International Day of Intangible Cultural Heritage: John Ray’s Proverbs
The 17th October is the International Day of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This day aims to raise awareness of protecting “living heritage”, specifically aspects such as: oral traditions and stories; traditional proverbs and sayings; social practices; rituals; performing arts; and traditional crafts. In the spirit of this Day, this post will focus on some of John Ray’s proverbs.
In 1670, whilst he was living at Middleton Hall, John Ray published the first edition of A Collection of English Proverbs. This book additionally included, in his words, the most celebrated proverbs of the Scotch, Italian, French, Spanish and other languages. Subsequent editions followed, which contained more proverbs that his previous editions had inspired people to send to him. Ray stated that this inspiration had been his hope when publishing the proverbs.
Proverbs are considered a fundamental part of verbal art and oral heritage by capturing wit, wisdom, customs, truths and social values. In his preface, Ray defined a proverb as an instructive sentence or a common and pithy sentence in which more is generally designed than expressed, famous for its peculiarity and elegance and therefore adopted by the learned as well as the vulgar. He commented that proverbs were not to be considered insignificant trifles fit only for school boys, since the most learned, since the time of the Ancients, had studied and recorded them passing them on to their successors. Hence, he claimed that the knowledge of them was an honourable study.
The first chapter of the book contained proverbs that were found in other collections of proverbs. However, he wrote that those in this chapter were generally no longer in common use and were primarily borrowed from other languages. The chapter was divided alphabetically and included proverbs such as:
Antiquity is not always a mark of verity.
Beauty draws more than oxen.
Cruelty is a tyrant that’s always attended with fear.
Death keeps no calendar.
Envy never enriched any man.
Such a father, such a son.
Good and quickly seldom meet.
Hell is full of good meanings and wishes.
Industry is fortune’s right hand, and frugality her left.
The truest jests sound worst in guilty ears.
Many do kiss the hands they wish to see cut off. (Spanish)
Love rules his kingdom without a sword.
Mills and wives are ever wanting.
Nothing have, nothing crave.
Old friends and old wine are best. (French)
Patience is a flower grows not in everyone’s garden.
Riches are but the baggage of fortune.
Ships fear fire more than water.
They talk of Christmas so long that it comes.
Unknown unkissed.
Valour that parleys is near yielding.
War is death’s feast.
Youth and white paper take any impression.
The next chapters concerned proverbs related to various themes such as: health and diet; husbandry, weather and seasons; and love, wedlock and women. Ray noted that even though English wives were considered to be treated very well in comparison to those in Europe, the English men seemed to have created a great many more insulting proverbs about women. These chapters included proverbs such as:
Early to go to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
March in January, January in March I fear.
April showers bring forth May flowers.
A swarm of bees in May, is worth a load of hay; But a swarm in July, is not worth a fly.
An evening red and a morning grey; Is a sign of a fair day.
Hot love is soon cold.
Love is blind.
Marry your sons when you will, your daughters when you can.
He that would the daughter win; Must with the mother first begin.
Winter weather and women’s thoughts change oft.
When a couple are newly married, the first month is honeymoon or smick-smack; the second is, hither and thither; the third is thwick-thwack; the fourth, the Devil take them that brought thee and I together.
The next chapter was on joculatory, nugatory and rustic proverbs, including proverbs such as:
As broad as long. Ray explained that it meant to take something whatever way you wanted as there was no difference.
Cream-pot love. Ray explained that it referred to young fellows pretending to be in love with dairy maids to get cream or other good things.
It’s a good fish if it were caught. Ray explained that this referred to when something was often spoken of as a considerable good but had not actually happened. Thus, it was a future good, which was of little worth if never had.
She hath been at London to call a strea a straw, and a waw a wall. Ray explained that this was a Cheshire proverb said by common people in scorn of those who had gone to London and were then ashamed to speak their own dialect.
He pisses backwards. Ray explained that it meant doing the opposite.
Tis sooner said than done.
A Scotch warming-pan. Ray explained that this referred to a wench and came about from the well-known tale of a gentleman travelling to Scotland. The gentleman, desirous of having his bed warmed, asked for it to be done, but there being neither bellows nor warming pans, returned to find the serving maid having doffed her clothes and lain down in it.
The next chapter contained a few various miscellaneous proverbial sayings. After that, was an alphabetical chapter of proverbs that were entire sentences, which included proverbs such as:
Out of sight out of mind.
Beggars must be no choosers.
You must cut your coat according to your cloth.
Speak well of the dead.
The early bird catches the worm.
Every man hath his faults.
All is not gold that glisters.
Make hay while the sun shines.
Strike while the iron is hot.
The kettle calls the pot black arse.
Better late than never.
The more the merrier; the fewer the better cheer.
Love thy neighbour.
Never too old to learn.
Without pains no gains.
Anything for a quiet life.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Seeing is believing.
Give a thief rope enough and he’ll hang himself.
Nothing ventured nothing have.
Nothing is impossible to a willing mind.
Young men think old men fools, and old men know young men to be so.
The following chapter was proverbial phrases that were not entire sentences and included proverbs such as:
They agree like cats and dogs.
His brains are addled.
To carry coals to Newcastle.
To make both ends meet.
Out of the frying pan into the fire.
He has more guts than brains.
To harp upon the same string.
To break the ice.
To kill with kindness.
He’s on his last legs.
To measure his cloth by another’s yard.
To hold one’s nose to the grindstone.
To have an oar in every man’s boat.
Pigs fly in the air with their tails forward.
To call a spade a spade.
Topsy turvy.
You cannot see wood for trees.
The next chapter was similes including ones such as “As busy as a bee” and “As clear as crystal”. Following that was a chapter on proverbial rhymes, which included “Jack Sprat he loved no fat, and his wife she loved no lean; And yet betwixt them both they licked the platters clean.” Finally, the remaining chapters included: proverbs sent by various individuals from around England; Scottish proverbs; and Hebrew proverbs.
Further Reading: John Ray, A Collection of English Proverbs, 4th edition, 1768.
Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.
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