Covent Garden
Preserved but no longer current.
Captain Xavier, a principal character, is for ever repeating the same yarns, with variations. He was telling about one of his exploits connected with a cork-tree, when Pablo corrected him, "A chestnut-tree, you mean, captain." "Bah! " replied the captain, "I say a cork-tree." "A chestnut-tree," insisted Pablo. " I must know better than you," said the captain; "it was a cork-tree, I say." " A chestnut," persisted Pablo.
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 “Covent Garden” mean?
Captain Xavier, a principal character, is for ever repeating the same yarns, with variations. He was telling about one of his exploits connected with a cork-tree, when Pablo corrected him, "A chestnut-tree, you mean, captain." "Bah! " replied the captain, "I say a cork-tree." "A chestnut-tree," insisted Pablo. " I must know better than you," said the captain; "it was a cork-tree, I say." " A chestnut," persisted Pablo.
Is “Covent Garden” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.