12. Henry V. iii. 7. 72.

"Constable [to

Dauphin]. Yet do I not use my horse for my mistress, or any such proverb so little kin to the business."

13. Id. iii. 7. 124:

"Orleans. Ill will never said well! Constable. I will cap that proverb with 'There is flattery in friendship.'

Orleans. And I will take up that with 'Give the devil his due.'

Constable. Well placed.

Have at

the eye of that proverb with 'A pox of the devil!'

6

Orleans. You are the better at proverbs, by how much A fool's bolt is soon shot." " We have here an allusion to the game of "capping proverbs," which was like that of " capping verses." For "fool's bolt " (a blunt-headed arrow) compare As You Like It, v. 4. 67.

14. 2 Henry VI. iii. 1. 170:

"The ancient proverb will be well effected, 'A staff is quickly found to beat a dog."" 15. Coriolanus, i. 1. 209. See the passage, p. 44 above.

16. Hamlet, iii. 2. 359: "Ay, sir, but 'while the grass grows'—the proverb is something musty." The complete proverb

66

occurs in Whetstone's Promos and Cassandra, 1578: Whyle grass doth growe, oft sterves the seely steede; and the Paradise of Daintie Devises, 1578: "While grass doth growe, the silly horse he starves."

17. Romeo and Juliet, i. 4. 37:

"For I am proverb'd with a grandsire phrase:

I'll be a candle-holder and look on."

That is, one who holds a candle as an assistant, but does not join in the game or sport.

IV. Saw.-1. Lucrece, 244: "An old man's saw."

66

2. Love's Labour's Lost, v. 2. 932:

And coughing drowns the parson's saw."

3. As You Like It, ii. 7. 156: "Full of wise saws and modern instances."

4.

5.

Id. iii. 5. 32. See p. 39 above.

Twelfth Night, iii. 4. 413: "A couple or two of most wise saws."

6. 2 Henry VI. i. 3. 61: "Holy saws of sacred writ."

"All saws of

7. Hamlet, i. 5. 100: books, all forms, all pressures past." 8. Lear, ii. 2. 167:

"Good king, that must approve the com

mon saw,

Thou out of heaven's benediction comest To the warm sun!"

The

common form of the proverb was "Out of God's blessing into the warm sun!" that is, "Out of house and home! There may be an allusion to this in Hamlet's "I am too much i' the sun" (i. 2. 67); that is, deprived of my right to the throne. V. Saying.-1. Two Gentlemen of Verona, v. 2. 11:

"But pearls are fair; and the old saying is,

Black men are pearls in beauteous ladies' eyes."

Black here, as often in Shakespeare and his contemporaries, means of dark complexion; but in a book of Shakespeare quotations arranged under subjects (edited by a clergyman, thirty or more years ago), this passage is put under "Negroes."

2. Measure for Measure, ii. 2. 133: 66 Why do you put these sayings upon me?" 3. Love's Labour's Lost, iv. 1. 121: "Shall I come upon thee with an old saying?"

4. Merchant of Venice, ii. 9. 82: "Let's see once more this saying grav'd in gold " (the inscription on the golden casket).

5. Id. iii. 7. 36:

"The ancient saying is no heresy, 'Hanging and wiving goes by destiny.'

6. As You Like It, iii. 2. 136: "Civil sayings."

7. Id. v. 1. 34: "I do now remember a saying: The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.""

8. Henry V. i. 2. 166:

"But there's a saying very old and true: 'If that you will France win,

Then with Scotland first begin.'

9. Id. iv. 4. 73: "But the saying is true,The empty vessel makes the greatest sound.'

Compare p. 122: "Hollow men," etc., and p. 153: "Nor are those empty-hearted,"

etc.

10. Richard III. ii. 4. 16: "Good faith, good faith, the saying did not hold "-referring to the proverb quoted in the speech that precedes: "Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace." Mrs. Cowden

Clarke does not quote this proverb, but she gives (p. 172) York's paraphrase of it in the same speech.

66 6

11. Troilus and Cressida, iv. 4. 15:

"O heart!' as the goodly saying is— 'O heart, heavy heart,

Why sigh'st thou without breaking?' Passages from popular songs often became proverbial.

66

these

It will be seen that many of quotations are not given by Mrs. CowdenClarke, some of the " proverbs or sayings" being merely alluded to by the poet, or given only in part, or not easily detached from the context, or otherwise unavailable.

Page 80. A fresh tapster. This was regarded as one of the most menial of employments, and is often the subject of contemptuous or sarcastic comment. Compare As You Like It, iii. 4. 34: "The oath of a lover is no stronger than the word of a tapster," etc.

Page 81. After execution, etc. That is, a judge sometimes regrets a sentence after it is too late.

Page 81. Surfeit. Compare pp. 87, 108, and 217.