This is the first in a series of anecdotes, originating in Great Britain, and which were published in Spanish newspapers throughout past centuries. An anecdote is a short story which tells an interesting or funny tale, a curious fact. Anecdotes are not jokes as their main function is not just to make a person laugh, but also to recount something which is more factual than a short story.
An anecdote is always based on real facts - an incident involving real people in real places.
“The Bad Payer” was published on the 8th November, 1794 in the Diario de Madrid, a major Spanish newspaper which was famed for being the first daily paper, not only in Spain, but in continental Europe. This is how the story went:
An Englishman who rented out carriages spent an entire morning trying to get payment from a London aristocrat who was not well-known for being a prompt payer. What it more, the carriage-owner had the misfortune and coincidence of having the surname of Lloid.
The London nobleman looked at the accounts and saw the entry stating that the debt was 500 guineas (a guinea was a gold coin, worth approximately 21 shillings, which was used as currency in Great Britain before the introduction of the decimal system in 1971). He then asked the coachman earnestly, “Is your name not Lloid?”, to which the coachman replied “Yes, Sir, at your Excellency’s service”. “Do you not write your surname with just the initial letter?” continued to ask the Lord. “That is correct”, replied the coachman, “but my real surname is Floid, but when I sign my name I put an L instead of an F to make the pronunciation easier”. “So you always write it with an L?” asked the Lord. “Yes”, replied the other. “Well, my friend, that’s too bad that the first letter of your name has changed but not the cheques. I don’t deny that I owe you money, but in case you didn’t know already, you should know that for a long time I have been making my payments in alphabetical order of the payee’s surname as there are so many to pay. So, if you had signed as Floid, you would have been paid about a year ago, together with all the others with the letter F. But, seeing as you have changed it to L, it looks like you will have to wait your turn as there are still five more letters left to pay before you….G, H, I, J and K.
Written by Jesús Castro.
Translated by Rachael Harrison.
Sponsored by www.costaluzlawyers.es
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