FOOTNOTES:

"Toiling much and spoiling more, great charge smal gains or none,Soon sets thine host at Needham's shore, to craue the begger's bone."

On the contrary, if he would prosper, let him "Set up shop on the Goodwin sands," a most unpromising locality, one would imagine, until we realise that the saw-maker means "good win." "As plain as the Dunstable road" sounds straightforward enough, especially when we recall that Dunstable is on Watling Street, one of the noble main roads of the Romans; but the humour (save the mark!) of the thing is in the playon the idea of "dunce." In "Redgauntlet" we read: "If this is not plain speaking, there is no such place as downright Dunstable"—i.e.the meaning of the remark is so plain that even a mere fool, the veriest dunce, could not fail to grasp it.

In Lincolnshire, when anyone is not over-acute, they delicately say, "He was born at Little Wittham," hence the cause of his having so little wit: the actual spelling is Witham. On the decease of anyone it is said, "He is gone to Deadham." In Sussex, if a man were slow over his work, they would say, "He is none of Hastings," the idea of haste being somehow involved. The dwellers in the little town of Ware were pleased to say that it was "worth all London." Fuller, who wrote a delightful folio on the counties of England, says: "This, I assure you, is a masterpiece of the vulgar wits in this county, wherewith they endeavour to amuse travellers. The fallacy lieth in the homonymy of Ware, here not taken for that town so named, but appellatively for all vendible commodities." In the fen districts the frogs are called "Cambridgeshire nightingales." At night, and especially before rain, the frogs make a tremendous croaking. At Ripley, in Surrey, where there is a pond near the village, we have heard them called "The town band."

To be "stabbed with a Bridport dagger" was a delicate way of saying that a man had been hanged. The best hemp used to be grown round this Dorsetshire town, and the place was famous for its manufacture of rope; in fact, an ancient statute was long in force requiring that the cables for the royal navy should be made there.

To be "As thin as Banbury cheese" was a favourite simile with our ancestors. Bardolph, it will be recalled, in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," compares Slender to a Banbury cheese. In "Jack Drum's Entertainment,"1601, we find: "Put off your cloathes and you are like a Banbury cheese, nothing but paring"; while, in a pamphlet issued in 1664, on "The Sad Condition of the Clergy," we read, "Our lands and glebes are clipped and pared to become as thin as Banbury Cheese."[156:A]Another cheese that became proverbial was that of Suffolk. It was locally called "Bang" or "Thump."

"Unrivall'd stands thy county cheese, O Giles!Whose very name alone engenders smiles,Whose fame abroad by every tongue is spoke,The well-known butt of many a flinty joke;Its name derision and reproach pursue,And strangers tell of three times skimm'd sky-blue."

—Blomfield.

"Hunger will break through stone walls, or anything but Suffolk cheese," was one depreciating proverb, and Mowbray says that "It is only fit to be cut up for gate-latches, a use to which it is often applied." Other suggestions for its use are the making of millstones or grindstones or the wheels of barrows. The mention of a wheelbarrow reminds us of the saying, "A Coggleshall job." The residents in Coggleshall were the butts of the country round, and one of the tales against them is that a mad dog running through the place snapped at a barrow, and the people, fearing it might go mad as well, chained it up in a stable till they saw how things would go with it. "The wise men of Gotham," in Nottinghamshire, were similarly made the victims of many stories reflecting on their sagacity. A Gothamite, Andrew Boyde, wrote the "Menye Tales of the Wise Men of Gotham," wherein many of the follies that have been fathered on them are duly set forth. Menin all ages have made themselves merry with singling out some place as the special seat of stupidity; thus the Phrygians were accounted the fools of all Asia, and the anvil for other men's wits to work upon. The men of Gotham were so enamoured of the singing of a cuckoo, we are told, that a number of them joined hands round the hawthorn bush in which it was perched to prevent its escape; while, on another occasion, they endeavoured to divert the course of their river by putting a line of hurdles across.

Local products sometimes figure in these proverbs: thus "a Yarmouth capon" is a bloater,[157:A]and "Colchester beef" is a dish of the sprats that are caught abundantly in that neighbourhood, while the language of "Billingsgate" is a local growth that has attained to proverbial fame. Dryden refers to it in the line, "Parnassus spoke the cant of Billingsgate."

When a man of Newcastle-on-Tyne suspected his companion of anything doubtful he would say, "Let's have no Gateshead," marking the popular local opinion of the folks in the sister town—a case of "the pot calling the kettle black," and no doubt duly resented by a Gateshead sarcasm of equal strength.

The "fair maids of Suffolk" and the "Lancashire beauties"[157:B]were recognised, by their respective counties at least, as worthy of proverbial recognition for their special charm; while the men of Essex, doubtless unfairly, were dubbed "As valiant as an Essex lion," these lions being the calves for which this county is famous. "As wise as a Waltham calf" was another ironical reference to the Essex folk. In a bookwritten in 1566 we find a man called in to mediate between man and wife declaring—

"Ye will me to a thanklesse office heere,And a busy officer I may appeare,And Jack out of office she may bid me walke,And thinke me as wise as Waltam's calf to talke."[158:A]

In "Dyet's Dry Dinner," 1599, after dispraise of veal as an article of food, the author says that "Essex calves the proverb praiseth, and some are of the mind that Waltome calfe was also that countrey man."

A common proverb in Yorkshire is, "A Scarborough warning," equivalent to "a word and a blow and a blow first." Several explanations have been given of this adage. One explanation was that if ships passed the castle without saluting it a shot was fired into them, but in an old ballad another theory is started—

"This term, Scarborow warning, grew, some say,By hasting hanging for rank robbery theare,Who that was met, but suspect in that way,Strait he was trust up, whatever he were."

We need scarcely point out that when several reasons are given for anything it is an indication that nothing very satisfactory is forthcoming.

That "Tenterden Steeple is the cause of the Goodwin Sands" is a proverb that was at one time often brought forth when any ridiculous cause was assigned as an explanation of anything. We have alreadyseen how very colloquial Bishop Latimer could be on occasion, and he tells us that a "Mr Moore was once sent with commission into Kent to try out, if it might be, what was the cause of Goodwin's Sands which had stopped up Sandwich Haven. Thither cometh Mr Moore, and calleth all the country before him, such as were thought to be men of experience, and men that could of likelihood best satisfy him of the matter. Among the rest came one in before him, an old man with a white head, and one that was thought to be little less than a hundred years old. When Mr Moore saw this aged man he called him unto him and said, Father, tell me, if you can, what is the cause of the great arising of the sand here about this harbour, which stops it up, so that no ships can arrive here. You are the oldest man I can espy in all the company, so that if any man can tell the cause of it you in all likelihood can say most of it. Yea, forsooth, good Mr Moore, quoth the old man, for I am well-nigh one hundred years old, and no man in this company anywhere near my age. Well then, quoth Mr Moore, how say you to this matter, what think you to be the cause? Forsooth, sir, I think that Tenterden Steeple is the cause of Goodwin's Sands. I remember the building of Tenterden Steeple, and before that was in building there was no manner of talking of any flats or sands that stopped up the haven, and therefore I think that the Tenterden Steeple is the cause of the decay and destroying of Sandwich Haven." This was the tale as the bishop told it, and the explanation seems particularly far-fetched; but one story is good until another is told, and though this as it stands supplied the material for the proverb, there is really a supplement. Time out of mind money was constantly collected to fence the eastern shore of Kent against theinroads of the sea, and such sums were deposited in the hands of the Bishop of Rochester. For many years, the work being so well done, no irruption took place, and the bishop diverted some of the money to the building of a steeple to Tenterden Church. People dwelt in a false security, and the dykes were gradually growing weaker, until at last the catastrophe came. The old man's tale was quite rational, had he been allowed to finish it, but the audience, impatient of his garrulousness, and ready for a laugh at his expense, did not give him an opportunity to do so. It was not the ignorance of the speaker but the impatience of the auditors that supplies the true moral of the story.

Any extended reference to old collections of proverbs, to county histories, to old plays, and such-like sources of information would readily yield a large harvest of these local allusions, but enough has been brought forward to illustrate the nature of them, and for our purpose a specimen twenty is as satisfying as an illustrative hundred.

[125:A]A South African species of this genus is called by the settlers and natives, "Waht en beetje"—wait a bit, because its crooked thorns catch their clothes as they journey.

[125:B]A quaint and true old proverb that says cheese and means it too is this, "The king's cheese goes half away in parings," so many dependants being ready to help themselves to a share of it.

[126:A]Holland's translation.

[129:A]The Italians have it, "Chi prende, si vende"—"He sells himself who accepts a gift."

[130:A]"Easy it isOf a cut loaf to steal a shive."—"Titus Andronicus."

[130:A]

"Easy it isOf a cut loaf to steal a shive."—"Titus Andronicus."

[131:A]"Every man has just as much of vanity as he wants understanding."

[131:B]Another old English proverb says, "Send a fool to market and a fool he will come back." The Italians have it, "Chi bestia va à Roma bestia retorna," and the ancient Romans made the discovery that "Cœlum non animam mutant qui trans mare currunt."

[131:C]"The man that once did sell the lion's skin while the beast lived, was killed with hunting him."—Shakespeare,Henry V.

[132:A]"Kleine Diebe henkt man, vor grosser zieht man den Hut ab"—"Petty thieves are hanged," say the Germans, "but people take off their hats to great ones."

[134:A]Or again: "If you crush spice it will be the sweeter."

[136:A]A poem full of suggestive thoughts, as, for instance:—"He that in southe no vertu usit,In age alle honure hym refusit.""Ever the hiere that thou art,Ever the lower be thy hert.""Deme the best of every doute,Tyl the truthe be tryed out."

[136:A]A poem full of suggestive thoughts, as, for instance:—

"He that in southe no vertu usit,In age alle honure hym refusit."

"Ever the hiere that thou art,Ever the lower be thy hert."

"Deme the best of every doute,Tyl the truthe be tryed out."

[136:B]"'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours, and ask them what report they bore to heaven." "Think nought a trifle, though it small appear, sands make the mountain, moments make the year, and trifles life."

[137:A]"To wilful men the injuries which they themselves procure must be their schoolmasters"; or, in more colloquial phrase, "Experience is a dear school, but fools learn in no other."

[140:A]This side of the question may be seen somewhat forcibly put in John Halle's "Historick Expostulation against the beastlye Abuses of Chyrurgerie and Physicke," 1565.

[141:A]"Aske Medicus counsell ere medcine ye make,And honour that man for necessitie's sake,Though thousands hate physick because of the cost,Yet thousands it helpeth that else should be lost.""Five hundred pointes of good husbandrie," by Tusser, 1573. It will be noted that it is "ye make"; nowadays it would have to be written "ye take." The verse is from a section on "Good huswifelie physicke." The farmer's wife herself cultivates a goodly store of"Cold herbes in her garden for agues that burne,That ouer strong heate to good temper may turne,"such as "Endiue and Suckerie," "Water of Fumentorie, liver to coole." "Conserve of the Barbarie, quinces as such, With Sirops that easeth the sickly so much," must also be provided, to say nothing of "Spinnage ynough."

[141:A]

"Aske Medicus counsell ere medcine ye make,And honour that man for necessitie's sake,Though thousands hate physick because of the cost,Yet thousands it helpeth that else should be lost."

"Five hundred pointes of good husbandrie," by Tusser, 1573. It will be noted that it is "ye make"; nowadays it would have to be written "ye take." The verse is from a section on "Good huswifelie physicke." The farmer's wife herself cultivates a goodly store of

"Cold herbes in her garden for agues that burne,That ouer strong heate to good temper may turne,"

such as "Endiue and Suckerie," "Water of Fumentorie, liver to coole." "Conserve of the Barbarie, quinces as such, With Sirops that easeth the sickly so much," must also be provided, to say nothing of "Spinnage ynough."

[145:A]In Shakespeare's "Henry V." we read how the Constable of France and the Duke of Orleans thus bandied proverbs: "Orl.Ill will never said well.Con.I will cap that proverb with—there is flattery in friendship.Orl.And I will take that up with—give the devil his due. You are the better at proverbs, by how much?—a fool's bolt is soon shot."

[149:A]"Set thee up waymarks."—Jeremiahxxi. 21."Is this the path of sanctity? Is thisTo stand a waymark in the road to bliss?"—Cowper,Progress of Error.

[149:A]"Set thee up waymarks."—Jeremiahxxi. 21.

"Is this the path of sanctity? Is thisTo stand a waymark in the road to bliss?"

—Cowper,Progress of Error.

[150:A]In some cases it is "backer," as though the comparative, "more back."

[151:A]"Nydyote" is really an idiot, even as "naddere" in old books is really an adder.

[153:A]"Many, when a thing was lent them, reckoned it to be found, and put them to trouble that helped them. Till he hath received he will kiss a man's hand; and for his neighbour's money he will speak submissively: but when he should repay he will prolong the time, and return words of grief, and complain of the time."—Ecclesiasticus,B.C.200.An old English proverb declares that "Lent seems short to him that borrows money to be paid at Easter."

An old English proverb declares that "Lent seems short to him that borrows money to be paid at Easter."

[156:A]This thinness would appear to have been of bulk, not of quality. "Some preferre Cheshire Cheese, and others also commend the cheese of other countries; but Banbury Cheese shall goe for my money."—Cogan'sHaven of Health, 1612.

[157:A]"Few capons, save what have more fins than feathers, are bred in Yarmouth. But to countenance this expression, I understand that the Italian Friers, when disposed to eat flesh on Fridays, call a capon 'piscem e corte,' a fish of the coop."—Fuller.

[157:B]A Doctor of Divinity, fearing, we may presume, that such high praise might turn a head here and there, improved the occasion for the benefit of these ladies—"I believe that the God of Nature, having given fair complection to the Women in this County, Art may spare her pains in endeavouring to better them. But let the Females of this County know that, though in the Old Testament express notice be taken of the beauty of many Women—Sarah, Rebekah, Rachael, Abigail, Thamar, Abishag, Esther—yet in the New Testament no mention is made at all of the fairness of any Woman, not because they wanted, but because Grace is chief Gospel-beauty, and this is far better than skin-deep Fairness."

[158:A]A proverb of like import is this, "He talks in the bear-garden tongue."

Proverbs suggested by Animals—Animal Characteristics: Sagacity, Fidelity, Cunning, Greed, etc.—The Horse—The Dog—The Cat: her Nine Lives; the Catspaw; falling on Feet; in Mittens—The Ass—Pearls before Swine—A Pig in a Poke—The Wrong Sow by the Ear—The Sheep—The Shorn Lamb—The Bull—The Goose—The Hen—Roasting Eggs—The Bird and her Nest—Birds of a Feather—Catching with Chaff—Roasted Larks—The Fox—The Wolf; in Sheep's Clothing—The Bear—The Mouse—Belling the Cat—Fish Proverbs—The Laborious Ant—The Worm that turns—Similes: from the Animal Kingdom; from Household Surroundings; from various Callings; from divers Colours

The animal life around him has always been an object of interest to man. Some creatures, like the horse, the dog, or the camel, he has trained to minister to his wants—for man is at his lowest level of sympathy and intelligence, the lowest type of savage, when we find him absolutely alone—while others, like the fox or the wolf, have necessarily become of concern to him in their power of molestation, disturbing his peace and thwarting his interests. In either case the very varying nature of the animals amidst which he dwelt has attracted his notice, since the fidelity of the dog, for example, the cunning of the fox, the sagacity of the elephant, could not fail to impress themselves upon his mind. Far away in the mist of a great antiquity the Old Testament has numerous allusions to the lessons that may be derived from the observation ofanimals, while Æsop and many other writers have made the various creatures the subject of their writings and evolved lessons for the benefit of mankind from their varying dispositions. We are, therefore, entirely prepared to find that in proverb-lore also the animal kingdom has been largely drawn upon, and we propose to give some few examples of this.

We are told that "It is a good horse that never stumbles," a proverb that reminds us to make allowance for others and to take heed to ourselves. We are warned, too, that "Boisterous horse must have boisterous bridle," that those who incline to resist authority have no cause for complaint if the hand of authority press somewhat hardly upon them. A fairly analogous adage is that "Mettle is dangerous in a blind horse." That "A horse is neither better nor worse for his trappings" teaches us to look below the surface in forming our judgments, and then again there is the well-known and excellent warning that "One may take a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink," a hint that one cannot always have one's own way, and that the co-operation of the other party in the arrangement is an essential point. To "Get upon the high horse" is to take up a needlessly dignified position, and make oneself somewhat unpleasant in the process; while "Putting money on the wrong horse," a saw suggested by the race-course, implies that one has supported the wrong side and helped on, through folly or ignorance, a matter that we had much better have left alone.[162:A]The caution, "Do not lash a willinghorse," is often necessary, and the hopelessness of "Flogging a dead horse," endeavouring to infuse life into a defunct cause, sometimes needs a reminder; while the "Working for a dead horse" is almost as disheartening a process. The Spaniards in such a case say, "When the money is paid the arms are broken."

That "One must not look a gift-horse in the mouth" is a lesson in the proprieties of immense antiquity; we find it, for instance, in the writings of St Jerome in the fourth century. A mediæval writer tells us that "A gyuen hors may not be loked in the tethe." Rabelais says it must not, and the author of "Hudibras" says it must not; in fact there is an abundance of testimony to this effect, extending over centuries. The Frenchman says, "À cheval donné il ne faut pas regarder aux dens"; the Portuguese says, "Cavallo dado nao se repara a idade"; and the Spaniard says, "Caval donate non guardar in bocca"; and all over the world we find this delicacy of feeling advocated. In the proverb, "He is a proud horse that will not carry his own provender," we have a good lesson quaintly put. In Puttenham's "Arte of Englishe Poesie," 1589, we are instructed that "When we misplace our wordes and set that before which should be behind, we call it in English proverbe, 'The cart before the horse.'" The unequal way in which Fortune appears to work is borne home to us in the strong, yet scarcely too strong, statement that "One man may steal a horse while another may not look over the gate"; or, as Lily, in his "Endimion," hath it, "For as some man may better steale a horse than another looke over a hedge." In the "Paradise of Daynty Devices," 1578, we find this couplet—

"To whom of old this proverbe well it serves,While grasse doth growe the silly horse he sterves."

In the more modern guise this is "While the grass is growing the steed is starving." It may at first sight appear a little hard to brand the horse as silly, since he can in no way be held responsible for the backward condition of the meadow, but we must remind our readers that "silly" is one of the words that has greatly changed its significance—it originally meant harmless or innocent.

"Money," we are told, "will make the mare to go," and the finding of "a mare's nest" is a feat that is still now and then performed.

"Why doest thou laugh?What mare's nest hast thou found?"

—Beaumont and Fletcher,Bonduca.

In France it is the rabbit's nest, "nid le lapin," that people sometimes discover.

It is a curious thing that the fidelity and affection of the dog get little or no recognition in proverb-lore. This may possibly arise from the fact that in the East, the original source of many of our proverbs, the dog is held in no esteem. He is an outcast, the scavenger of the streets. "Him that dieth in the city shall the dogs eat"; and "Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing?" was the indignant outburst of Hazael. In classic days it was said of a morose, ill-conditioned person, "A black dog has walked over him," and at the present day such a person is said to have "the black dog on his back." The dog of the fabulist that dropped the substance for the shadow was held up as a warning in his greed and folly, and "to dog" a person is not to lavish canine affection on them by any means; while a favourite piece of nursery teaching was, and perhaps still is, that "Dogs delight to bark and bite." "Every dog," we are told, "has his day," and "Loveme, love my dog," has sometimes been made a stipulation. Latimer puts it more pleasantly, "Whosoever loveth me loveth my hound"—from his regard for me he will for my sake look kindly on what he knows to be dear to me.

To him who is hungry any food is welcome—"À la faim il n'y a point de mauvais pain," and therefore "Hungry dogs will eat dirty pudding." "Let sleeping dogs lie" is excellent counsel; the precept is not in the interest of the sleepers but of those injudicious enough to disturb their slumbers. "It is nought goode," writes Chaucer in his "Troylus and Cryseyde," "a sleping hound to wake," and again in the "Frankeleine's Tale," "Wyf, quod he, lat slepen that is stille"; while Shakespeare writes, in "Henry VIII.":—

"This butcher's cur is venom-mouth'd, and IHave not the power to muzzle him; therefore bestNot wake him in his slumber."

In Italy and Germany we have the same proverb, but it becomes in France "N'as tu pas tort de reveiller le chat qui dort," a much less formidable proceeding; and in Spain we find the variant, "When sorrow is asleep do not awaken it." Another Spanish proverb, and one of excellent wisdom, is "Though your blood-hound be gentle do not bite him on the lip." It is, by the way, remarkable how gentle big dogs are, mastiffs, retrievers, Newfoundlands, and the like, while being mauled and hauled by small children. Little Bessie, aged five, might venture to any extent on her great companion's forbearance and magnanimity, while we, reader, must exercise much more discretion.

"Give a dog a bad name and then you may as well hang him"[165:A]is a true and very oft-quoted adage.One less well known is "He that would hang his dog gives out first that he is mad."[166:A]He who is about to do something dubious first bethinks himself of some plausible excuse that appears to justify his action, and when this is accepted he is free from all fear of interference. The Greeks say that "He who keeps another man's dog shall have nothing left but the line." If he endeavour to keep it dishonestly—in fact, to become a dog-stealer—he cannot complain if such care as he has bestowed comes to nought and nothing is left to him but the cord and the food-bill. One old commentator would tell us that the meaning is that "He who bestows a benefit upon an ungrateful person loses his cost." This is a common enough experience, but it scarcely appears to be a moral springing from this proverb. The dog, stolen, tied up, amongst strangers, has no particular reason to feel grateful! The following proverb, "Wash the dog and comb the dog, still the dog remains the dog," indicates that externals do not affect the real nature.

Other doggy sayings are: "Two dogs agree not well over one bone," "Brawling curs have torn ears," "A scalded dog dreads cold water." Those who, having a good staff of assistants, find that much of the burden and responsibility yet weighs on them, will appreciate the point of the adage, "What, keep a dog, and bark myself?" a proceeding that certainly seems unreasonable. The Turks have a happy proverb that "The dog barks, but the caravan passes," its fussy interference being simply ignored. The Spaniards declare,in like manner, that "More are threatened than are stabbed," while the Dutch with equal wisdom advise us that "No one dies of threats." The Danes very happily warn us against judging too hastily in the hint that "An honest man is none the worse because a dog barks at him."

The cat takes its place in our proverb-literature. The "Kilkenny cats" that fought so desperately have often been quoted as a warning to warring factions, and tenacity of purpose gone mad and self-destructive. The old belief that a cat has nine lives has also got embalmed in an adage, and the question will be recalled, in "Romeo and Juliet," "What wouldst thou have with me?" the reply being, "Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives."[167:A]Yet "Care," we are told, "will kill a cat." While we may accept this saw on its moral side, and learn from it a lesson against despondency, its zoological side is open to grave question. A cat dying of anxiety may fairly be bracketted off with the broken-hearted oyster crossed in love. The "Grinning like a Cheshire cat," in a continual state of mirthful good humour, suggests a quite opposite phrase of feline nature. To "let the cat out of the bag" is another old saying that will at once occur to the reader; a less known, but very good one, Scotch in its birth, is, "He that puts the cat in the pock kens best how to tak' her oot." Another good proverb of like nature is, "Who will carry the cat to the water?"—i.e.who will endeavour to carry the plan through, undeterred by the difficulty of its accomplishment? To be made "a catspaw of" is also a very expressive saying; it arose fromthe old fable of the monkey using the cat's paw instead of his own to rake out chestnuts from the glowing embers. To live "a cat-and-dog life" is to lead such an existence of strife and snarl as one ordinarily sees in the aversion felt by these two animals for each other. The old saw, "A cat may look at a king," has, too, ordinarily been used as an impertinence.[168:A]In France its equivalent is "Un chien regarde bien l'évêque."

"Where window is open cat maketh a fray,Yet wilde cat with two legs is worse, by my fay."[168:B]

The cat utilised as an excuse for other people's shortcomings has always been a favourite subject. Thus—"How can the cat help it if the maid be a fool?" On the other hand, the cat's larcenous propensities must be reckoned with, so we have the disheartening thought for the thrifty housekeeper, "What the good wife spares the cat eats," and "It's easy learning the cat the way to the churn." The Arabs say, "He trusted the keys of the pigeon-house to the cat," but on the other hand, "Honest is the cat when the meat is on the hook." Of him who declines to be turned aside by trifles, the Scottish proverb may be quoted, "He's ower auld a cat to draw a strae before." The man whose affairs, big and little, run smoothly, and whose ventures, however speculative they may be, are successful, may be said to be "Like a cat, he always falls on his feet." This power of falling on her feet from any height is a most valuable gift for pussy, and saves her from many a mishap.

The cat has her enthusiastic admirers, but as a friend of man she is ordinarily held in no greatesteem. "Make much of the cat, and she will fly in your face." She is too commonly treacherous, selfish, and unreliable. We have more than once seen, and our experience cannot be unique, a cat fondled and stroked and made much of, suddenly savagely bite or scratch the hand that has been caressing it.

Pussy as a follower of the chase has suggested the proverb, "The cat that is always crying catches nothing," and the better known saw, "A cat in mittens catches no mice." "Fain would the cat fish eat, but she's loath her feet to wet"; and in Chaucer's "House of Fame" we find an interesting reference to this—

"Ye be like the slepie catThat would have fish; but wost thou what?He will nothing weate his clawes."

The "slepie cat," dormant on the hearth-rug, is, of course, like its confrères of the jungle, a nocturnal animal, and in the hours of darkness often becomes a little more wakeful than is altogether appreciated. As a songster of the night, instead of receiving merely barren compliments on its performance, it often gets the much more tangible reward of a boot, lump of coal, cake of soap, or such-like little token of appreciation as the auditor may find most readily come to hand.

A very venerable proverb indeed tells us that "The ass and his master do not always think alike." Phædrus, living nearly nineteen hundred years ago, had a fable in his collection to illustrate this. He pictures to us a man resting by the road-side, and his ass grazing near him. The man, suddenly catching sight of an advancing enemy, says that they must at once decamp that they be not captured, whereupon the donkey asks, "Will they clap on me a double load?" and the man can only reply that he does not supposethat they will. "Then," said the donkey, "what matters it to me to whom I belong?"

"He that makes himself an ass must not mind if men ride him," truly says the old English proverb, and another is like unto it, "When all men say you are an ass it is time to bray." It is no less true that "If an ass goes travelling he will not come back a horse." The locality changes, but under every sky the traveller remains much as he started. The ancient Romans declared that "One ass rubs another," a lesson in mutual help. When a coward boasts what great things he will do, or a fool assumes the philosopher, "An ass in a lion's skin" is suggested—from the fable that an ass once decking himself in the skin of the lion, was so elated at the terror he created that he could not forbear braying his delight, a performance which entirely altered the whole complexion of things and the animal stood revealed, the mere ass that he really was.[170:A]"The ass is wagging his ears" is a hit at those who, understanding little or nothing of the matter in question, assume a grave demeanour and an attitude of close attention. Two German proverbs may be quoted here, as they are both good: "The ass dreams of thistles," and "One ass nicknames another, Long-ears." The Spaniards have a very expressive adage, "The ass knows well in whose face he brays," a warning against too great a familiarity with unsuitable companions, or we shall infallibly find ourselves exposed to great liberties and a free-and-easy "Hail fellow, well met" manner that give us cause for repentance.

The Arabs have a happy reflection on those who, when we are in an intricate business, raise additionaldifficulties instead of smoothing our path, "A narrow lane and the ass kicking."

A lesson of contentment is found in this homely saw: "Better the head of an ass than tail of a horse"—to be valued in a low position is far preferable to being the fag-end of a higher. We once heard a man of some considerable influence in a country town declare that he was there a whale amongst the minnows, but that if he moved to the metropolis, as his family were desiring him to do, he should be but a minnow amongst the whales. Such a man would entirely appreciate this proverb. Another lesson of very similar import is seen in this: "Better an ass that carries us than a horse that throws us." A very quaint and shrewd utterance is: "Now I have got a donkey, everyone says, Good morning, John." Things are looking up, and friends are beginning to come in.[171:A]Finally, the Spanish caution: "He who wants an animal without fault may go afoot," that particular kind not often coming into the market.

The Sermon on the Mount and other discourses of our Lord afford us numerous examples of the national Jewish proverbs.[171:B]"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," is one illustration of this kind of popular folk-lore, and "Cast not your pearls before swine," is another; and in the old Greek proverb, "A scorpion for a perch," we have practically, "If he asks a fish will he give him a serpent?"

The Spaniards say, "Echar magaritas a puercos,"and this throwing of pearls before swine re-appears in English proverb-lore, and, indeed, much further afield.

To "buy a pig in a poke" is to make a purchase without knowing really what one is buying. The alliteration has, no doubt, given the saying an added popularity. In France it is, "acheter chat en poche," or "acheter le chat pour le lièvre," a cat being palmed off as a hare on the incautious purchaser. We see now, too, how a determination to see for oneself would "let the cat out of the bag," and expose the trickery of the proceeding.

When a man has heedlessly made a bad bargain he is said, ironically, to have "brought his pigs to a pretty market"—the advantageous sale of his pig being a very important matter to the country cottager, meaning the payment of his rent, the clearing of the score at the village shop, and his general rehabilitation in the ranks of the solvent.[172:A]The generally unsympathetic and unsociable nature of the pig and his human counterparts is expressed in such sayings as: "Feed a pig and you will have a hog," and "What can you expect from a hog but a grunt?" while its "wallowing in the mire," and being well content to have it so,[172:B]has also been utilised as a warning.

A bit of homely advice, quaintly put, is found in this—"Do not drive black hogs at night." "Much cry and no wool" is the result of shearing swine, a hopeless task. The adage is often met with. In Fortescue's treatise on "Absolute and Limited Monarchy," written over four hundred years ago, we find a reference to "the man that scheryd his hogge, moche crye and nowull." In a book published in 1597 it runs: "Of the shearing of hogges there is great crie for so little wolle," and we find the saying again in "Hudibras" and many other books, and in old plays.

In "Hudibras," too, may be found the equally familiar expression, "wrong sow by the ear," a proverb of great antiquity that occurs frequently in the old dramas. We are told by some etymologists that the sow in question is not porcine at all, but is a large tub with handles. Sowsed meat is meat that has been in pickle in one of these sows. To have got the wrong sow (by the ear or handle for facility of moving) is to have brought the wrong vessel. To confirm this view they quote the old Latin proverb, "Pro amphora urceolus"—instead of the great amphora you have brought me a small pitcher. Either reading will serve the turn, and is of like significance in application—the warning against getting hold of an entirely wrong idea and hammering away at it.

To "cast sheep's eyes" on one is to snatch a hasty glance, looking askance with sheep-like timidity on some fair object whose regard has not been won or as yet appealed to. The idea that "One black sheep infects the flock and poisons all the rest" has, we need scarcely say, no warrant in actual fact, though, morally, a black sheep is a dangerous addition to any flock, a something to be promptly eliminated from regiment, workshop, school, or whatever other body he may be infecting or exposing to risk of contagion. A much more attractive adage is the well-known declaration, "God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." The French say, "À brebis tondue Dieu mesure le vent," and the English proverb, as we find Herbert using it in 1640, is a repetition of this—"To a close-shorn sheep God gives wind by measure." This shearing process suggested eighteen hundred years ago, or possibly longbefore this,[174:A]the proverb, "Boni pastoris est tondere pecus, non deglubere"—"It is the duty of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them." This note of warning is repeated in the reminder that "The orange that is too hard squeezed yields a bitter juice," both proverbs teaching moderation.

It is a pleasant little saying that "He who has one sheep in the flock will like all the rest the better for it." In these happy islands the fear of the wolf has long been extinct, but in other lands the sheep and the wolf are often bracketted together in their proverbs; thus in France one is warned against a too self-effacing humility in this world in the words, "He that maketh himself a sheep shall be eaten of the wolf"; while another lesson of worldly prudence is taught in the Italian proverb, "It is a foolish sheep that makes the wolf his confessor." The Spaniard says, "Oveja que bala bocada pierde"—"The sheep loses a mouthful when it bleats," a proverb which seems to encourage mere greediness at the expense of social converse, but which we may take more favourably to imply that it is better to stick steadily to one's work than break off for useless interruptions and, possibly, querulous complaints.

A "bull in a china shop" calls up a picture of tremendous uproar and devastation. The ancient Greeks substituted "An ass peeping." Menander, three hundred years before the Christian era, refers to it, as do Lucian and others. The story upon which it is founded is, that an ass, being driven along the road, put its head into the shop of a potter. This potter was a great lover of birds, and had many of them in his shop, and the sudden appearance of the ass's great head frightened them and led to a bigsmashing up of the crockery. The moral may be found in another ancient saying—"A mad beast must have a sober driver." The Latin "Bovem in lingua habet"—"He has an ox on his tongue"—is a hint that the man has been bribed to silence or false speech, an ox being a favourite device on the coins. Another saying of like significance is that, "The man has a bone in his mouth." A valuable lesson to the discontented, a warning that necessary troubles must be endured, that duties may not be shirked, is this—"To what place can the ox go where he will not plough?"

That the malicious cannot do all the harm they would is happily suggested in the adage, "Curst cows have curt horns." This proverb is centuries old, and is merely a translation from an ancient Latin[175:A]original—if indeed it be safe to suggest any date when this proverb sprung into birth—for it is quite possible that Noah quoted it as a bit of the good old wisdom of his forefathers.

It is scarcely necessary to remind our readers of, and much less to expound for their benefit, so familiar a saying as, "A regular John Bull."

The goose appears in several adages, one rather severe one being, that "If all fools wore white we should look a flock of geese." One could readily acquiesce in this if the adage said "they"; it is the "we" that is so painful. It is held that the goose is a foolish bird,[175:B]but how much more foolish was hewho, having a goose that laid him a golden egg each day, cut the bird open to get at once the whole store. "Much would have more, and so lost all." The man who cannot say "Bo! to a goose" is rightly regarded as a poor creature. A very sarcastic adage is that which satirises the man who, having gained great wealth by dubious means, endeavours to buy over Heaven and his own conscience by a little cheap almsgiving in the words—"He steals a goose and gives away the giblets to the poor." We must not overlook, either, the great charter of freedom and equality enshrined in "What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander." "To shoe the goose" is now quite obsolete as a saying, though it was at one time very popular as a suggestion to those people, fussy busybodies, who will keep meddling in other people's affairs. It was a task that would take them, at all events, some little time, give their energies something to work on, and was no more useless than many of their toils. In the "Parliament of Byrdes," written about 1650, we read that he "Who wyll smatter what euery man doos maye go helpe to shoo the goose." There is a useful word of warning in the following:—"A goose-quill may be more dangerous than a lion's claw" to one attacked by it.

There is homely wisdom in the hint that "If you would have a hen lay you must bear with the cackling"; and, of course, the need or otherwise of teaching one's grandmother to suck eggs must not be forgotten. The Greeks phrased the idea as "Teachinga dolphin to swim," while the French say: "The goslings want to drive the geese to pasture." Two useful proverbs in this connection are that "There is reason in roasting eggs," a right and a wrong way for almost everything, and "Don't carry all your eggs in one basket."

A crotchety, fanciful individual, regarded by most people as a little peculiar, has, in English proverbial phrase, "A bee in his bonnet," or "Is bitten by a maggot," while the French say, "He has a rat in his head," and the Dutchmen account for his eccentricities by crediting him with a mouse's nest in his brains.

The Italians say: "Si prendono piu mosche col miele che coll' aceto"—"More flies are caught by honey than by vinegar." To arrive at any desired result, sweetness of manner will carry matters on much more efficaciously than the reverse.

"Where there are industrious persons there is wealth," and "Where bees are there is honey." Steady industry must reap a reward. On the other hand, we find a proverb, "To poke one's hand into a hornet's nest," and receive the painful reward of indiscreet meddling thereby.

An old English proverb hath it that "It is an ill bird that bewrays its own nest." Skelton, writing in 1520, declares how

Back to Index Next