  fancy rule LXXX.S T. Swithin's day, if thou dost rain, For forty days it will remain: St. Swithin's day, if thou be fair, For forty days 'twill rain na mair. LXXXI.To make your candles last for a', You wives and maids give ear-o! To put 'em out's the only way, Says honest John Boldero. LXXXII.If wishes were horses, Beggars would ride; If turnips were watches, I would wear one by my side. LXXXIII.[Hours of sleep.] Nature requires five, Custom gives seven! Laziness takes nine, And Wickedness eleven. LXXXIV.Three straws on a staff, Would make a baby cry and laugh. LXXXV.See a pin and pick it up, All the day you'll have good luck; See a pin and let it lay, Bad luck you'll have all the day! LXXXVI.Go to bed first, a golden purse; Go to bed second, a golden pheasant; Go to bed third, a golden bird! LXXXVII.When the wind is in the east, 'Tis neither good for man nor beast; When the wind is in the north, The skilful fisher goes not forth; When the wind is in the south, It blows the bait in the fishes' mouth; When the wind is in the west, Then 'tis at the very best. LXXXVIII.Bounce Buckram, velvet's dear; Christmas comes but once a year. LXXXIX.[One version of the following song, which I believe to be the genuine one, is written on the last leaf of MS. Harl. 6580, between the lines of a fragment of an old charter, originally used for binding the book, in a hand of the end of the seventeenth century, but unfortunately it is scarcely adapted for the "ears polite" of modern days.] A man of words and not of deeds, Is like a garden full of weeds; And when the weeds begin to grow, It's like a garden full of snow; And when the snow begins to fall, It's like a bird upon the wall; And when the bird away does fly, It's like an eagle in the sky; And when the sky begins to roar, It's like a lion at the door; And when the door begins to crack, It's like a stick across your back; And when your back begins to smart, It's like a penknife in your heart; And when your heart begins to bleed, You're dead, and dead, and dead, indeed. XC.A man of words and not of deeds, Is like a garden full of weeds; For when the weeds begin to grow, Then doth the garden overflow. XCI.If you sneeze on Monday, you sneeze for danger; Sneeze on a Tuesday, kiss a stranger; Sneeze on a Wednesday, sneeze for a letter; Sneeze on a Thursday, something better; Sneeze on a Friday, sneeze for sorrow; Sneeze on a Saturday, see your sweetheart to-morrow. XCII.A pullet in the pen Is worth a hundred in the fen! XCIII.He that would thrive Must rise at five; He that hath thriven May lie till seven; And he that by the plough would thrive, Himself must either hold or drive. XCIV.[The following is quoted in Miege's 'Great French Dictionary,' fol. Lond. 1687, 2d part.] A swarm of bees in May Is worth a load of hay; A swarm of bees in June Is worth a silver spoon; A swarm of bees in July Is not worth a fly. XCV.They that wash on Monday Have all the week to dry; They that wash on Tuesday Are not so much awry; They that wash on Wednesday Are not so much to blame; They that wash on Thursday, Wash for shame; They that wash on Friday, Wash in need; And they that wash on Saturday, Oh! they're sluts indeed. XCVI.Needles and pins, needles and pins, When a man marries his trouble begins. XCVII.[In Suffolk, children are frequently reminded of the decorum due to the Sabbath by the following lines.] Yeow mussent sing a' Sunday, Becaze it is a sin, But yeow may sing a' Monday Till Sunday cums agin. XCVIII.A sunshiny shower, Won't last half an hour. XCIX.As the days grow longer, The storms grow stronger. C.As the days lengthen, So the storms strengthen. CI.He that goes to see his wheat in May, Comes weeping away. CII.The mackerel's cry, Is never long dry. CIII.In July, Some reap rye; In August, If one will not the other must. CIV.[Proverbial many years ago, when the guinea in gold was of a higher value than its nominal representative in silver,] A guinea it would sink, And a pound it would float; Yet I'd rather have a guinea, Than your one pound note. CV.For every evil under the sun, There is a remedy, or there is none. If there be one, try and find it; If there be none, never mind it. CVI.The art of good driving 's a paradox quite, Though custom has prov'd it so long; If you go to the left, you're sure to go right, If you go to the right, you go wrong. CVII.Friday night's dream On the Saturday told, Is sure to come true, Be it never so old. CVIII.When the sand doth feed the clay, England woe and well-a-day! But when the clay doth feed the sand, Then it is well with Angle-land. CIX.The fair maid who, the first of May, Goes to the fields at break of day, And washes in dew from the hawthorn tree Will ever after handsome be. |
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