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Than catch and hold while I may, fast binde, fast finde.

Ibid.

And while I at length debate and beate the bush, There shall steppe in other men and catch the burdes.*

Ibid.

While betweene two stooles my taile goe to the ground."

Ibid.

Ibid.

So many heads so many wits."

Wedding is destiny,

And hanging likewise."

lbia.

1 You should hammer your iron when it is glowing hot. PUBLIUS SYRUS: Maxim 262.

Strike whilst the iron is hot. - RABELAIS: book ii. chap. xxxi. WEBSTER: Westward Hoe. Tom A'Lincolne. FARQUHAR: The Beaux' Stratagem, iv. 1.

2 Hoist up saile while gale doth last,

Tide and wind stay no man's pleasure.

ROBERT SOUTHWELL: St. Peter's Complaint. 1595.

Nae man can tether time or tide. - BURNS: Tam O'Shanter.
8 Fast bind, fast find;

A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.

SHAKESPEARE: Merchant of Venice, act ii. sc. 5.

Also in Jests of Scogin. 1565.

4 It is this proverb which Henry V. is reported to have uttered at the siege of Orleans. "Shall I beat the bush and another take the bird?” said King Henry.

5 Entre deux arcouns chet cul à terre (Between two stools one sits on the ground). Les Proverbes del Vilain, MS. Bodleian. Circa 1303.

S'asseoir entre deux selles le cul à terre (One falls to the ground in trying to sit on two stools). — RABELAIS: book i. chap. ii.

6 As many men, so many minds. - TERENCE: Phormio, ii. 3.

As the saying is, So many heades, so many wittes. - QUEEN ElizaBETH: Godly Meditacyon of the Christian Sowle. 1548.

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So many men so many mindes. GASCOIGNE: Glass of Government. 7 Hanging and wiving go by destiny. - The Schole-hous for Women. 1541. SHAKESPEARE: Merchant of Venice, act 2. sc. 9.

Marriage and hanging go by destiny; matches are made in heaven. BURTON: Anatomy of Melancholy, part iii. sec. 2, mem. 5, subs. 5.

Happy man, happy dole.1

God never sends th' mouth but he sendeth meat.

Like will to like.

Proverbes. Part i. Chap. iii,

Chap. iv.

Ibid.

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Feare may force a man to cast beyond the moone.

Ibid.

Nothing is impossible to a willing hart.

Ibid.

The wise man sayth, store is no sore.

Chap. v.

Let the world wagge, and take mine ease in myne

Inne.'

Ibid.

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Ibid.

Ibid.

When all candles bee out, all cats be gray.

No man ought to looke a given horse in the mouth.

SHAKESPEARE: Merry Wives, act iii. sc. 4; BUTLER: Hudibras, part i. canto iii. line 168. esperoyt prendre les alouettes (If the skies fall, RABELAIS book i. chap. xi.

1 Happy man be his dole Winter's Tale, act i. sc. 2. 2 Si les nues tomboyent one may hope to catch larks).

8 To cast beyond the moon, is a phrase in frequent use by the old writers. LYLY: Euphues, p. 78. THOMAS HEYWOOD: A Woman Killed with Kindness.

4 Let the world slide. SHAKESPEARE: Taming of the Shrew, ind. 1; and, Let the world slip, ind. 2.

5 Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn? SHAKESPEARE: 1 Henry

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THOMAS HEYWOOD: History of Women.

7 Hold their noses to the grindstone.

Constable, act iii. sc. 3.

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8 It is more blessed to give than to receive. - John xx. 35.

9 This proverb occurs in Rabelais, book i. chap. xi. ; in Vulgaria Stambrigi, circa 1510; in Butler, part i. canto i. line 490. Archbishop Trench says this proverb is certainly as old as Jerome of the fourth century, who, when some found fault with certain writings of his, replied that they were free-will offerings, and that it did not behove to look a gift horse in the mouth.

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The neer to the church, the further from God."

Chap. ix.

Now for good lucke, cast an old shooe after me.
Better is to bow then breake."

Ibid.

Ibid.

It hurteth not the toung to give faire words.

Ibid.

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To hold with the hare and run with the hound.10

Ibid.

1 RABELAIS: book iv. chap. liv. At my fingers' ends. - SHAKESPEARE: Twelfth Night, act i. sc. 3.

2 The origin of the word "sleveless," in the sense of unprofitable, has defied the most careful research. It is frequently found allied to other substantives. Bishop Hall speaks of the "sleveless tale of transubstantiation," and Milton writes of a "sleveless reason." Chaucer uses it in the Testament of Love. SHARMAN.

8 At their wit's end. Psalm cvii. 27.

4 THOMAS HEYWOOD: If you know not me, etc., 1605.

Jests, 1611.

TARLTON:

5 A relic of the Sumptuary Laws. One of the earliest instances occurs, 1530, in the interlude of Godly Queene Hester.

6 Qui est près de l'église est souvent loin de Dieu (He who is near the Church is often far from God). Les Proverbes Communs. Circa 1500.

7 Rather to bowe than breke is profitable;

Humylite is a thing commendable.

The Morale Proverbs of Cristyne; translated from

the French (1390) by Earl Rivers, and printed by Caxton in 1478.

Fair words never hurt the tongue. - JONSON, CHAPMAN, Marston. Eastward Ho, act iv. sc 1.

9 FLETCHER: Valentinian, act ii. sc. 1.

10 HUMPHREY ROBERT: Complaint for Reformation, 1572. LYLY: Euphues, 1579 (Arber's reprint), p. 107.

She is nether fish nor flesh, nor good red herring.1

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When the steede is stolne, shut the stable durre."

Ibid.

Pryde will have a fall;

For pryde goeth before and shame commeth after."
She looketh as butter would not melt in her mouth.

Ibid.

Ibid.

The still sowe eats up all the draffe.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Ill weede growth fast.10

1 Neither fish nor flesh, nor good red herring. - SIR H. SHERES: Satyr on the Sea Officers. Toм BROWN: Eneus Sylvius's Letter. DRYDEN: Epilogue to the Duke of Guise.

2 Si finis bonus est, totum bonum erit (If the end be well, all will be well). Gesta Romanorum. Tale lxvii.

8 Who that well his warke beginneth,
The rather a good ende he winneth.

4 LYLY: Euphues (Arber's reprint), p. 288.

GOWER: Confessio Amantis.

5 TUSSER: Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, An Habitation Enforced. BUNYAN: Pilgrim's Progress. MATHEW HENRY: Commentaries, Matthew xxi. MURPHY: The School for Guardians.

Potius sero quam nunquam (Rather late than never). - LIVY: iv. ii. 11.

6 Quant le cheval est emblé dounke ferme fols l'estable (When the horse has been stolen, the fool shuts the stable). — Les Proverbes del Vilain.

7 Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. — Proverbs xvi. 18.

Pryde goeth before, and shame cometh behynde. - Trentise of a Gallant. Circa 1510.

8 She looks as if butter would not melt in her mouth. - SWIFT: Polite Conversation.

9 'Tis old, but true, still swine eat all the draff. —SHAKESPEARE: Merry Wives of Windsor, act iv. sc. 2.

10 Ewyl weed ys sone y-growe. - MS. Harleian, circa 1490.

An ill weed grows apace.

CHAPMAN: An Humorous Day's Mirth.

Great weeds do grow apace. - SHAKESPEARE: Richard III. act ii. sc. 4. BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER: The Corcomb, act iv. sc. 4.

It is a deere collop

That is cut out of th' owne flesh.1

Beggars should be no choosers."

Every cocke is proud on his owne dunghill.

Proverbes. Part i. Chap. x

Ibid.

Chap. xi.

Ibid.

Ibid.

The rolling stone never gathereth mosse.*
To robbe Peter and pay Poule.5

A man may well bring a horse to the water,
But he cannot make him drinke without he will.
creepe where it may not goe.

Ibid.

Men kinde will say, The cat would eate fish, and would not wet her feete."

6

Ibid.

Ibid.

While the grasse groweth the horse starveth."

Ibid.

1 God knows thou art a collop of my flesh. - SHAKESPEARE: 1 Henry VI. act v. sc. 4.

2 Beggars must be no choosers.

Scornful Lady, act v. sc. 3.

BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER: The

8 pet coc is kene on his owne mixenne. - pe Ancren Riwle. Circa 1250.

4 The stone that is rolling can gather no moss.- TUSSER: Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry.

A rolling stone gathers no moss. PUBLIUS SYRUS: Maxim 524. GOSSON: Ephemerides of Phialo. MARSTON: The Fawn.

Pierre volage ne queult mousse (A rolling stone gathers no moss). De l'hermite qui se désespéra pour le larron que ala en paradis avant que lui,

13th century.

6 To rob Peter and pay Paul is said to have derived its origin when, in the reign of Edward VI., the lands of St. Peter at Westminster were appropriated to raise money for the repair of St. Paul's in London.

6 You know that love

Will creep in service when it cannot go.

SHAKESPEARE: Two Gentlemen of Verona, ach

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Letting I dare not wait upon I would,

Like the poor cat i' the adage.

Cat lufat visch, ac he nele his feth wete.-. MS. Trinity College, Cambridge, circa 1250.

Whylst grass doth grow, oft sterves the seely steede. WHETSTONE: Promos and Cassandra. 1578.

While the grass grows
The proverb is something musty.

SHAKESPEARE: Hamlet, act iii. sc. 4.

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