Daffy-down-Dilly Has come to town With a yellow petticoat And a pretty green gown.
The daffodils put me in mind of that little nursery rhyme which in turn put me in mind of a scene in Dorothy L. Sayers's delightful Unnatural Death in which a lawyer says: 'You are too easily surprised,' said Mr. Towkington. 'Many words have no legal meaning. Others have a legal meaning very unlike their ordinary meaning. For example, the word "daffy-down-dilly." It is criminal libel to call a lawyer a daffy-down-dilly. ha! Yes, I advise you never to do such a thing. No, I certainly advise you never to do it.'
I first read this long before the coming of the Internet and Mr. Google and always wondered what that legal meaning was. And now I know . . .
Thanks to THIS ARTICLE in The Law Society Gazette (UK) I know that in England in the 16th century, to accuse a lawyer of being a daffy-down-dilly (or an 'ambidexter') was to suggest that he was operating under a conflict of interest -- playing both sides to his own advantage.-- and it was a very serious charge. Thanks, Mr. Google!
