Grenville was called the `` gentile shepherd '' because he bored the House by asking over and over again , during the debate on the Cider Bill of 1763 , that somebody should tell him `` where '' to lay the new tax if it was not to be put on cider . The nickname of `` gentle shepherd '' was given him because he bored the House by asking over and over again , during the debate on the Cider Bill of 1763 , that somebody should tell him `` where '' to lay the new tax if it was not to be put on cider .