Some Books of the Week
A PARADOX to-day is a platitude to-morrow. Nevertheless, anyone who will wade through English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, by G. L. Apperson (Dent, 31s. 6d.) will be convinced that our ancestors were dull fellows. Their wit has a touch of the obvious about it, for they thought such remarks worthy of record as " All things fit not all men " and " All things have a beginning." Here and there, however, there is real wit, and in more cases quaintness, and valuable and suggestive allusion. " Like Alsager wenches, all alike " brings the Cheshire family to which it refers vividly before us. " Anglesea is the mother of Wales " might head a chapter of history. " He's in his better blue clothes," meaning that he thinks himself very fine, is the kind of proverb current in many families. "Better wed over the mixen than over the moor " would make the theme of a novel by, say, Thomas Hardy. And there are many more. Their arrangement here is clear, and there are plenty of cross references. The book is a mine where anyone may delve. What he finds will depend on what he looks for. Here is a device for the reviewer—" Deliver your words not by number, but by weight."
Previous page
