E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Bunkum.
Claptrap. A representative at Washington being asked why he made such a flowery and angry speech, so wholly uncalled for, made answer, “I was not speaking to the House, but to Buncombe,” which he represented (North Carolina).
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“America, too, will find that caucuses, stumporatory, and speeches to Buncombe will not carry men to the immortal gods.”—Carlyle: Latter-day Pamphlets (Parliaments, p. 93).
