A collection of English proverbs digested into a convenient method for the speedy finding any one upon occasion : with short annotations : whereunto are added local proverbs with their explications, old proverbial rhythmes, less known or exotick proverbial sentences, and Scottish proverbs / by J. Ray, M.A. and Fellow of the Royal Society.

Sentences and Phrases found in the for∣mer Collections of Proverbs, the most of them not now in common use for such, so far as I know, but borrowed of other Language.

A.

• BEtter to go about then to fall into the ditch. Hispan.
• The absent Party is still faulty.
• In vain he craves advice that will not follow it.
• When a thing is done advice comes too late.
• Though old and wise yet still advise.
• It's an ill air where nothing is to be gain'd.
• No Alchymy to saving.
• Good Ale is meat, drink and cloth.
• Anger dieth quickly with a good man.
• He that is Angry is seldome at ease.
• For that thou canst do thy self rely not on another.
• The wholesomest meat is at another mans cost.
• None knows the weight of anothers burden.
• When you are an Anvil hold you still;
• When you are a hammer strike your fill.
• ...

• The Ape so long clippeth her young that at last she killeth them.
• An Ape is an Ape, a varlet's a varlet,
• Though they be clad in silk or scarlet.
• A broken Apothecary a new Doctour.
• Apothecaries would not give pills in sugar unless they were bitter.
• Better ride on an Asse that carries me, then an Asse that throws me.

B

• BE not a baker if your head be of butter. Hispan.
• The ballance distinguishes not between gold and lead.
• There's no great banquet but some fare ill.
• One Barber shaves not so close but another finds work.
• On a good bargain think twice. Ital.
• Barefooted men need not tread on thorns.
• Bashfulness is an enemy to poverty.
• Better to be beaten then be in bad company.
• Beauty is a blossom.
• Beauty draws more then oxen.
• Beauty is no inheritance.
• The begger is never out of his way.
• The begger may sing before the thief. No more then the English of that old Latine verse.

  Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator.

• Better to die a begger then live a begger.
• ...

• Such a beginning such an end.
• He that makes his bed ill lies there.
• If the bed could tell all it knows it would put many to the blush.
• He who lies long in bed his estate feels it.
• Who looks not before finds himself behind.
• Bells call others to the Church, but enter not in themselves.
• Be not too hasty to outbid another.
• Who hath bitter in his mouth spits not all sweet.
• The blind mans wife needs no painting. Hispan.
• He is blind enough who sees not through the holes of a sieve. Hispan.
• That which doth blossom in the Spring will bring forth fruit in the Autumn.
• He that blowes in the dust fills his eyes.
• The body is the socket of the soul.
• It's easie to bowl down hill.
• Brabbling currs never want fore ears.
• The brain that sowes not corn plants thistles.
• The Asse that brayes most ears least.
• Would you have better bread then is made of wheat? Ital.
• Bread with eyes, and cheese without eyes. Hisp. Ita.
• To beg breeches of a bare ars't man.
• As I brew so I must drink.
• There is no deceit in a brimmer.
• Building is a sweet impoverishing. It is called the

  Spanish plague: Therefore as Cato well saith,

  Optimum est alienâ insaniâ frui.

• Building and marrying of children are great wasters Gall.
• ...

• The greatest burdens are not the gainfullest.
• To buy dear is not bounty.
• Buy at a market, but sell at home, Hispan.

C.

• THere is no cake but there is the like of the same make.
• In a calm sea every man is a pilot.
• A good candle-holder proves a good gamester.
• If thou hast not a capon feed on an onyon Gall.
• The Cat is hungry when a crust contents her.
• The liquorish Cat gets many a rap.
• It's a bad cause that none dare speak in.
• He that chastiseth one amendeth many.
• Though the Fox runs, the chicken hath wings.
• The chicken is the Countreys, but the city eats it.
• Wo to the house where there is no chiding.
• The child saith nothing but what he heard at the fire.
• To a child all weather is cold.
• When children stand quiet they have done some harm.
• What children hear at home doth soon fly abroad.
• Children are poor mens riches, are certain cares, but uncertain comforts, when they are little make parents fools, when great, mad.
• A light Christmas a heavy sheaf.
• ...

• The cholerick drinks, the melancholick eats, the Flegmatick sleeps.
• Who never climb'd never fell.
• After clouds comes clear weather.
• Give a clown your finger and he will take your whole hand.
• Coblers and tinkers are the best ale drinkers.
• The Cock crowes, but the hen goes.
• When you ride a young colt see your saddle be well girt.
• The comforters head never akes. Ital.
• He commands enough that obeys a wise man. Ital.
• It's good to have company in trouble.

  Solamen m••seris socios habuisse doloris.

• Keep good men company, and you shall be of the number.
• Confession of a fault makes half amends for it.
• He that contemplates hath a day without a night.
• He may well be contented who needs neither borrow nor flatter.
• He that converseth not with men knoweth nothing.
• Corn in good years is hay, in ill years straw is corn.
• Corn is cleansed with the wind, and the soul with chastning.
• He covers me with his wings, and bites me with his bill.
• A covetous man is like a dog in a wheel that roast∣eth meat for others.
• A dry cough is the trumpeter of death.
• Keep counsel thy self first.
• Counsels in wine seldom prosper.
• ...

• He that will not be counsell'd cannot be help't.
• Courtesie on one side doth never last long.
• Courts have no Almanacks.
• Craft bringeth nothing home.
• To a crazy ship all winds are contrary.
• Credit lost is like a Venice glass broke.
• He that hath lost his credit is dead to the world.
• No man ever lost his credit but he who had it not.
• Crooked logs make streight fires.
• Crosses are ladders that do lead to heaven.
• Carrion crows bewail the dead sheep, and then eat them. Ital.
• Cruelty is a tyrant that's always attended with fear.
• Who is a cuckold and conceals it carries coals in his bosom. Hisp.
• Let every cuckold wear his own horns.
• In rain and Sunshine cuckolds go to heaven.
• A cut-purse is a sure trade, for he hath ready mo∣ney when his work is done.

D.

• YOu dance in a net, and think no body sees you.
• When all is gone and nothing left,
• What avails the Dagger with the Dudgeon heft?
• The danger past and God forgotten.
• No day passeth without some grief.
• It is never a bad day that hath a good night.
• Deaf men go away with the injury.
• It's a wicked thing to make a dearth on's garner.
• Death keeps no Kalender.
• ...

• Men fear death as children to go in the dark.
• Better to go to bed supperless then to rise in debt. Hispan.
• Deeds are fruits, words are but leaves.
• Deeds are males, and words are females.

  I fatti sono maschi, le parole femine. Ital.

• Desires are nourished by delays.
• He looseth his thanks who promiseth and delayeth.

  Gratia ab officio, quod mora tardat, abest.

• A man may loose his goods for want of demanding them.

  Optima nomina non appellando fiunt mala.

• First deserve and then desire.
• Desert and reward seldom keep company.
• Discreet women have neither eyes nor ears.

  La femme de bien n'a ny yeux ny oreilles. Gall.

• Sweet discourse makes short days and nights.
• Diseases are the interests of pleasures.
• All her dishes are chafing dishes.
• The Devil is not always at one door.
• It's an ill battel where the Devil carries the colours.
• Diversity of humours breedeth tumors.
• A man may cause his own dog to bite him.
• The Dog who hunts foulest hits at most faults.
• When a Dog is drowning every one offers him water.
• Dogs wag their tails not so much in love to you as to your bread. Hispan.
• Dogs gnaw bones because they cannot swallow them. Ital.
• Do what thou oughtest, and come what can. Gall.
• ...

• A noble house-keeper needs no doors.
• Do as the Frier saith, not as he doeth. Hispan.
• A great dowry is a bed full of brabbles. Hispan.
• Fine dressing is a foul house swept before the win∣dows.
• He was hang'd that left his drink behind.
• Who loseth his due getteth no thanks.

E

• WIde ears and a short tongue.
• Think of ease, but work on.
• That which is easily done is soon believed.
• Who eats his dinner alone must saddle his horse a∣lone. Hispan.
• You cannot hide an Eel in a sack.
• Good to begin well, better to end well.
• In the end things will mend.
• He that endureth is not overcome.
• No man better knows what good is then he who hath endured evil.
• Envy never enriched any man.
• Of evil grain no good seed can come.
• Bear with evil and expect good.
• Evil gotten evil spent.

  Malè parta malè dilabuntur.

• That which is evil is soon learn't.
• Evil that cometh out of thy mouth flieth into thy bosom.

F.

• WHo hath a fair wife needs more then two eyes.
• Fair is not fair, but that which pleaseth. This is an Italian Prov. Non è bello quel'ch' è bello ma è bello quel'che piace.
• A fair woman and a slash't gown find alway some nail in the way.
• One may sooner fall then rise.
• Fall not out with a friend for a trifle.
• It 's a poor family which hath neither a whore nor a thief in it.
• A fat house-keeper makes lean executors.
• Every one basteth the fat hog, while the lean one burneth.
• Teach your father to get children.
• Such a father such a son.
• The faulty stands on his guard.
• Every ones faults are not written in their foreheads.
• Better pass a danger once then be always in fear. It.
• Reckon right and February hath thirty one days.
• He that hath a fellow-ruler hath an over-ruler.
• Fidlers fare, meat, drink and money.
• Take heed you find not that you do not seek. Ital.
• Well may he smell of fire whose gown burneth.
• The first dish pleaseth all.
• I'll not make fish of one, and flesh of another.
• The fish follow the bait.
• In the deepest water is the best fishing.
• ...

• He that is suffer'd to do more then is fitting will do more then is lawful.
• No man can flay a stone.
• One flower makes no garland.
• None is a fool always, every one sometimes.
• A fool is fulsome.
• A fool demands much, but he is a greater fool that gives it.
• Fools tie knots and wise men loose them.
• If fools went not to market bad ware would not be sold. Hispan.
• One fool makes an hundred.
• If you play with a fool at home he'll play with you in the market.
• Better a bare foot then no foot at all.
• Forgive any sooner then thy self. Gall. Ital.
• The foremost dog catcheth the hare.
• The perswasion of the fortunate swayes the doubt∣full.
• When Fortune smiles on thee take the advantage.
• He who hath no ill fortune is cloy'd with good.
• He that will deceive the Fox must rise betimes.
• Foxes when sleeping have nothing fall into their mouths. This is a French Prov. A Regnard endormi rien ne cheut en la gueule.
• Foxes when they cannot reach the grapes say they are not ripe.
• The best mirrour is an old friend. Gall. Hispan.
• Life without a friend is death with a witness.
• Make not thy friend too cheap to thee, nor thy self to thy friend.
• ...

• When a friend asketh there is no tomorrow. Hisp.
• A true friend should be like a privy, open in ne∣cessity.
• A friend is not so soon gotten as lost.
• Have but few friends though much acquaintance.
• In time of prosperity friends will be plenty.
• In time of adversity not one among twenty.
• A tree is known by the fruit, and not by the leaves.
• The further we go the further behind.

G.

• WHo would be a Gentleman let him storm a town.
• It's not the gay coat makes the Gentleman.
• He giveth twice that gives in a trice.

  Qui cito dat bis dat.

• ...

  Dono molto aspettato e venduto non donato. Ital.

  A Gift long waited for is sold & not given.

• Giving is dead now a days, and restoring very sick.
• Who gives thee a capon give him the leg and the wing. Hisp.
• To give and keep there is need of wit.
• A man of gladness seldom falls into madness.
• Who hath glass-windows of his own must take heed how he throws stones at his house.
• What your glass tells you will not be told by coun∣sel.
• He that hath a body made of glass must not throw stones at another.
• Do not say go but gaw, i. e. go thy self along.
• God deprives him of bread who likes not his drink.
• God healeth, and the Physician hath the thanks.
• ...

• Get thy spindle and thy distaff ready and God will send thee flax.
• God cometh with leaden feet, but striketh with iron hands.
• God comes at last when we think he is furthest off. It.
• God hath often a great share in a little house. Gal.
• God, our parents and our master can never be requi∣ted. Gall.
• No lock will hold against the power of gold. Hisp.
• You may speak with your gold and make other tongues dumb. Ital.
• When we have gold we are in fear, when we have none we are in danger. Ital.
• A good thing is soon snatch't up.
• An handful of good life is better then a bushel of learning. Mieux vaut un poigne de bonne vie que plein muy'de clergie. Gal.
• One never looseth by doing good turns.
• Good and quickly seldom meet.
• Goods are theirs who enjoy them. Ital.
• Gossips and frogs they drink and talk.
• The greatest strokes make not the best musick.
• There could be no great ones if there were no little.
• He that gropes in the dark finds that he would not.
• Many things grow in the garden were never sown there. Hispan.
• The grounsel speaks not save what it heard of the hinges.

H.

• THe wise hand doth not all the foolish tongue speaketh.
• ...

• ... Happy is he who knows his follies in his youth.
• The hard gives no more then he that hath nothing.
• Things hardly attain'd are long retained.
• He who would have a hare to breakfast must hunt over night.
• Good harvests make men prodigal, bad ones provi∣dent.
• He that hath a good harvest may be content with some thistles.
• 'Tis safe riding in a good haven.
• The first point of hawking is hold fast.
• The gentle hawk mans her self.
• When the head aketh all the body is the worse.

  Dum caput infestat labor omnia membra molestat.

• One is not so soon healed as hurt.
• What the heart thinketh the tongue speaketh.
• Who spits against heaven it falls in his face. Hispan.
• Hell is full of good meanings and wishes.
• The high-way is never about.
• Look high and fall into a cowturd.
• Every man is best known to himself.
• Better my hog dirty home then no hog at all.
• Dry bread at home is better then roastmeat abroad.
• He is wise that is honest. Ital.
• Of all crafts to be an honest man is the master-craft.
• A man never surfets of too much honesty.
• Lick honey with your little finger.
• He that likes honey from thorns pays too dear for it.

  This is a French Proverb.

  Trop achepte le miel qui sur espines le leche.

• Honey is sweet but the Bee stings.
• Honour and ease are seldom bedfellows.
• ...

• Who lives by hope dies breaking of wind back∣wards. Ital.
• He that lives in hope danceth without a minstrel. Hispan.
• The horse thinks one thing, and he that rides him a∣nother.
• Lend thy horse for a long journey, thou mayest have him return with his skin.
• All things are soon prepar'd in a well-ordered house
• The foot on the cradle and hand on the distaff is the sign of a good housewife. Hispan.
• An humble-bee in a cowturd thinks himself a King.
• It were more proper to say a Beetle in a cowturd.
• An hungry man an angry man.
• Husbands are in heaven whose wives chide not.

I.

• IDleness turns the edge of wit.
• Idleness is the key of beggery.
• Jest not with the eye nor with religion. Hispan.
• The truest jests sound worst in guilty ears.
• Better be ill spoken of by one before all, then by all before one.
• An ill stake standeth longest.
• There were no ill language if it were not ill taken.
• The best remedy against an ill man is much ground between both. Hispan.
• Industry is fortunes right hand, and frugality her left.
• He goes not out of his way that goes to a good Inn.
• We must not look for a golden life in an iron age.
• ...

• An itch is worse then a smart.
• Itch an ease can no man please.

K.

• WHeresoever you see your kindred make much of your friends.
• A knotty piece of timber must have smooth wedges.
• Many do kiss the hands they wish to see cut off His.
• He that eats the Kings goose shall be choked with the feathers.

L.

• HE that labours and thrives spins gold.
• The lame goeth as far as the staggerer.
• The last suitour wins the maid.
• In a thousand pound of Law there's not an ounce of love.
• The Law is not the same at morning and night.
• The worst of Law is that one suit breeds twenty. Hispan.
• A suit of Law and an urinal bring a man to the hos∣pital. Hispan.
• A good Lawyer an evil neighbour.
• He laughs ill that laughs himself to death.
• Let your letter stay for the Post, not the Post for the letter. Ital.
• A Bean in liberty is better then a comfit in prison.
• Every light is not the Sun.
• Like Author like book.
• Like to like, and Nan for Nicholas.
• ...

• The Lions skin is never cheap.
• A little body doth often harbour a great'soul.
• The little cannot be great unless he devour many.
• Little sticks kindle the fire, but great ones put it out.
• Little dogs start the hare, but the great ones catch it.
• That little which is good fils the trencher.
• He liveth long that liveth well.
• Life is half spent e're we know what it is.
• He that liveth wickedly can hardly die honestly.
• He that lives not well one year, sorrows for it seven.
• It's not how long but how well we live.
• Who lives well sees afar off. Hispan.
• The life of man is a winters day and a winters way.
• He looseth nothing who keeps God for his friend.
• He hath not lost all who hath one throw to cast. Gal.
• London Bridge was made for wise men to pass over, and for fools to pass under.
• Love lives in cottages as well as in Courts.
• Love rules his kingdom without a sword.
• Love being jealous makes a good eye look asquint.
• Love asks faith, and faith asks firmness. Ital.
• They love too much that die for love.
• They who love most are least set by.
• Where love fails we espy all faults.
• A low hedge is easily leapt over.

M.

• A Maid that giveth yieldeth. Ital.
• A maid that laughs is half taken.
• ...

• A maid oft seen, a gown oft worn
• Are disesteem'd and held in scorn.
• Manners make often fortunes.
• When many strike on an anvil they must strike by measure.
• Many ventures make a full fraight.
• Many without punishment, none without sin.
• Many speak much that cannot speak well.
• The March Sun causeth dust, and the wind blows it about.
• When the mare hath a bald face, the filly will have a blaze.
• The market is the best garden. At London they are wont to say; Cheapside is the best garden:
• The married man must turn his staff into a stake.
• Before thou marry, be sure of a house wherein to tarry. Hispan. Ital.
• Honest men marry soon, wise men not at all. Ital.
• He who marrieth for wealth doth sell his liberty.
• Who marrieth for love without money hath good nights and sorry days. Ital. Hispan.
• One eye of the masters sees more then ten of the servants. Ital.
• Though the mastiffe be gentle, yet bite him not by the lip.
• Use the means, and God will give the blessing.
• Measure thrice what thou buyest, and cut it but once. Ital.
• Measure is a merry mean.
• He is not a merchant bare, that hath money, worth or ware.
• ...

• Good to be merry at meat.
• Metal is dangerous in a blind horse.
• Mills and wives are ever wanting.
• The mill cannot grind with the water that is past.
• The abundance of money ruines youth.
• The skilfullest wanting money is scorn'd.
• He that hath money in his purse cannot want a head for his shoulders.
• Ready money will away.
• Money is that Art hath turn'd up trump.
• Money is welcome though it come in a sh—clout,
• The morning Sun never lasts a day.
• The good mother saith not, will you, but gives. Ital.
• You must not let your mouse-trap smell of cheese.
• Musick helps not the tooth-ach.

N.

• ONe nail drives out another. Gall. Un clou pousse l'autre.
• A good name keeps its lustre in the dark.
• He who but once a good name gets,
• May piss a bed and say he sweats. Ital.
• The evil wound is cured, but not the evil name.
• Nature draws more then ten oxen.
• Who perisheth in needless danger is the Devils martyr.
• New meat begets a new appetite.
• When thy neighbours house doth burn, be carefull of thine own.

  Tuares agitur paries cùm proximus ardet.

• ...

• He that runs in the night stumbles.
• The nightingale and the cuckow sing both in one moneth.
• The more noble, the more humble.
• Cold weather and knaves come out of the North.
• Nothing down, nothing up.
• Nothing have, nothing crave.
• By doing nothing we learn to do ill.

  Nihil agendo malè agere discimus.

• It's more painful to do nothing then something.
• He that hath nothing is not contented.
• The Nurses tongue is priviledged to talk.

O.

• THe offender never pardons. Ital.
• The Off-spring of them that are very old or very young lasteth not.
• It's ill healing an old sore.
• He wrongs not an old man, who steals his supper from him. Hispan.
• If the old dog barkes, he gives counsel.
• ...

  Can vecchio non baia ind arno. Ital.

• Old friends and old wine are best. Gall, and old gold.
• Old men, when they scorn young, make much of death. Rather, as Mr. Howell hath it, When they sport with young women.
• When Bees are old they yield no honey.
• The old mans staff is the rapper at Deaths door. His.
• ...

• An old knave is no babe.
• Where old age is evil, youth can learn no good.
• When an old man will not drink, go to see him in a∣nother world. Ital.
• He who hath but one hog makes him fat, and he who hath but one son makes him a fool. Ital.
• One shrewd turn asks another.
• One slumberr invites another.
• All feet tread not in one shoe.
• If every one would mend one, all would be amended.
• One and none is all one. Hispan.
• There came nothing out of the sack but what was in it.
• It's a rank courtesie when a man is forc't to give thanks for his own.
• The smoke of a mans own house is better then the fire of anothers. Hispan.
• Where shall the Ox go but he must labour.
• Take heed of an Ox before, an Asse behind, and a Monk on all sides. Hispan.

P.

• MAny can pack the cards that cannot play.
• Let no womans painting breed thy stomachs fainting.
• Painted pictures are dead speakers.
• On painting and fighting look aloof off.
• He that will enter into Paradise must have a good key.
• ...

• Say no ill of the year till it be past.
• Every path hath a puddle.
• Patch and long sit, build and soon flit.
• Patience is a flower grows not in every ones garden.
• Herein is an allusion to the name of a Plant so called, i. e. Rhabarbarum Monachorum.
• He who hath much pease may put the more in the pot.
• Let every pedler carry his own burden.
• There's no companion like the penny. Hispan.
• He that takes not up a pin sleights his wife.
• He that pitieth another remembreth himself. Hisp.
• Play, women and wine undo men laughing.
• Noble plants suit not a stubborn soil.
• Fly pleasure and it will follow thee.
• Never pleasures without repentance.
• The pleasures of the mighty are the tears of the poor.
• If your plow be jogging you may have meat for your horses.
• Poor men have no souls.
• There are none p••or but such as God hates
• Poverty parteth friends [or fellowship.]
• Poverty is the mother of health.
• True praise takes root and spreads.
• Neither praise nor dispraise thy self, thine actions serve the turn.
• He that will not be saved needs no preacher.
• Prettiness dies quickly.
• Who draws his sword against his Prince, must throw away the scabbard.
• ...

• It's an ill procession where the Devil holds the candle.
• Between promising and performing a man may marry his daughter. Gall.
• He promiseth like a merchant, and pays like a man of war.
• To promise and give nothing is a comfort to a fool.
• He is proper that hath proper conditions.
• Providence is better then rent.
• He hath lest his purse in his other hose.
• A full purse makes the mouth to speak.
• An empty purse fills the face with wrinkles.

R.

• IT's possible for a ram to kill a butcher.
• The rath sower ne're borrows o'th'late.
• A man without reason is a beast in season.
• Take heed of enemies reconcil'd, and of meat twice boil'd. Hispan.
• A good Recorder sets all in order.
• Remove an old tree, and it will wither to death.
• When all is consum'd, Repentance comes too late.
• He may freely receive courtesies that knows how to requite them.
• God help the rich, the poor can beg.
• Riches are but the baggage of Fortune.
• When riches increase the body decreaseth. For most men grow old before they grow rich.
• Riches are like muck which stink in a heap, but spread abroad, make the earth fruitful.
• ...

• It's easie to rob an Orchard, when none keeps it.
• A rugged stone grows smooth from hand to hand.
• Better to rule then be ruled by the rout.
• The rusty sword and empty purse plead perfor∣mance of covenants.

S.

• IT's a bad sack will abide no clouting.
• When it pleaseth not God, the Saint can do little. Hisp. Ital.
• Salmon and Sermon have their season in Lent. Gall.
• A Scepter is one thing, a ladle another. Alia res sceptrum, alia plectrum.
• You pay more for your schooling, then your learn∣ing is worth.
• Who robs a Scholar robs twenty men. For com∣monly he borrows a cloak of one, a sword of another, a pair of boots of a third, a hat of a fourth, &c.
• Who hath a scold hath sorrow to his sops.
• Being on the Sea sail, being on the land settle.
• They complain wrongfully on the Sea, who twice suffer shipwrack.
• Every thing is good in its season.
• Would you know secrets, look them in grief or pleasure.
• He who seeketh trouble never misseth it.
• A man must sell his ware after the rates of the market.
• He who serves well, needs not be afraid to ask his wages.
• The groat is ill saved that shames the master.
• It's a foolish sheep that makes the wolf his confessor Ital.
• ...

• ... Ships fear fire more then water.
• A great ship doth ask deep waters.
• The chamber of sickness is the chappel of devotion.
• Silence doth seldom harm.
• Silence is the best ornament of a woman.
• Silks and Sattins put out the fire in the kitchin.
• He that sings on I ryday shall weep on Sunday.
• The singing-man keeps his shop in his throat. Hisp.
• Sit in your place and none can make you rise.
• Slander leaves a score behind it. Calumniare for∣titer aliquid adhaerebit.
• Sloth turneth the edge of wit.
• Better the last smile then the first laughter.
• A smiling boy seldom proves a good servant.
• The Smith and his penny are both black.
• Whether you do boil snow or pound it, you can have but water of it.
• Sorrow is good for nothing but sin.
• When sorrow is a sleep wake it not.
• Souldiers in peace are like chimneys in summer.
• Who sows his corn in the field trusts in God.
• He that speaks me fair and loves me not, I'll speak him fair and trust him not.
• He that speaks doth sow, he that holds his peace doth reap. Ital.
• Speech is the picture of the mind.
• Spend and be free, but make no waste.
• To a good Spender God is the treasurer.
• The Jews spend at Easter, the Moors at marriages, and the Christians in suits of Law. Ital.
• Who more then he is worth doth spend, he makes a rope his life to end.
• ...

• Who spends more then he should, shall not have to spend when he would.
• Who hath spice enough may season his meat as he pleaseth.
• It's a poor sport that is not worth the candle.
• The best of the sport is to do the deed & say nothing
• That which will not be spun, let it not come between the spindle and the distaff.
• They steal the hog and give away the feet in alms. Hispan.
• Steal the goose and give the giblets in alms.
• Step after step the ladder is ascended.
• Who hath none to still him, may weep out his eyes.
• The stillest humours are always the worst.
• Who remove stones, bruise their fingers.
• Who hath skirts of straw, needs fear the fire. Hisp.
• Stretch your legs according to your coverlet.
• It's better to be stung by a nettle, then prick't by a rose.
• I suck't not this out of my fingers ends.
• Though the Sun shines, leave not your cloak at home. Hispan.
• In every Countrey the Sun riseth in the morning.
• He deserves not the sweet that will not taste of the sowre.

T.

• THe table robs more then the thief.
• Talk much and erre much (saith the Spaniard)
• ...

• ... Talking pays no toll.
• They talk of Christmas so long, that it comes.
• The tast of the kitchin is better then the smell.
• To him that hath lost his tast, sweet is sowre.
• Who hath aking teeth hath ill tenants.
• Tell a tale to a mare, and she'll let a fart. Gall. Asino fabulam.
• A thin meadow is soon mow'd.
• The thorn comes forth with his point forwards.
• The thought hath good legs, and the quill a good tongue. Ital.
• A thousand pounds and a bottle of hay, is all one thing at Dooms day.
• There are more threatned then struck.
• He who dies of threats, must be rung to Church by farts.
• He that is thrown would ever wrestle.
• When it thunders, the thief becomes honest.
• The tide will fetch away what the ebb brings.
• Time is the rider that breaks youth.
• Every one puts his fault on the times.
• Soon todd soon with God. A northern Proverb, when a child hath teeth too soon.
• A long tongue is a sign of a short hand.
• Better that the feet slip then the tongue.
• He that strikes with his tongue, must ward with his head.
• The tongue's not steel, yet it cuts.
• The tongue breaketh bone, though it self have none. Gall.
• The tongue talks at the heads cost.
• Too much breaks the bag. Hisp.
• ...

• ... Too much scratching pains, too much talking plagues
• Trade is the mother of money.
• When the tree is faln, every man goeth to it with Gall. his hatchet. Gall.
• Truth and oyl are ever above. Hispan.
• Truth hath a good face, but bad clothes.

U.

• NO cut to unkindness.
• Unknown unkist.
• Unminded unmon'd.
• Under water, famine; under snow, bread. Ital.
• Valour that parlies, is near yielding.
• Valour can do little without discretion.
• ...Vis consilii expers mole ruit sua. Et parvi sunt foris arma nisi sit consilium domi.
• That's not good language that all understand not.
• Where men are well used, they'll frequent there.

W.

• HE that waits on another mans trencher, makes many a late dinner.
• For want of a nail the shoe is lost, for want of a shoe the horse is lost, for want of a horse the rider is lost.
• War is deaths feast.
• Who preacheth war is the Devils chaplain.
• War makes thieves, and peace hangs them. Gall. It.
• ...

• ... War, hunting and Law, are as full of trouble as pleasure.
• He that makes a good war, makes a good peace.
• He is wise enough that can keep himself warm.
• Good watch prevents misfortune.
• He that hath a head of wax, must not walk in the Sun.
• Where it is weakest there the thread breaketh.
• Wealth's like rheum, it falls on the weakest parts.
• The greatest wealth, is contentment with a little.
• The gown's hers that wears it, and the world's his who enjoys it.
• Change of weather is the discourse of fools. Hisp.
• Expect not fair weather in winter on one nights ice.
• He that goeth out with often loss.
• At last comes home by weeping cross.
• Weight and measure take away strife.
• He that doth well wearieth not himself.
• Well to work and make a fire,
• It doth care and skill require.
• Such a welcome such a farewel.
• Welcome death, quoth the Rat, when the trap fell down.
• As welcome as flowers in May.
• I wept when I was born, and every day shews why.
• Whores affect not you but your money.
• Whoring and bawdery do often end in beggery.
• A mans best fortune or his worst is a wife.
• He that lets his wife go to every feast, and his horse drink at every water, shall neither have good wife nor good horse. Ital. Or thus,
• ...

• He that lets his horse drink at every lake,
• And his wife go to every wake,
• Shall never be without a whore and a jade.
• Wife and children are bills of charges,
• The cunning wife makes her husband her apron. Hispan.
• The wife is the key of the house.
• He that hath wife and children wants not business.
• Where the will is ready, the feet are light.
• To him that wills, ways are not wanting.
• With as good a will as ever I came from school.
• He that doth what he will, oft doth not what he ought.
• Will will have wilt, though will woe win.
• Nothing is impossible to a willing mind.
• Willows are weak, yet they bind other wood. Ital.
• Pull down your hat on the wind side.
• A good Winter brings a good Summer.
• Wine is the masters, but the goodness is the drawers.
• Wine in the bottle doth not quench the thirst. Ital.
• Wine is a turn-coat, first a friend, then an enemy.
• Wine that costs nothing is digested e're it be drunk.
• You cannot know wine by the barrel.
• Wine wears no breeches. Gall. i. e. Shews what a man is.
• You can't drive a windmill with a pair of bellows.
• You may be a wise man though you can't make a watch.
• Wise men care not for what they cannot have.
• ...

• None is so wise but the fool overtakes him.
• Better to have then wish.
• Better it be done then wish it had been done.
• It's wit to pick a lock and steal a horse, but wis∣dom to let them alone.
• You have a little wit and it doth you good sometimes.
• He hath enough to keep the wolf from the door. That is, to satisfie his hunger, latrantem stomachum.
• Wolves lose their teeth, but not their memory.
• Who hath a wolf for his mate, needs a dog for his man. Ital.
• Who keeps company with the wolf, will learn to howl. Chi prattica con lupi impara à hurlar. Ita.
• Women, priests and poultry have never enough. Donne, preti & polli non son mai satolli.
• To wo is a pleasure in a young man, a fault in an old.
• Green wood makes a hot fire.
• Wood half burnt is easily kindled.
• You were better give the wool then the sheep. Meglio è dar la lana che lapecora. Ital.
• Many words will not fill a bushel.
• Words and feathers are tost by the wind. Hisp.
• Good words without deeds are rushes and reeds.
• One ill word asketh another.
• They must hunger in frost, that will not work in heat.
• What is a workman without his tools.
• There needs a long time to know the worlds pulse.
• ...

• This world is nothing except it tend to another.
• A green wound is soon healed.
• Wranglers never want words.

Y.

• THe more thy years, the nearer thy grave.
• Youth and white paper take any impression.