7 APRIL 1923, Page 16

"PULL DEVIL, PULL BAKER."

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

Sin,—The following passage appears to indicate that the saying is a quotation from a puppet-play or some form of juvenile entertainment.

Scott, Old Mortality, Chap. 88: "Then my mither and her quarrelled, and pu'ed me twa wayes at anes, as if ilk uric had an end o' me, like Punch and the Deevil tugging about the Baker at the fair."—I am, Sir, &c., R. F. PATTERSON, DLitt.

10 Dunure Street, Maryhill, Glasgow.