Folk-lore of Shakespeare

“There’s no man in the worldMore bound to’s mother; yet here he lets me prateLike one i’ the stocks.”

Again, in the “Comedy of Errors” (iii. 1), Luce speaks of “a pair of stocks in the town,” and in “King Lear” (ii. 2), Cornwall, referring to Kent, says:

“Fetch forth the stocks! —You stubborn ancient knave.”

It would seem that formerly, in great houses, as in some colleges, there were movable stocks for the correction of the servants. Putting a person in the stocks, too, was an exhibition familiar to the ancient stage. In “Hick Scorner,”850 printed in the reign of Henry VIII., Pity is placed in the stocks, and left there until he is freed “by Perseverance and Contemplacyon.”

Strappado. This was a military punishment, by which the unfortunate sufferer was cruelly tortured in the following way: a rope being fastened under his arms, he was drawn up by a pulley to the top of a high beam, and then suddenly let down with a jerk. The result usually was a dislocation of the shoulder-blade. In “1 Henry IV.” (ii. 4), it is referred to by Falstaff, who tells Poins: “were I at the strappado, or all the racks in the world, I would not tell you on compulsion.” At Paris, says Douce,851 “there was a spot called l’estrapade, in the Faubourg St. Jacques, where soldiers received this punishment. The machine, whence the place took its name, remained fixed like a perpetual gallows.” The term is probably derived from the Italian strappare, to pull or draw with violence.

Toss in a Sieve. This punishment, according to Cotgrave, was inflicted “on such as committed gross absurdities.” In “1 Henry VI.” (i. 3), Gloster says to the Bishop of Winchester:

“I’ll canvass thee in thy broad cardinal’s hat,If thou proceed in this thy insolence.”

It is alluded to in Davenant’s “Cruel Brother” (1630):

“I’ll sift and winow him in an old hat.”

Wheel. The punishment of the wheel was not known at Rome, but we read of Mettius Tuffetius being torn asunder by quadrigæ driven in opposite directions. As Shakespeare, remarks Malone, “has coupled this species of punishment with another that certainly was unknown to ancient Rome, it is highly probable that he was not apprised of the story of Mettius Tuffetius, and that in this, as in various other instances, the practice of his own times was in his thoughts, for in 1594 John Chastel had been thus executed in France for attempting to assassinate Henry IV.”

Coriolanus (iii. 2) says:

“Let them pull all about mine ears, present meDeath on the wheel, or at wild horses’ heels.”

Whipping. Three centuries ago this mode of punishment was carried to a cruel extent. By an act passed in the 2d year of Henry VIII., vagrants were to be carried to some market-town, or other place, and there tied to the end of a cart, naked, and beaten with whips throughout such market-town, or other place, till the body should be bloody by reason of such whipping. The punishment was afterwards slightly mitigated, for, by a statute passed in 39th of Elizabeth’s reign, vagrants “were only to be stripped naked from the middle upwards, and whipped till the body should be bloody.” The stocks were often so constructed as to serve both for stocks and whipping-posts.852 Among the numerous references to this punishment by Shakespeare, we may quote “2 Henry IV.” (v. 4), where the beadle says of Hostess Quickly: “The constables have delivered her over to me, and she shall have whipping-cheer enough, I warrant her.” In the “Taming of the Shrew” (i. 1), Gremio says, speaking of Katharina, “I had as lief take her dowry with this condition, – to be whipped at the high-cross every morning,” in allusion to what Hortensio had just said: “why, man, there be good fellows in the world, an a man could light on them, would take her with all faults, and money enough.” In “2 Henry VI.” (ii. 1), Gloster orders Simpcox and his wife to

“be whipped through every market-town,Till they come to Berwick, from whence they came.”

Wisp. This was a punishment for a scold.853 It appears that “a wisp, or small twist of straw or hay, was often applied as a mark of opprobrium to an immodest woman, a scold, or similar offender; even, therefore, the showing it to a woman, was considered a grievous affront.” In “3 Henry VI.” (ii. 2) Edward says of Queen Margaret:

“A wisp of straw were worth a thousand crowns,To make this shameless callat854 know herself.”

A wisp, adds Nares, seems to have been the badge of the scolding woman in the ceremony of Skimmington;855 an allusion to which is given in a “Dialogue between John and Jone, striving who shall wear the breeches,” in the “Pleasures of Poetry,” cited by Malone:

“Good, gentle Jone, with-holde thy handes,This once let me entreat thee,And make me promise never more,That thou shalt mind to beat me.For fear thou wear the wispe, good wife,And make our neighbours ride.”

In Nash’s “Pierce Pennilesse” (1593) there is also an amusing allusion to it: “Why, thou errant butter-whore, thou cotquean and scrattop of scolds, wilt thou never leave afflicting a dead carcasse? continually read the rhetorick lecture of Ramme-alley? a wispe, a wispe, you kitchen-stuffe wrangler.”

CHAPTER XIX

PROVERBS

In the present chapter are collected together the chief proverbs either quoted or alluded to by Shakespeare. Many of these are familiar to most readers, but have gained an additional interest by reason of their connection with the poet’s writings. At the same time, it may be noted that very many of Shakespeare’s pithy sayings have, since his day, passed into proverbs, and have taken their place in this class of literature. It is curious to notice, as Mrs. Cowden-Clarke remarks,856 how “Shakespeare has paraphrased some of our commonest proverbs in his own choice and elegant diction.” Thus, “Make hay while the sun shines” becomes

“The sun shines hot; and if we use delay,Cold biting winter mars our hoped-for hay,”

a statement which applies to numerous other proverbial sayings.

“A black man is a jewel in a fair woman’s eyes.” In the “Two Gentlemen of Verona” (v. 2), the following passage is an amusing illustration of the above:

“Thurio. What says she to my face?Proteus. She says it is a fair one.Thurio. Nay then, the wanton lies; my face is black.Proteus. But pearls are fair; and the old saying is,Black men are pearls in beauteous ladies’ eyes.”

In “Titus Andronicus” (v. 1) there is a further allusion to this proverb, where Lucius says of Aaron,

“This is the pearl that pleas’d your empress’ eye.”

“A beggar marries a wife and lice.” So in “King Lear” (iii. 2), Song:

“The cod-piece that will house,Before the head has any,The head and he shall louse;So beggars marry many.”

Thus it is also said: “A beggar payeth a benefit with a louse.”

“A cunning knave needs no broker.” This old proverb is quoted by Hume, in “2 Henry VI.” (i. 2):

“A crafty knave does need no broker.”

“A curst cur must be tied short.” With this proverb we may compare what Sir Toby says in “Twelfth Night” (iii. 2), to Sir Andrew: “Go, write it in a martial hand; be curst and brief.”

“A drop hollows the stone,” or “many drops pierce the stone.” We may compare “3 Henry VI.” (iii. 2), “much rain wears the marble,” and also the messenger’s words (ii. 1), when he relates how “the noble Duke of York was slain:”

“Environed he was with many foes;And stood against them, as the hope of TroyAgainst the Greeks, that would have enter’d Troy.But Hercules himself must yield to odds;And many strokes, though with a little axe,Hew down and fell the hardest-timber’d oak.”

“A finger in every pie.” So, in “Henry VIII.” (i. 1), Buckingham says of Wolsey:

“no man’s pie is freedFrom his ambitious finger.”

To the same purport is the following proverb:857 “He had a finger in the pie when he burnt his nail off.”

“A fool’s bolt is soon shot.” Quoted by Duke of Orleans in “Henry V.” (iii. 7). With this we may compare the French: “De fol juge breve sentence.”858

“A friend at court is as good as a penny in the purse.” So, in “2 Henry IV.” (v. 1), Shallow says: “a friend i’ the court is better than a penny in purse.” The French equivalent of this saying is: “Bon fait avoir ami en cour, car le procès en est plus court.”

“A little pot’s soon hot.” Grumio, in “Taming of the Shrew” (iv. 1), uses this familiar proverb: “were not I a little pot, and soon hot, my very lips might freeze to my teeth,” etc.

“A pox of the devil” (“Henry V.,” iii. 7).

“A smoky chimney and a scolding wife are two bad companions.” There are various versions of this proverb. Ray gives the following: “Smoke, raining into the house, and a scolding wife, will make a man run out of doors.”

Hotspur, in “1 Henry IV.” (iii. 1), says of Glendower:

“O, he’s as tediousAs a tired horse, a railing wife;Worse than a smoky house.”

“A snake lies hidden in the grass.” This, as Mr. Green859 remarks, is no unfrequent proverb, and the idea is often made use of by Shakespeare. Thus, in “2 Henry VI.” (iii. 1), Margaret declares to the attendant nobles:

“Henry my lord is cold in great affairs,Too full of foolish pity: and Gloster’s showBeguiles him, as the mournful crocodileWith sorrow snares relenting passengers,Or as the snake, roll’d in a flowering bank,With shining checker’d slough, doth sting a child,That for the beauty thinks it excellent.”

Lady Macbeth (i. 5) tells her husband:

“look like the innocent flower,But be the serpent under’t.”

Juliet (“Romeo and Juliet,” iii. 2) speaks of:

“Serpent heart, hid with a flowering face.”

“A staff is quickly found to beat a dog.” Other versions of this proverb are: “It is easy to find a stick to beat a dog;” “It is easy to find a stone to throw at a dog.”860 So, in “2 Henry VI.” (iii. 1), Gloster says:

“I shall not want false witness to condemn me,Nor store of treasons to augment my guilt;The ancient proverb will be well effected, —A staff is quickly found to beat a dog.”

“A wise man may live anywhere.” In “Richard II.” (i. 3), John of Gaunt says:

“All places that the eye of heaven visits,Are to a wise man ports and happy havens.”

“A woman conceals what she does not know.” Hence Hotspur says to his wife, in “1 Henry IV.” (ii. 3):

“Constant you are,But yet a woman: and for secrecy,No lady closer; for I well believeThou wilt not utter what thou dost not know, —And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate.”

“All men are not alike” (“Much Ado About Nothing,” iii. 5).861

“All’s Well that Ends Well.”

“As lean as a rake.” So in “Coriolanus” (i. 1), one of the citizens says: “Let us revenge this with our pikes, ere we become rakes.” So Spenser, in his “Fairy Queen” (bk. ii. can. 11):

“His body leane and meagre as a rake.”

This proverb is found in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” (i. 289):

“Al so lene was his hors as is a rake.”

“As thin as a whipping-post” is another proverb of the same kind.

“As mad as a March hare” (“The Two Noble Kinsmen,” iii. 5). We may compare the expression “hare-brained:” “1 Henry IV.” (v. 2).

“As sound as a bell.” So in “Much Ado about Nothing” (iii. 2), Don Pedro says of Benedick: “He hath a heart as sound as a bell.”

“As the bell clinketh, so the fool thinketh.” This proverb is indirectly alluded to in “Much Ado About Nothing” (iii. 2), in the previous passage, where Don Pedro says of Benedick that “He hath a heart as sound as a bell, and his tongue is the clapper; for what his heart thinks, his tongue speaks.”

Another form of the same proverb is: “As the fool thinks, the bell tinks.”862

“As true as steel.” This popular adage is quoted in “Troilus and Cressida” (iii. 2):

“As true as steel, as plantage to the moon.”

We may also compare the proverb: “As true as the dial to the sun.”

“At hand, quoth pick-purse” (“1 Henry IV.,” ii. 1). This proverbial saying arose, says Malone, from the pickpurse always seizing the prey nearest him.

“Ay, tell me that and unyoke” (“Hamlet,” v. 1). This was a common adage for giving over or ceasing to do a thing; a metaphor derived from the unyoking of oxen at the end of their labor.

“Baccare, quoth Mortimer to his sow.” With this Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps compares Gremio’s words in the “Taming of the Shrew” (ii. 1):

“Saving your tale, Petruchio, I pray,Let us, that are poor petitioners, speak too:Baccare! you are marvellous forward.”

Mr. Dyce (“Glossary,” p. 23) says the word signifies “go back,” and cites one of John Heywood’s epigrams upon it:

“Backare, quoth Mortimer to his sow;Went that sowe backe at that bidding, trow you.”

“Barnes are blessings” (“All’s Well that Ends Well,” i. 3).

“Base is the slave that pays” (“Henry V.,” ii. 1).863

“Bastards are born lucky.” This proverb is alluded to in “King John” (i. 1), by the Bastard, who says:

“Brother, adieu; good fortune come to thee!For thou wast got i’ the way of honesty.”

Philip wishes his brother good fortune, because Robert was not a bastard.

“Beggars mounted run their horses to death.”864 Quoted by York in “3 Henry VI.” (i. 4). We may also compare the proverb: “Set a beggar on horseback, he’ll ride to the devil.”

“Begone when the sport is at the best.” Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps quotes Benvolio’s words in “Romeo and Juliet” (i. 5):

“Away, be gone; the sport is at the best.”

To the same effect are Romeo’s words (i. 4):

“The game was ne’er so fair, and I am done.”

“Be off while your shoes are good.” This popular phrase, still in use, seems alluded to by Katharina in “Taming of the Shrew” (iii. 2), who says to Petruchio:

“You may be jogging whiles your boots are green.”

“Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit.” Quoted by the clown in “Twelfth Night” (i. 5).

“Better fed than taught.” This old saying may be alluded to in “All’s Well that Ends Well” (ii. 2) by the clown, “I will show myself highly fed and lowly taught;” and again (ii. 4) by Parolles:

“A good knave, i’ faith, and well fed.”

“Blessing of your heart, you brew good ale.” Quoted by Launce as a proverb in the “Two Gentlemen of Verona” (iii. 1).

“Blush like a black dog.” This saying is referred to in “Titus Andronicus” (v. 1):

“1 Goth. What, canst thou say all this, and never blush?Aaron. Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is.”

“Bought and sold” (“Troilus and Cressida,” ii. 1). A proverbial phrase applied to any one entrapped or made a victim by treachery or mismanagement. It is found again in the “Comedy of Errors” (iii. 1); in “King John” (v. 4); and in “Richard III.” (v. 3).

“Bring your hand to the buttery-bar, and let it drink” (“Twelfth Night,” i. 3). Mr. Dyce quotes the following explanation of this passage, although he does not answer for its correctness: “This is a proverbial phrase among forward abigails, to ask at once for a kiss and a present. Sir Andrew’s slowness of comprehension in this particular gave her a just suspicion, at once, of his frigidity and avarice.” The buttery-bar means the place in palaces and in great houses whence provisions were dispensed; and it is still to be seen in most of our colleges.

“Brag’s a good dog, but Hold-fast is a better.” This proverb is alluded to in “Henry V.” (ii. 3), by Pistol:

“Hold-fast is the only dog, my duck.”865

“Bush natural, more hair than wit.” Ray’s Proverbs. So in “Two Gentlemen of Verona” (iii. 1), it is said, “She hath more hair than wit.”

“By chance but not by truth”866 (“King John,” i. 1).

“Care will kill a cat; yet there’s no living without it.” So in “Much Ado About Nothing” (v. 1), Claudio says to Don Pedro: “What though care killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care.”

“Come cut and long-tail” (“Merry Wives of Windsor,” iii. 4). This proverb means, “Let any come that may, good or bad;” and was, no doubt, says Staunton, originally applied to dogs or horses.

“Comparisons are odious.” So, in “Much Ado About Nothing” (iii. 5), Dogberry tells Verges: “Comparisons are odorous.”

“Confess and be hanged.” This well-known proverb is probably alluded to in the “Merchant of Venice” (iii. 2):

“Bassanio. Promise me life, and I’ll confess the truth.Portia. Well then, confess, and live.”

We may also refer to what Othello says (iv. 1): “To confess, and be hanged for his labour; first, to be hanged, and then to confess. I tremble at it.”

In “Timon of Athens” (i. 2), Apemantus says: “Ho, ho, confess’d it! hang’d it, have you not?”

“Cry him, and have him.” So Rosalind says, in “As You Like It” (i. 3), “If I could cry ‘hem’ and have him.”

“Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool” (“King Lear,” iii. 6). It is given by Ray in his “Proverbs” (1768); see also “Taming of the Shrew” (ii. 1).

“Cucullus non facit monachum.” So in “Henry VIII.” (iii. 1), Queen Katherine says:

“All hoods make not monks.”

Chaucer thus alludes to this proverb:

“Habite ne maketh monk ne feere;But a clean life and devotionMaketh gode men of religion.”

“Dead as a door-nail.” So, in “2 Henry VI.” (iv. 10), Cade says to Iden: “I have eat no meat these five days; yet, come thou and thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead as a door-nail, I pray God I may never eat grass more.”

We may compare the term, “dead as a herring,” which Caius uses in the “Merry Wives of Windsor” (ii. 3), “By gar, de herring is no dead, so as I vill kill him.”

“Death will have his day” (“Richard II.,” iii. 2).

“Delays are dangerous.” In “1 Henry VI.” (iii. 2), Reignier says:

“Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends.”

“Diluculo surgere,” etc. (“Twelfth Night,” ii. 3).

“Dogs must eat.” This, with several other proverbs, is quoted by Agrippa in “Coriolanus” (i. 1).

“Dun’s the mouse” (“Romeo and Juliet,” i. 4). This was a proverbial saying, of which no satisfactory explanation has yet been given. Nares thinks it was “frequently employed with no other intent than that of quibbling on the word done.” Ray has, “as dun as a mouse.” Mercutio says: “Tut, dun’s the mouse, the constable’s own word.”

“Empty vessels give the greatest sound.” Quoted in “Henry V.” (iv. 4).

“Every dog hath his day, and every man his hour.” This old adage seems alluded to by Hamlet (v. 1):867

“The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.”

“Every man at forty is either a fool or a physician.”868 This popular proverb is probably referred to in “Merry Wives of Windsor” (iii. 4), by Mistress Quickly, who tells Fenton how she had recommended him as a suitor for Mr. Page’s daughter instead of Doctor Caius: “This is my doing, now: ‘Nay,’ said I, ‘will you cast away your child on a fool, and a physician? look on Master Fenton:’ – this is my doing.”

“Familiarity breeds contempt.” So, in the “Merry Wives of Windsor” (i. 1), Slender says: “I hope, upon familiarity will grow more contempt.”

“Fast bind, fast find.” In “Merchant of Venice” (ii. 5), Shylock says:

“Well, Jessica, go in:Perhaps I will return immediately:Do as I bid you; shut doors after you;Fast bind, fast find;A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.”

“Finis coronat opus.” A translation of this Latin proverb is given by Helena in “All’s Well that Ends Well” (iv. 4):

“Still the fine’s the crown.”

In “2 Henry VI.” (v. 2), also, Clifford’s expiring words are: “La fin couronne les œuvres.” We still have the expression to crown, in the sense of to finish or make perfect. Mr. Douce869 remarks that “coronidem imponere is a metaphor well known to the ancients, and supposed to have originated from the practice of finishing buildings by placing a crown at the top as an ornament; and for this reason the words crown, top, and head are become synonymous in most languages. There is reason for believing that the ancients placed a crescent at the beginning, and a crown, or some ornament that resembled it, at the end of their books.” In “Troilus and Cressida” (iv. 5), Hector says:

“The fall of every Phrygian stone will costA drop of Grecian blood: the end crowns all;And that old common arbitrator, Time,Will one day end it.”

Prince Henry (“2 Henry IV.,” ii. 2), in reply to Poins, gives another turn to the proverb: “By this hand, thou think’st me as far in the devil’s book as thou and Falstaff, for obduracy and persistency: let the end try the man.”870

“Fly pride, says the peacock.” This is quoted by Dromio of Syracuse, in “The Comedy of Errors” (iv. 3).871

“Friends may meet, but mountains never greet.” This is ironically alluded to in “As You Like It” (iii. 2), by Celia: “It is a hard matter for friends to meet; but mountains may be removed with earthquakes, and so encounter.”

“Give the devil his due.” In “Henry V.” (iii. 7) it is quoted by the Duke of Orleans.

“God sends fools fortune.” It is to this version of the Latin adage, “Fortuna favet fatuis” (“Fortune favors fools”), that Touchstone alludes in his reply to Jaques, in “As You Like It” (ii. 7):

“‘No, sir,’ quoth he,‘Call me not fool till heaven hath sent me fortune.’”

Under different forms, the same proverb is found on the Continent. The Spanish say, “The mother of God appears to fools;” and the German one is this, “Fortune and women are fond of fools.”872

“God sends not corn for the rich only.” This is quoted by Marcius in “Coriolanus” (i. 1).

“Good goose, do not bite.” This proverb is used in “Romeo and Juliet” (ii. 4):

“Mercutio. I will bite thee by the ear for that jest.Romeo. Nay, good goose, bite not.”

“Good liquor will make a cat speak.” So, in the “Tempest” (ii. 2), Stephano says: “Come on your ways: open your mouth; here is that which will give language to you, cat; open your mouth.”

“Good wine needs no bush.” This old proverb, which is quoted by Shakespeare in “As You Like It” (v. 4, “Epilogue”) – “If it be true that good wine needs no bush, ’tis true that a good play needs no epilogue” – refers to the custom of hanging up a bunch of twigs, or a wisp of hay, at a roadside inn, as a sign that drink may be had within. This practice, “which still lingers in the cider-making counties of the west of England, and prevails more generally in France, is derived from the Romans, among whom a bunch of ivy was used as the sign of a wine-shop.” They were also in the habit of saying, “Vendible wine needs no ivy hung up.” The Spanish have a proverb, “Good wine needs no crier.”873

“Greatest clerks not the wisest men.” Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps, in his “Handbook Index to Shakespeare” (p. 391), quotes the following passage in “Twelfth Night” (iv. 2), where Maria tells the clown to personate Sir Topas, the curate: “I am not tall enough to become the function well, nor lean enough to be thought a good student; but to be said an honest man and a good housekeeper goes as fairly as to say a careful man and a great scholar.”

“Happy man be his dole” (“Taming of the Shrew,” i. 1; “1 Henry IV.,” ii. 2). Ray has it, “Happy man, happy dole;” or, “Happy man by his dole.”

“Happy the bride on whom the sun shines.” Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps, in his “Handbook Index to Shakespeare” (p. 392), quotes, as an illustration of this popular proverb, the following passage in “Twelfth Night” (iv. 3), where Olivia and Sebastian, having made “a contract of eternal bond of love,” the former says:

“and heavens so shine,That they may fairly note this act of mine!”

“Happy the child whose father went to the devil.”874 So, in “3 Henry VI.” (ii. 2), King Henry asks, interrogatively:

“And happy always was it for that son,Whose father, for his hoarding, went to hell?”

The Portuguese say, “Alas for the son whose father goes to heaven.”

“Hares pull dead lions by the beard.” In “King John” (ii. 1), the Bastard says to Austria:

“You are the hare of whom the proverb goes,Whose valour plucks dead lions by the beard.”

“Have is have, however men do catch.” Quoted by the Bastard in “King John” (i. 1).

“Heaven’s above all.” In “Richard II.” (iii. 3) York tells Bolingbroke:

“Take not, good cousin, further than you should,Lest you mistake: the heavens are o’er our heads.”

So, too, in “Othello” (ii. 3), Cassio says: “Heaven’s above all.”875

“He is a poor cook who cannot lick his own fingers.” Under a variety of forms, this proverb is found in different countries. The Italians say, “He who manages other people’s wealth does not go supperless to bed.” The Dutch, too, say, “All officers are greasy,” that is, something sticks to them.876 In “Romeo and Juliet” (iv. 2) the saying is thus alluded to:

“Capulet. Sirrah, go hire me twenty cunning cooks.

2 Servant. You shall have none ill, sir; for I’ll try if they can lick their fingers.