PS: I don’t think it a spoiler to say that Cooke did in fact exist; was a barrister in Colonial Maryland and went back to England, though his family seems to have been and to have remained early tobacco planters and factors in Maryland; and did publish satirical poems of a somewhat bilious nature about America. (Mind you, being the most famous lawyer-poet in the Colony of Maryland must have been a low bar to clear.) He’s obscure (I have no idea who his people were; they’re no known kith of mine), but he was real.
Mm. Pyrotechnics, verbal or otherwise, is a young man's game. Enjoy in moderation. (I shudder to think you may discover Robert Nye next.)
The real danger is me, being an amateur firework-operator, shooting off my thumbs in a mimicking attempt.
'Lefty' and 'Thumbs' are never good nicknames for those in that line of work.
PS: I don’t think it a spoiler to say that Cooke did in fact exist; was a barrister in Colonial Maryland and went back to England, though his family seems to have been and to have remained early tobacco planters and factors in Maryland; and did publish satirical poems of a somewhat bilious nature about America. (Mind you, being the most famous lawyer-poet in the Colony of Maryland must have been a low bar to clear.) He’s obscure (I have no idea who his people were; they’re no known kith of mine), but he was real.