A Yarmouth capon
Preserved but no longer current.
A red herring. Capon is also an obsolete term for a love- letter, after the Fr. poulet, which means not only a chicken but also a love-letter, or a sheet of fancy notepaper. Thus Henri IV, consult- ing with Sully about his marriage, says: "My niece of Guise wpuld please me best, though report says maliciously that she loves poulets in paper better than in a fricassee.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “A Yarmouth capon” mean?
A red herring. Capon is also an obsolete term for a love- letter, after the Fr. poulet, which means not only a chicken but also a love-letter, or a sheet of fancy notepaper. Thus Henri IV, consult- ing with Sully about his marriage, says: "My niece of Guise wpuld please me best, though report says maliciously that she loves poulets in paper better than in a fricassee.
Is “A Yarmouth capon” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.