1. Larry. 2. A clam. 3. A pig in clover (or some other congenial substance). 4. A lark. 5. A sandboy.
I don’t know who Larry was, or why he or a clam should be particularly happy. Numbers 3 and 4 are fairly obvious though. But what’s a sandboy? I’d never really thought but just had a vague impression of someone happily making sandcastles, “in the sun that is young once only” *.
A bit of research reveals that (like many proverbial phrases) its origins are contested, but there seems to have been people who sold sand, presumably in towns, not on the beach, for cleaning floors. A bit like sawdust perhaps.
Why the sand-sellers should be so “jolly”, as contemporary writers described them, is not very clear. You can find some interesting theories and research here
Some Happy Organisms
2. A clam.
3. A pig in clover (or some other congenial substance).
4. A lark.
5. A sandboy.
I don’t know who Larry was, or why he or a clam should be particularly happy. Numbers 3 and 4 are fairly obvious though. But what’s a sandboy? I’d never really thought but just had a vague impression of someone happily making sandcastles, “in the sun that is young once only” *.
A bit of research reveals that (like many proverbial phrases) its origins are contested, but there seems to have been people who sold sand, presumably in towns, not on the beach, for cleaning floors. A bit like sawdust perhaps.
Why the sand-sellers should be so “jolly”, as contemporary writers described them, is not very clear. You can find some interesting theories and research here
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/22578/what-is-the-etymology-of-happy-as-a-sandboy
* Fern Hill, Dylan Thomas