It is told of Mr
Preserved but no longer current.
Ferguson's grandfather, that he in- vented a pair of fanners for cleaning grain, and for this proof of superior ingenuity he was summoned be- fore the Kirk Session, and reproved for trying to place the handiwork of man above the time-honoured practice of cleaning the gram on windy days, when the current was blowing briskly through the open doors of the barn.
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 “It is told of Mr” mean?
Ferguson's grandfather, that he in- vented a pair of fanners for cleaning grain, and for this proof of superior ingenuity he was summoned be- fore the Kirk Session, and reproved for trying to place the handiwork of man above the time-honoured practice of cleaning the gram on windy days, when the current was blowing briskly through the open doors of the barn.
Is “It is told of Mr” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.