web Site](http://www.robertburns.org/works/86.html)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentleman-and-a-scholar/56144/4 "2001-02-28T11:15:20Z")

</div>

[awful joke hijack]  
Tony Blair is being shown around a hospital. He comes to a ward full of people who seem to have nothing wrong with them.

He goes to the first bed and says “Well, how are you.” The patient looks him straight in the eye and says “The best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley!”.

Tony smiles politely, and walks to the next bed, where the patient greets him with a hearty “Och, wad the gods the giftie gie us, to see ourselves as others see us.”

Slightly confused, Tony tries to strike up a conversation with yet another inmate, but this one just mutters “Och, my luv’s like a red, red, rose that’s newly sprung in June” repeatedly.

“Is this the psychiatric ward?” says Tony.

“No,” the ward sister replies. “It’s the Burns Unit.”

[/awful joke hijack] I’ll get my coat…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ivan-Osokin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@Ivan-Osokin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivan-Osokin)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2001, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gentleman-and-a-scholar/56144/5 "2001-03-01T19:22:18Z")

</div>

Thanks a ton for the help!