<P> TICKLER (aside to SHEPHERD .): He's raving . SHEPHERD (to TICKLER .): Dementit . </P> <P> ODOHERTY (to both .): Mad as a hatter . Hand me a segar . </P> <P> Canadian author Thomas Chandler Haliburton used the phrase twice in his 1835 book The clockmaker; or the sayings and doings of Samuel Slick of Slickville: "And with that he turned right round, and sat down to his map and never said another word, lookin' as mad as a hatter the whole blessed time" and "Father he larfed out like any thing; I thought he would never stop--and sister Sall got right up and walked out of the room, as mad as a hatter . Says she, Sam, I do believe you are a born fool, I vow ." </P>

Where did the phrase mad as a hatter come from