CHAPTER XVII.

Proverbs, Weather Sayings, etc.

“They serve to be interlaced in continued speech. They serve to be recited upon occasion of themselves. They serve, if you take out the kernel of them, and make them your own.”--_Lord Verulam._

No nation is without its proverbs; but while in many cases these pithy sayings are the same in all languages, and merely literal translations from one dialect to another, in other instances the idea only is present, and the words in which the proverb is expressed have little or nothing in common, as, for example, the English saying:--“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” appears in French in the far less picturesque form of “_un ‘tiens’ vaut mieut que deux ‘tu l’auras’_.” Sometimes, from the peculiar circumstances of the people using it, a proverb takes a local tinge, and, in so doing, may change considerably from its original wording, while continuing at the same time to convey a similar lesson. Thus the pastoral saying:--“To lose one’s _sheep_ for a penn’orth of tar,” becomes, very naturally, among a nautical population, “to lose one’s _ship_, etc.”

Some few proverbs are so thoroughly local as to appear to have originated in the place where they are used.

Guernsey is not rich in proverbs properly so called; but, as might be expected among an agricultural and maritime people, weather-sayings are not uncommon. Many of these could no doubt be traced to the mother-country, Normandy, but some few may be indigenous, and the result of local observation.

We will give specimens of each class of these proverbial expressions, with such remarks as may be necessary to explain them as far as they can be explained; and, although many of them might be put into modern French, we have preferred retaining the old Norman dialect still preserved as the language of all the rural parts of the island.

Proverbs.

_Nou (on) ne va pas au jàn (àjonc) sans ses gànts._--No one goes to cut furze without gloves. If you would undertake an arduous matter, be well prepared for it.

_Ch’est la coue (queue) qui est la pière (pire) à écorchier (écorcher)._--It is the tail that is the hardest to flay. It is often more difficult to bring an affair to a successful end than to begin it.

_Qui sent mànjue (démangeaison) se gratte._--He who itches scratches himself. Nearly equivalent to the English saying, “The cap fits.”

_Quand le bouissé (boisseau) est pllein, i’ jette._--When the bushel-measure is full it runs over. The last straw breaks the camel’s back.

_Nécessitaï fait la vieille trottaïr._--Need will make an old woman trot.

_Au broue (brouille, embarras) est le gan (gain, profit)._--No exact equivalent is to be found for this proverb, but it means that profit, in some way or other, may be made where there is much doing. The English saying “No pains, no gains,” comes near it.

_Pûs (plus) de broue que de travâs (travail)._--More bustle than work. Much cry and little wool.

_Mettre daeux guerbes (deux gerbes) en un llian (lien)._--To bind up two sheaves with one wisp. To kill two birds with one stone.

_Biautaï (beauté) sans bountaï (bonté), ne vaut pas vin évantaï._--Beauty, without goodness, is not worth stale wine.

_L’amour hâle (tire) pûs (plus) que chent (cent) bœufs._--Love draws more than a hundred oxen.

_A p’tit pourche (pourceau) grosse pânais._--The little pig gets the big parsnip. The youngest child is the most petted.

_Qui paie s’acquitte; qui s’acquitte s’enrichit._--He who pays his way keeps out of debt; he who keeps out of debt gets rich. No comment is needed on this thoroughly practical proverb.

_Si nou (on) lli dounne ùn peis (pois) i’ prend une faïve._--If you give him a pea, he’ll take a bean. Give him an inch, he’ll take an ell.

_Ch’n’est pas ôve (avec) du vinaigre que nous (on) attrâpe des mouques (mouches)._--Flies are not caught with vinegar. Nothing is to be gained by roughness.

_Qui peut volaïr (voler) ùn œuf, peut volaïr ùn bœuf._--He who would steal an egg would steal an ox. Be honest in the smallest matters.

_F’rine du guiablle (diable) s’en va en bran (son)._--The devil’s flour turns to bran. Ill-gotten wealth never prospers.

_Chàngement d’herbage est bouan (bon) pour les jânes viaux (jeunes veaux)._--Change of pasture is good for young calves. Variety is necessary for the young. “Home-keeping youth have ever homely wits.”

_I’ ne faut pas faire le cottìn (cabane, crêche) d’vànt que le viau seit naï._ (Avant que le veau ne soit né).--One must not make the crib before the calf is born. Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.

_S’il ne l’a en breuf, il l’aira (l’aura) en soupe._--If he does not get it in broth, he’ll get it in soup. If he cannot obtain his end by one means, he will by another.

_Apprins au ber (berceau), dure jusqu’au ver._--What is learnt in the cradle goes with one to the grave--literally “to the worm.”

_La bête d’un poure (pauvre) houme (homme) mourrait pûs-à-caoup (plus tôt) que li (lui)._--He would die more opportunely than a poor man’s beast, is said of a person whose death would not leave much cause for regret.

_Les p’tits tchiens (chiens) out de longues coues (queux)._--Is the equivalent of the French proverb, “dans les petites boîtes les bons onguents;” precious ointments are in small boxes.

_Ch’est une querrue à tchiens (charrue à chiens)._--It is a plough drawn by dogs, is said of any affair which is badly conducted--where those who ought to work in concert are pulling different ways, like two dogs on a leash.

_Un mouisson (oiseau) à la main vaut mûx que daeux qui volent._--A bird in the hand is worth two on the wing.

_Il n’y a fagot qui n’trouve sen lliàn (lien)._--There is no faggot but what at last finds a band. Every Jack has his Jill; every dog has his day.

_I’ n’y a fagot qui n’vaut sa lliache (liasse)._--There is no faggot so bad as not to be worth a band.

_Qui mange la craïme ne rend pas du burre (beurre)._--He who eats his cream makes no butter. You cannot eat your cake and have it.

_I’ ne vaut pas grànd burre (beurre)._--He or it is not worth much butter; meaning, such an one is not worth much, the matter is not worth going to any expense about; an allusion to a worthless fish on which the butter used in cooking it is so much thrown away.

_Ecoute-paret (paroi) jamais n’ot dret (n’ouit droit)._--An eavesdropper never hears good.

_I’ n’y a rien itaï (tel) que sé (soi) sa qu’minse (chemise) lavaïr (laver)._--There is nothing like washing your own shirt. If you wish a thing well done, do it yourself. It is also used in the sense of “Wash your dirty linen at home.”

_Nou (on) ne trâche (cherche) pas de la graïsse dans le nic (nid) d’ùn tchien (chien)._--No one thinks of looking for fat in a dog’s kennel. Look not for qualities where they are not likely to be found, as generosity in a miser, or honesty in a thief.

_Si ùn cat (chat) s’amord (s’adonne) au lard, nou ne sairait (saurait) l’en d’s’amordre._--If a cat takes a liking for bacon you can’t break her of it. It is difficult to get rid of bad habits.

_P’tit à p’tit l’ouaisé (oiseau) fait sen nic (nid)._--Little by little the bird builds her nest. Rome was not built in a day.

_Tout neû g’nêt (neuf balai) néquie (nettoie) net._--A new broom sweeps clean.

_I’ n’y a itaïls (tels) que les féniêns (fainéants) quand i’ s’y mettent._--There are none like idlers when they once set to work.

_Ch’est cauches (bas, chausses) grises, et grises cauches._--This is the equivalent of the French proverb “C’est bonnet blanc, et blanc bonnet,” and the English, “Six of one, and half-a-dozen of the other.”

_Ch’n’est pas les ciens (ceux) qui labourent le pûs près du fossaï (de la haie) qui sont les pûs riches._--It is not they who plough nearest the hedge who are the richest. Economy may be carried too far.

_I’ s’y entend coume à ramaïr (ramer) des chaoux (choux)._--He understands as much about it as about putting pea-sticks to cabbages. The meaning conveyed being: he knows nothing at all about it.

_Tout chu (ce) qui vient de flot se retournera d’èbe._--All that comes with the flood will return with the ebb. Riches too rapidly acquired, or ill-gotten, will disappear as quickly as they came--nearly equivalent to the French proverb “Ce qui vient de la flûte s’en va par le tambour.”

_Si l’houme aïme autre mûx que sé (mieux que soi) au moulìn i’ mourra de set (soif)._--If a man loves others more than himself, he will die of thirst even were he in a mill. The mill spoken of in this selfish proverb, which is equivalent to “Look after number one,” is, of course, a water-mill.

_Biauture (beau-temps, beauté) d’hiver; santaï (santé) de vieil homme; parole de gentilhomme; ne t’y fie, homme!_--A fine day in winter, the health of an old man, the word of a nobleman; trust to none of these, O man! The marked distinction of “noble” and “rôturier,” if such ever existed in Guernsey, died out many centuries ago; and this proverb has all the appearance of an importation from Normandy, or some other part of France, where the peasantry were oppressed by the feudal system. The word “biauture” does not belong to the Guernsey dialect, and when the saying is quoted in the present, it is generally with reference to the two first clauses.

_Un tchien (chien) vaut bien p’tit qui ne vaut pas ùn caoup de sufflet (coup de sifflet)._--A dog that is not worth whistling for is not worth much.

_Les grands diseurs sont de p’tits faiseurs._--Great talkers are little doers.

_Où ’est qu’il y a du crottin, il y a du lapìn._--Where you see their droppings, you may expect to find rabbits. Used both literally and metaphorically. There is no smoke without fire.

_Il y a terjoûs (toujours) un épi qui mànque à la guerbe (gerbe)._--There is always a spike of corn lacking in the sheaf. Nothing is ever perfect.

_I’ n’y a bouais (bois) dont non (on) n’fait buche._--There is no wood but what will serve for firing, meaning that everything can be put to some use or other; but the latter half of the proverb is sometimes varied to “_dont i’ n’ fait buche_,” and it is then equivalent to the English saying “All is fish that comes to his net.”

_Va où tu peux, meurs où tu deis (dois)._--Go where you can, die where you must. Dispose of your life as you please, death is inevitable.

_Il est niais coume Dadais qui se couachait (couchait) dans l’iaue (eau) d’paeur (peur) d’être mouailli (mouillé)._--He is as foolish as Dadais who lay down in the water to avoid getting wet in a shower.

_Il est niais coume Dadais qui tâte l’iaue pour vée (voir) s’a bouit (bout)._--He is as stupid as Dadais who puts his hand into the water to feel if it is boiling.

_Il est pûs (plus) niais que Dadais qui se fouittait de crêpes._[256]--He is more simple than Dadais who flogged himself with pancakes. The word “Dadais” is used in the sense of simpleton. In the three sayings that we have just quoted “Dadais” bears a strong family resemblance to the “Simple Simons” and “Silly Billies” of English nursery tales.

_Ch’tait du temps du Rouai (Roi) Jehan. Ch’était du temps des Scots._--Are used in speaking of events which took place beyond the memory of man. It is easy to understand how the reign of King John came to form an epoch in the history of Guernsey; for it was then that the connexion with the mother-country, Normandy, was severed, and the islands, until then part and parcel of that Duchy, became attached to the Crown of England, and have so continued ever since. But it is not so easy to say when or how the latter saying originated. It may refer to an invasion of the island by David Bruce, about the tenth year of Edward III., (A.D. 1336); when great atrocities appear to have been committed on the inhabitants; but some old people seem to think--and probably with reason--that the “Scots” were a Scotch regiment sent here in the early part of last century on a fear of hostilities breaking out between England and France. It is right, however, to notice that in the Guernsey dialect “_Ecossais_” and not “_Scots_” is used to designate Scotchmen.

_I’ mànge coum’ un varou._--He eats like an ogre, is the exact English equivalent of this saying; but there are few who use the saying who could say what is meant by “_un varou_.” It is, undoubtedly, the same as the French “loup-garou” in English--a were-wolf; and may have reference to the old superstition of men and women being turned into wolves.

_I’ s’en est allaï (allé) les pids (pieds) d’vànt._--He has gone feet foremost. He has been carried to his grave.

_Il a étaï enterraï la tête ès tchiens (aux chiens) dehors._--Is used in the same sense as “being buried like a dog.”

_Il a tête et bounet (bonnet)._--He has a head, yea, and a cap, is said of an opinionated man.

_I’ n’en reste ni tchiesse (cuisse) ni aïle._--There neither remains leg nor wing. All is lost, nothing remains.

_I’ quient (tient) d’la chouque (souche)._--He’s a chip of the old block.

_I’ fait rille (raie) de gras._--He is making a streak of fat, is said of a man who is prospering in his affairs, in allusion to a pig that is being fattened.

_I’ peut mànger sa gâche (galette) dorâïe (beurrée) des daeux bords (des deux côtés)._--He can eat his cake buttered on both sides. He is rich enough not to be obliged to spare himself any indulgence.

_I’ mànge sa dorâie (tranche de pain beurré) grajie (grattée)._--He spares the butter on his bread, either from poverty or from avarice. It is “bread and scrape.”

_I’ prend les cauches (chausses, bas,) pour les sôlers (souliers)._--He mistakes the stockings for the shoes. He is a blunderer who does not know one thing from another.

_Il a paeux (peur) des p’tits sôlers (souliers)._--He is afraid of the little shoes, is said of a man who is unwilling to enter into the estate of matrimony for fear of the additional expenses that it will entail--shoes for the children being a considerable item in the disbursements of a poor family.

_I’ n’en prend ni compte ni taille._--He takes no account nor tally. He lets matters take their course.

_V’là une fière perruque à débouquèr (démêler)._--There’s a fine wig to comb out! Is said of an affair which is almost hopelessly involved.

_Il a fait pertus (pertuis, trou) sous l’iaue (eau)._--He has made a hole in the water. He has disappeared furtively. Compare with the French saying “Il a fait un trou à la lune.”

_I’ vêt (voit) sept lieues dans la brune._--He sees seven leagues through the fog, is said derisively of a man who boasts of being more clearsighted than his neighbours.

_Il est montaï (monté) sur ses pontificaux._--He is in his pontificals, is equivalent to the English saying “He is riding the high horse,”--asserting his dignity when there is no need to do so.

_Ch’est le bouâine (borgne) qui mène l’aveuglle._--The one-eyed man is leading the blind man.

_Nou (on) ne saït pouit (point) où il puche (puise)._--One knows not what well he draws from, is said of a man who manages to get on without any very visible means of existence.

_Trop de cuisiniers gâtent la soupe._--Too many cooks spoil the broth.

_I’ n’y a pas de rue sàns but._--There is no road but has an ending. Equivalent to “It is a long lane that has no turning.”

_S’il y avait un démarieur, il airait (aurait) pûs (plus) à faire que tous les marieurs._--If there were an “un-marryer” he would have more work to do than all the “marryers.”

_Ce n’est pas tout que les chaous, faut de la graîsse à les cuire._--Cabbages alone are not sufficient, one must have grease to cook them with. Generally applied to “_parvenus_,” who have money but no manners.

_Nou’ n’engraisse pouit les p’tits cochons d’iau fine._--Little pigs are not fattened by pure water.

_Vieille pie a plus d’un pertus à son nic (nid)._--An old magpie has more than one hole in her nest. Said of a man who is skilful at evasion.

_T’as acouare les jaunes talons._--You have still got yellow heels, is said to youngsters who are too presuming in giving their opinion in the presence of their elders. Compare the French “blanc-bec” and “béjaune.”

_Ch’est la vermeïne (vermine) qui mànge (mange) l’tâs (le tas)._--It is the vermin that eats up the stack. Said of a father who has a large family of children drawing upon him and eating up all his savings.

[256] EDITOR’S NOTE.--The version I have heard of this proverb is: “Il est niais coume Dadais qui se fouittait de crêpes et tout-le-temps mourait de faim.”

Popular Sayings.

There are certain popular sayings which contain a comparison, and which, although in a strict sense they cannot be called proverbs, may yet be classed with them. Some of these contain words which have become obsolete, or, at least, antiquated. “_Vier (vieux) comme suée_” equivalent to “As old as the hills,” may be quoted as an example, for not only is the word “_suée_” obsolete, but its very meaning is forgotten and unknown. Mr. George Métivier, a learned philologist, author of the _Dictionnaire Franco-Normand, ou Recueil des Mots particuliers au Dialecte de Guernesey_, is inclined to refer it to the old French _suée_ signifying _sueur_, sweat, used in the sense of labour. The conjecture is ingenious, but not quite satisfactory.

_I’ s’est maniaï (manié) coume un albroche._--He has conducted himself like a boor. Roquefort in his “_Glossaire de la Langue Romane_” explains the word _Allobroge_ as “un homme grossier, un rustre, etc.,” and gives _Adlobrius_, _Allobrox_, as the Latin forms. According to Ducange, these words signify a citizen or native of Gaul. The Allobroges, however, in the time of the Roman Empire, were the tribes inhabiting Savoy and Piedmont.

_I’ bét (boit) coume ùn alputre._--Is used in the sense of “He drinks like a fish,” but why the _alputre_,--rockling, or sea-loach,--should be singled out among fishes for bibulous propensities, it is impossible to guess.

_I’ plleut coume cis (chez) Pierre de Garis._--Is used in the sense of “raining cats and dogs.” A certain Pierre de Garis, a merchant of Bayonne, in the time when Aquitaine was governed by English Princes, was appointed to the responsible office of Bailiff of Guernsey, about the year 1325.[257] In all probability he derived his name from a small town called _Garis_, about half-way between Bayonne and St. Jean-de-Luz. He became the founder of a family of importance, not only in Guernsey, but also in the neighbouring island of Jersey, and of which there are still numerous descendants. It is not very likely that the saying dates so far back as the fourteenth century, although it has no doubt a very respectable antiquity. We can only conjecture that it must have derived its origin from some well-known Pierre de Garis of indolent or miserly habits, who allowed the roof of his dwelling to fall into decay and let in the rain, and so became a by-word with his neighbours.

_Ill’ y en a assaï (assez) pour tous les Tostevins._--There is enough for all the Tostevins--is said when there is an abundance of anything--enough and to spare. The name is extremely common in the western parishes of Guernsey, especially in St. Pierre-du-Bois and Torteval, where many of those who bear it are stone-masons who walk every day into town--a distance of five or six miles--to their work. Perhaps the good appetite they acquire in so long a walk may have had something to do in originating the saying.

_Jaune coume q’zette._--As yellow as a daffodil, is equivalent to the English saying “As yellow as crow’s foot.” It is sometimes varied to “_jaune coume du murlu_,” this last word being the local name of the corn-marigold and the ox-eye daisy.

_Vert coume ache._--As green as smallage--a herb closely allied to celery and parsley, and, like them, intensely green--is used where we should say in English “As green as grass.”

_Chièr (cher) coume paivre (poivre)._--As dear as pepper, is a comparison which must have originated when this useful condiment, now within the reach of the poorest, was a luxury brought from far and obtainable only by the rich. Quit-rents payable in pepper were not unknown in the middle-ages; and in the Extente, or account of the revenues and obligations of the Crown in Guernsey, drawn up in the fifth year of the reign of King Edward III., A.D. 1331, there is an item of a quarter of a pound of pepper to be paid annually at Michaelmas, by a tenant of lands situated in the parish of St. Martin’s. The money payment for which this rent was commuted at that time was twelve deniers tournois, which would make the value of a pound four sols tournois, no inconsiderable sum in those days.

_I’ chànte coume ùn orateur._--He sings like an orator. A loud voice is certainly desirable in one who attempts to _speak_ in public. Our countrymen seem to consider it equally necessary and admirable in a _singer_.

_Orguillaeux (orgueilleux) coume ùn pouâis (pou) sûs v’louss (velours)._--As proud as that insect which Shakespeare calls “a familiar beast to man” may be supposed to feel when it finds itself on velvet.

_Caûd (chaud) coume braïze._--As hot as embers, needs no explanation.

_Ch’est coume un bourdon dans une canne._--It is like a humble bee in a can--is said of a droning monotonous style of preaching or speaking.

_Ch’est coume les prières de Jacques Ozanne qui n’ont pas de fin._--It is like James Ozanne’s prayers which never come to an end. This is said of any matter which is prolonged to an unreasonable extent; but nothing seems now to be known of the individual whose lengthy supplications gave rise to the saying.

_T’es coume Jean Le Tocq._--You are like Jean Le Tocq. This is addressed to a man who is seen abroad at an earlier hour than usual, and contains an allusion to two lines in the old Guernsey ballad of the invasion of the island by Evan of Wales in 1373, where it is said:--

_“Jean Le Tocq sy se leva_ _Plus matin qu’a l’accoutumée.”_

Indeed this last line is generally added.

_Il a la conscience de la jument Rabey qui mangit s’en poulâin._--He has the conscience of Rabey’s mare, who ate her foal. Said of an utterly hard-hearted and unscrupulous man. The Rabeys are a well-known country family, and it is possible that this proverb refers to some domestic tragedy, the details of which have long been forgotten.

_Avoir le corset de Maître George._--To wear the corset of Maître George. An allusion is here meant to a certain George Fénien. The Féniens were a family who owned property in Fountain Street, and seem to have become extinct towards the middle of the eighteenth century. This expression is applied to an indolent man, so that the “Maître George Fénien”[258] here alluded to must have lived up to his name, Fénien--Fainéant--a sluggard. We have seen in some of the preceding proverbs and sayings, allusions to individuals and families. Here are two or three more of the same kind:--

_I’ fait de sen Quéripel._--Is untranslatable literally, but may be rendered “he acts like a Quéripel.” and is said of a man whose vanity leads him to give himself airs, and take too much upon himself. The name existed in Guernsey as early as the fourteenth century, at which time it was written _Carupel_, but there is not the slightest clue when or how the saying originated. It may possibly be a corruption of some proverbial expression current in Normandy.

_Il est dans les Arabies de Mons. Roland._--“He has got into Mr. Roland’s Arabias,” is a remark made when a preacher, a public speaker, or any one who sets up for a talker, has got beyond his depth, and is discoursing on a subject which he does not understand. The Rolands, now extinct, are believed to have been a Huguenot family that took refuge in Guernsey in the sixteenth century.[259] The Mons^{r}. Roland who figures in the saying is supposed to have been a schoolmaster.[260]

_Ch’est prendre de Pierre Chyvret pour dounaïr à Monsieur Careye._--“It is taking from Pierre Chyvret to give to Mr. Carey,” is used in the sense of “sending coals to Newcastle,” or “taking from the poor to give to the rich;” but who the particular individuals were whose names figure in this saying it is impossible to say. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth a Mr. Nicholas Careye was farmer of most, if not all, the mills in Guernsey situated on the Crown domain, he being then Her Majesty’s Receiver. At a time when all persons residing on a manor were obliged to bring their corn to be ground at their Lord’s mill, under severe penalties, such a monopoly in the mills as Mr. Carey possessed, must have tended to make him a very wealthy man.[261] It is not unlikely that he, or one of his immediate descendants, who enjoyed the same privilege, may have been the person whose name became proverbial for riches. The name of Peter Chyvret occurs in another saying too coarse to be quoted, but which suggests the idea that he may have been an idiot, and, if so, probably living on charity. It is, however, worth noting that a certain Peter Chyvret was, about the beginning of the present century, in possession of property situated in the neighbourhood of one of the mills of which we have spoken. He is reported to have been one of those eccentric characters of whom it is difficult to say whether they have all their mental faculties--a mixture, in fact, of shrewdness and simplicity. As he was by no means in indigent circumstances it is scarcely probable that he can be the same man alluded to in this saying.

_Tenir à pìnche-beleïne._--Means to hold lightly, without a firm grasp. It is used in the following proverbial saying:--

_“A pìnche-beleïne--sû la haute épeine,_ _Si je m’déroque--je n’en dirai mot.”_

--Which may be freely translated:--“Holding on too lightly, if I fall from the tree I shall say nothing about it.” If I suffer from my own negligence I must not complain.

[257] EDITOR’S NOTE. The following short pedigree of the first members of the de Garis family in the island may prove interesting:--It is extracted from the proceedings of the law suit re the Fief Handois in 1497. See Additional MSS. British Museum, 30, 188.

+---------------------------------------------+ | | … DE GARIS = … PIERRE DE GARIS = LUCENTIA DE DINNO, Eldest son, | of Bayonne, | of Normandy. of Gascony. | Gascony Bailiff | | and | | Lieut.-Governor | | of Guernsey, | | Seigneur of | | Fief Handois, | | Jersey. Died | | before A.D. | | 1323. | +--+-------------------+ +--...---+--------...-----+ | | | | | Denis le = Bonita de Biscaya = Renaud Pierre John = Alianor William Marchant | Garis de Garis | Tanquis de de | de de | daughter daughter | of Garis. Garis | Chesney Garis. | and co- and co- | Jersey. Seigneur| daughter | heiress. heiress | of Fief| of Sir Wm. | Died before | Handois,| Chesney, | 1323, and her | Jersey. | and Joan | husband Denis | Jurat | de Gorges. | married | of R.C. | She married | secondly | Jersey, | second | Peronelle | in 1355.| Geoffrey | le Moigne. _|_ | Walsh. +-----+ +---------+ | | John Le Marchant = … Edmund de Garis Jurat R.C. 1350. | Seigneur of Fief Handois. Bailiff of | Jurat R.C. Jersey. Guernsey 1359-83.| O.S.P. Ante 1497. +--------+ | Denis le Marchant = Jeanette de Chesney, Jurat R. C. and | youngest daughter Lieut.-Bailiff. | of Sir William de | Chesney and | Joan de Gorges. | LE MARCHANT FAMILY.

In the “Extente” of 1331, Pierre and John de Garis held land in the parishes of St. Peter Port, St. Andrew’s, St. Peter’s-in-the-Wood, and St. Sampson’s. In the “Calendars of Patent Rolls” for the years 1328-36, we find Nicholaa, Abbess of the Holy Trinity, Caen, nominating Peter and William de Garis her Attorneys in the Channel Islands, and in 1332 a Commission was given to Robert de Norton, William de la Rue, and Peter de Garis to survey the King’s Castles and Mills in the islands of Jersey and Guernsey which are reported to be greatly in need of repair, and to certify by whose default, and by whom they fell into decay. In 1380, a William de Garis, described as being “de l’isle de Guerneseye,” sold to “Sire Pierre Payn” the Manor of Malorey in St. Laurent, Jersey, to which parish the Fief Handois also belonged.

[258] EDITOR’S NOTE.--A “George Fenien” was in existence at the end of the sixteenth century, and his daughter Collette Fenien, was married to William Brock, ancestor of the Brocks of Guernsey. William Brock died in 1582.

[259] EDITOR’S NOTE.--In the “Placita Coronæ” held in the reign of Edward III., William, son of Robert Roland, held land in the Vale parish. In a deed of 23rd of August, 1517, dealing with land in St. Sampson’s parish, south of the “Grand Pont” the “_Rue Roland_” is mentioned; in 1569, there was living in St. Sampson’s parish a Richard Roland and Collenette Le Retylley, his wife, and (2nd November, 1569) Thomas Roland and Jeanne Blondel, his wife, bought a house in St. Peter Port from Jean Le Montés; so the probabilities are that the Rolands, if they migrated from France, did so before the Huguenot persecutions, and had been domiciled in Guernsey long anterior to the sixteenth century.

[260] EDITOR’S NOTE.--Or he may have been the “Monsieur Jean Roland,” son of Thomas and Elizabeth Bailleul, who was Rector of S. Pierre-du-Bois, and imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1665, for his refusal to submit to the Act of Uniformity.

[261] EDITOR’S NOTE.--It was this Monsieur Careye, who in September, 1563, bought the Fief Blanchelande from Her Majesty’s Commissioners; he married Collette de la Marche and was buried 15th of July, 1593.

Proverbial Sayings.

We now come to a class of proverbial sayings which might almost claim an exclusive right to the title of “Folk-Lore,”--those relating to the weather and other natural phenomena; and which, being the result of long experience on the part of the people, are religiously believed in by them. Many of these sayings are common, in spirit if not in form, to the greater part of Europe; some of them are confined to certain districts; and, although a few may have a superstitious aspect, such as those which profess to predict what events will happen in the course of the year from an observation of the weather on a particular holy day, yet some of them may be worthy the notice of meteorologists, who have discovered that, in many cases, the probable character of the weather in a particular month may be guessed at by that which prevailed at an earlier season.

_Janvier a daeux bouniaux (deux bonnets), Février en a treis (trois)._--January wears two caps, February wears three. As a rule February is the coldest month in the year. In a curious old MS. of the sixteenth century, containing memoranda of household accounts, copies of wills, and various entries of more or less interest, written between the years 1505 and 1569 by various members of a family of the name of Girard, landed proprietors in the parish of Ste. Marie-du-Castel in Guernsey, we find the following weather prognostications for St. Vincent’s Day (January 22nd), and the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, (January 25th).

_“Prens garde au jour St. Vincent_ _Car sy se jour tu vois et sent_ _Que le soleil soiet cler et biau_ _Nous érons du vin plus que d’eau.”_

_“Sy le jour St. Paul le convers_ _Se trouve byaucob descouvert,_ _L’on aura pour celle sayson_ _Du bled et du foyn à foyson;_ _Et sy se jour fait vant sur terre;_ _Ce nous synyfye guerre;_ _S’yl pleut ou nège, sans fallir,_ _Le chier tans nous doet asalir;_ _Sy de nyelle faict, brumes ou brouillars,_ _Selon le dyt de nos vyellars,_ _Mortalitey nous est ouverte.”_

Similar sayings are to be found in Latin, English, German, Italian, and other languages.

February, as every one knows, is the shortest month in the year; but few know why. This is how it is accounted for by old people in Guernsey:--“_Février dit à Janvier:--‘Si j’étais à votre pièche (place) je f’rais gelaïr (geler) les pots sus le faeu (feu) et les p’tits éfàns (enfants) aux seins de leurs mères’--et pour son ìmpudence i’ fut raccourchi (raccourci) de daeux jours, et Janvier fut aloigni (alongé).‘_” February said to January:--If I were in your place I would cause the pots to freeze on the fire, and babes at their mothers’ breasts, and for his insolence he was shortened of two days, and January was lengthened.

The most intense cold in the year generally sets in with February; and this saying reminds me of what is told in Scotland, and in many parts of the north of England, of the _borrowing days_, the three last days of March (See Brand’s _Popular Antiquities_, Bohn’s edition, Vol. II., p. 41-44). It appears, however, according to this authority, that in the Highlands of Scotland the _borrowing days_ are the three first days of February, reckoned according to the old style, that is, the days between the eleventh and the fifteenth.

February 2nd, Candlemas Day. Fine weather on this day is supposed to prognosticate a return of cold. The following lines were communicated by a country gentleman, but they have not quite the same antique ring as those relating to St. Paul’s and St. Vincent’s Days, and may, possibly, be a more recent importation from France.

_“Selon les anciens se dit:_ _Si le soleil clairement luit_ _A’ la Chandeleur vous verrez_ _Qu’ encore un hiver vous aurez.”_

_Quànd Mars durerait chent àns l’hiver durerait autànt._--If March were to last for a hundred years, winter would last as long.

_Mars qui entre coume ùn agné (agneau) sortira coume ùn touaré (taureau)._--The Guernsey form of this saying substitutes a bull in the place of a lion.

_Mars a enviaï (envoyé) sa vieille trachier (chercher) des bûquettes (buchettes)._--When, after a spell of comparatively mild weather, March comes with blustering winds, breaking off the small dry branches from the trees, the country people say that he has sent out his old wife to look for sticks; and predict that, as he is laying in a store of fuel, the cold is likely to last.

_Pâques Martine--guerre, peste, ou famine._--Easter happening in March, forebodes war, pestilence, or famine.

_A Noué à ses perrons, à Pâques à ses tisons._--If at Christmas you can sit at your doorstep, at Easter you will be glad to sit by your fire.

_Avril le doux--quànd il s’y met le pière de tous._--Or, as the Norman antiquary, Pluquet, gives it:--“_Quand il se fâche, le pire de tous_.”--When the weather is bad in April, it is the worst of all the months.

_En Avril, ne quitte pas ùn fil._--In April leave not off a stitch of clothing--a piece of advice which is well warranted by the sudden and extreme changes in the temperature in this month. On the other side, this advice holds good a month later--“Till May be out cast not a clout.”

_Caud (chaud) Mai, gras chimequière (cimetière), fred (froid) Mai, granges pllaïnes (pleines)._--A warm May, a fat churchyard, a cold May, fat granaries.

_A’ la mié Août, l’hiver noue._--About mid-August there is usually a marked change in the weather, gales of wind and heavy rain generally occurring at this season, and any long continuance of settled fine weather, is scarcely to be hoped for. This has led to the remark that winter “_sets_” at this time; as the blossoms in Spring set for fruit.

_A’ la mi-S’tembre, les jours et les nits s’entre ressemblent._--In the middle of September, days and nights are alike.

_Six s’maïnes avant Noué, et six s’maïnes après, les nits sont les pûs longues, et les jours les pûs freds._--Six weeks before Christmas and six weeks after, the nights are the longest and the days the coldest. This saying is scarcely correct in Guernsey, as very cold weather about the end or the beginning of the year is rather the exception than the rule in this climate.

_Si le soleil liet à méjeur, le jour de Noué, il y aura bien des faeux l’annaïe ensuivant._--If the sun shines at noon on Christmas Day, there will be many fires lighted in the ensuing year.

_Aube gelaïe est biétôt lavaïe._--Hoar-frost is soon washed away, or, as another weather proverb says:--“_Après treis aubes gelaïes vient la pllie._”--After three hoar-frosts comes rain, a saying which experience amply bears out.

_Vent d’amont qui veur duraïr, au sér va se reposaïr._--An east wind that intends to last, goes to rest in the evening.

_Vent d’amont ôve (avec) pllie, ne vaut pas un fllie (patelle)._--An east wind with rain is not worth a limpet.

_Quand i’ plleut ôve vent d’amont, ch’est merveille si tout ne fond._--Rain from the east is rare; but when it does occur it is so heavy and continuous as to give rise to the saying that it is a wonder that everything does not melt.

_Cherne (cerne) à la lune, le vent, la pllie, ou la brune._--When there’s a circle round the moon, wind, rain, or fog, will follow soon.

_Cherne de llien (loin), tourmente de près; cherne de près, tourmente de llien._--If the halo round the moon is large and at a distance, it denotes that a storm is at hand, if, on the contrary, it is small and near the moon, the storm will not arrive for some time.

_Cherne à la lune, jamais n’a fait amenaïr mât d’hune._--A circle round the moon has never caused top-mast to be struck. It is difficult to reconcile this saying with the preceding, unless by supposing that sailors are so convinced that a circle round the moon portends bad weather that they are careful to shorten sail before the gale comes on.

_Cherne au soleil i’ ne fera pas demain bel._--A solar halo means bad weather to-morrow.

_Si le soleil est rouage (rouge) au sèr (soir),_ _Ch’est pour biau temps aver (avoir),_ _S’il est rouage au matin,_ _Ch’est la mare au chemin._

If the sun sets red, it is a sign of fine weather, but when he rises red, you may expect to see pools of water on the road.

_Rouage ser, gris matin, ch’est la jouaie (joie) du pélerin._--A red evening and a grey morning are the pilgrim’s joy, but this saying is sometimes varied to:--

_Rouage sèr, bllanc matin, ch’est la journaïe du pélerin._--A red evening and a white morning is the day for the pilgrim.

_En Avril, le coucou crie, s’il est en vie._--In April, the cuckoo sings, if he is alive. The cuckoo generally arrives in Guernsey about the 15th of April.

_Le cou-cou s’en va en Août,_ _L’épi d’orge li pique la gorge._

_The cuckoo departs in August,_ _The barley-spike pricks his throat._

Agricultural Sayings.

It is not easy to draw a clear line between those sayings which have reference to the weather, and those which relate to agricultural pursuits and experience; but the following appear to fall more naturally under the latter head:--

_Quànd i’ plleut ôve vent d’aval,_ _Nourrit l’houme et sen cheval;_ _Quànd i’ plleut ôve vent d’amont,_ _Ch’est merveille si tout ne fond._

When it rains with a westerly wind it feeds man and beast; but when it rains with an east wind, it is a marvel if everything does not melt.

_L’arc d’alliance du soir, bel à voir,_ _L’arc d’alliance du matin, fait la mare à chemin._

Rainbow in the evening, fair to see; rainbow in the morning, there will be pools on the roads.

_Si tu vois le soleil le jour de la Chandeleur, sauve le foin, car tu en auras besoin._--If you see the sun on Candlemas Day, save your hay for you will want it.

_A’ la Paintecoûte, les grouaïsiaux se goûtent._--Green gooseberries are in perfection at Whitsuntide.

_De la St. Michel à Noué (Noel) une pllante ne sait pas chu (ce) que nou (on) li fait._--From Michaelmas to Christmas a plant does not know what you do to it.

_De la Toussaint à Noué un arbre ne sait pas chu que non li fait._--From All Saints’ Day to Christmas a tree knows not what is done to it. The autumnal quarter is supposed to be the best for transplanting trees or shrubs, as at that time the vigorous growth that had been going on in spring and summer has ceased, and there is less danger of their suffering from the change.

_Noué n’est pas Noué sàns pâcrolle (paquerette primevère)._--Christmas is not Christmas unless there be primroses.

_Noué est pûtôt Noué, sans pâcrolle, que sans agné (agneau)._--A Christmas without primroses is more rare than a Christmas without lambs. Another version is:--

_Nou ne vit jamais Noué, sans pâcrolle ou p’tit agné._--This saying, as well as the preceding, seems to refer particularly to the occurrence of that harbinger of spring, the primrose, at this season. With the exception occasionally of a few very cold days about the beginning of November, the weather in Guernsey up to Christmas, and frequently far into January, is remarkably mild; vegetation is scarcely checked, and many summer flowers continue to bloom freely up to this time. It is a well-known fact that the primrose, like many other plants and most bulbs, has its period of repose during the hot and dry weather of summer, the flowering ceasing about the end of May, and the leaves withering away. In the autumn there is a fresh growth of leaves, and the flower buds, which had been already formed towards the end of spring, but had been prevented by the drought from expanding, are ready to burst into bloom with the mild days that generally usher in Christmas, the earliest blossoms being invariably found on the north sides of the hedges, where the latest flowers of the preceding summer lingered, the plants with a south aspect having exhausted their bloom in the hot weather.

_A flleur de Mars--ni pouque (poche) ni sac;_ _A flleur d’Avril--pouque et baril;_ _A flleur de Mai--barrique et touné (tonneau)._

Blossom in March requires neither bag nor sack; Blossom in April fills bag and barrel; Blossom in May fills hogshead and tun.

This saying refers to the apple crop, and the quantity of cider that may be expected, judging from the month in which the trees come into bloom.

_Sème tes concombres en Mars,_ _Tu n’ airas qu’ faire de pouque ni de sac;_ _Sème-les en Avril, tu en airas ùn petit;_ _Mé, j’ les semerai en Mai;_ _Et j’en airai pûs que té (toi)._

Sow your cucumbers in March, you will want neither bag nor sack; sow them in April, you will have a few; I will sow mine in May, and I shall have more than you.

_Pouit (point) de vraic, pouit de haugard._--No seaweed, no corn ricks. The sea-weed, _vraic_ or _varech_, which grows in such abundance on all the rocks round the islands, is of the utmost importance to the farmer. It is almost the only dressing used for the land, stable manure being scarce and expensive. Hence the saying quoted above; for without sufficient manure the crops are sure to fall short. The _haugard_, or, more correctly, _haut gard_, (high yard) is the enclosure near a homestead on which the ricks are erected.

_Débet (dégel) de pllie, ne vaut pas une fllie (patille); débet de sec, vaut demi-fumaeure (fumier)._--A thaw with rain is not worth a limpet; a thaw with dry weather is worth half a load of manure.

_Un essaim en Mai--vaut une vaque (vache) à lait._--A swarm of bees in May is worth a milch cow.

_Où est qu’ll y a un cardon (chardon) ch’est du pain; où est qu’ill y a du laitron, ch’est la faim._--Where thistles grow there will be bread, where the sow-thistle grows it is famine. The latter is mostly found in very poor land.

_Il vaut mûx pour ùn houme d’aver un percheux (paresseux) dans son ménage qu’un frêne sur s’n hêritage._--It is better for a man to have a lazy fellow in his service than an ash-tree on his estate. The shade of the ash is believed to be destructive of all vegetation over which it extends; and it is this belief that has in all probability given rise to this saying. This proverb sometimes takes the following form:--

_Bâtard dans sen lignage_ _Vaut mûx qu’un frène sur s’n héritage._

Piscatory and Maritime Sayings.

The following sayings may be termed piscatory and maritime.

_A quànd le bœuf est las, le bar est gras._--When the ox is weary, that is, when ploughing has come to an end for the season, the bass is in good condition. This fish is decidedly best in summer.

_A quànd l’orge épicotte, le vrac est bouan sous la roque._--When the barley comes into ear, the wrasse or rock-fish, is at its best.

_L’âne de Balaam a pâlaï (parlé) j’airon du macré (maquereau)._--Balaam’s ass has spoken, we shall soon have mackerel. The mackerel, it is almost needless to say, is a migratory fish, arriving on our coasts in the spring, and remaining with us till late in the summer. Formerly the reading of the First Lesson at Evensong on the first Sunday after Easter, in which the story of Balaam and his ass is told, was considered a sure indication that the welcome shoals would soon make their appearance. The Cornish fishermen have the same saying.

Old fishermen pay great attention to the direction of the wind at sunset on old Michaelmas Day (10th October), for they firmly believe that from whatever point it blows at that time, the prevailing winds for two-thirds of the ensuing twelve months will be from that quarter.

_Grànd maïr (mer) ou morte iaue (eau),_ _La lune au sud, il est basse iaue._

Whether it be spring tides or neap tides, when the moon is due south it will be low water.

EDITOR’S NOTE.--Another version: “Vive iaue ou morte iaue, La lune au sud, il est basse iaue.”--_From John de Garis, Esq._

Various Sayings.

A few sayings omitted may find a place here:--

_Alle ira sû le coquet de l’Eglise ramendaïr (racommoder) les braies (culottes) des viers garçons._--She will get a seat on the weather-cock of the church and mend old bachelor’s breeches, is said of old maids, and is equivalent to the English saying, “She will lead apes in hell.”

_Ch’est une autre pâre (paire) de cauches (bas, chausses)._--That’s another pair of stockings, is used in the sense of “That’s quite another affair.”

_A quànd les filles suffllent (sifflent) le guiablle (diable) s’éhuque._--When girls whistle the devil laughs outright. Whistling is not generally reckoned among feminine accomplishments, and by many would certainly be considered as a symptom of what, in the present day, is termed “fastness” in the fair sex.

According to the Northamptonshire proverb:--

“A whistling woman and crowing hen, Are neither fit for God nor men.”

In Normandy they say:--“Une poule qui chante le coquet, et une fille qui siffle, portent malheur dans la maison.”[262]

And in Cornwall:--“A whistling woman and a crowing hen, are the two unluckiest things under the sun.”

_Trachier (chercher) la Ville par Torteval._--To seek for the Town by way of Torteval, is said of one who goes a round-about way to work. The rural parish of Torteval, situated at the south-west corner of Guernsey, is, of all the parishes in the island, the one furthest removed from the town of St. Peter Port. Compare the French “Chercher midi à quatorze heures.”

_Il ôt (ouit, entend) fin coume une iragne (araignée)._--His sense of hearing is as quick as that of a spider. Whether the abrupt retreat of the common wall-spider into the inner recesses of its web, at the approach of anything that alarms it, is to be attributed to the sense of hearing, sight, or feeling, would be difficult to determine. The fact, however, has been noticed, and has given rise to this saying.

_Entre le bec et le morcé,_ _Ill y a souvent du destorbier._

T’wixt cup and lip--there’s many a slip.

_Qui épouse Jerriais ou Jerriaise,_ _Jamais ne vivra à s’n aise._

In all countries and in all ages jealousies and dislikes have existed between neighbouring communities. The inhabitants in Guernsey and Jersey are not exempt from these feelings, which find vent in malicious tales told of each other. The saying quoted above is common in Guernsey; probably its counterpart exists in Jersey, substituting “Guernesiais” for “Jerriais.” It by no means follows, however, that the want of comfort in these mixed marriages may not be quite as attributable to the one side as the other.

_Il y a terjoûs quiqu’ùn qui a sa qu’minse à sequier._--There is always some one wanting to dry his shirt. The weather never suits everybody’s wants.

_I’ n’a que vie d’alàngouraï (languissant)._--Equal to the English saying “A creaking door hangs longest.”

_Si un houme n’a pas le sens de pâlaïr (parler) il est bien sâge s’il a le sens de se taire._--A man who has not the sense to speak is still a wise man if he has the sense to hold his tongue.

_I’ faut savèr ouïr, véer, et se taire._--One should know how to hear, see, and be silent.

_La s’maïne qui vient._--is the equivalent of the English “To-morrow come-never.”

_Chu qu’ nou n’a jamais veu, et jamais ne verra, Ch’est le nic d’une souaris dans l’oreille d’un cat._--In the _Folk-Lore Record_, Vol. III., Part I., p. 76, we find the Breton equivalent of this saying:--“One thing you have never seen, a mouse’s nest in a cat’s ear.” We are not told, however, whether the proverb is found in the French patois of Upper Brittany, or in the Celtic dialect still spoken in Lower Brittany--la Bretagne bretonnante.

_I’ va d’vànt ses bêtes_, or _I’s’met d’vànt ses bêtes_.--He is going before his team, is said of a prodigal, one who is out-running his income.

_Ch’est une pouquie (pochée) de puches (puces)_ or _de souaris_.--Is a sackful of fleas, or of mice, is said of a person who is very lively and always on the move.

_Il n’est si bouane (bonne) bête qui n’ait quiqu’ (quelque) ohi._--There is no beast so good but that it has some fault or vice. It is worthy of notice that the word “_ohi_” is gone entirely out of use except in this proverb.

_I’ vit d’amour et de belles chansons--coum’ les alouettes de roques (pierres, cailloux)._--The first part of this saying--He lives on love and fine songs--is frequently used alone, but it is often capped by the concluding words, “As larks do on stones,” meaning that something more nourishing is needed to keep body and soul together.

“_Un mouisson (oisseau) dans la main vaut mûx que daeux qui volent._” “_Un mouisson à la main en vaut daeux sur la branque (branche.)_” “_Un pourché (pourceau) dans sen parc en vaut daeux d’ par les rues._” All these are equivalent to the English proverb: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” but the last must have originated in days long gone by, when swine were allowed to roam at their will about the streets.

_I’ n’ y a pas de cousins à Terre-Neuve._--There are no cousins at Newfoundland. This somewhat selfish proverb, indicating that where one’s own interest is at stake the ties of consanguinity go for little, although occasionally heard in Guernsey, originated most probably either in Jersey or St. Malo, both which ports are largely engaged in the cod fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland. Jersey, indeed, owes her commercial prosperity almost entirely to this branch of industry, to which, it is said, the attention of the inhabitants was directed by Sir Walter Raleigh during the time that he held the office of Governor of the island. During the Middle Ages the fisheries in the Channel Islands were very productive, and a source of considerable revenue to the Crown, but the discovery of Newfoundland, and the superior quality of the codfish caught on its shores, drove the salted conger and mackerel of the island out of the market.

_Le cul d’un sac et la langue d’une femme gagnent terjoûs._--In former days, when horses were more employed in carrying loads than they are at the present time when carts are in universal use, it was observed that a sack thrown across the back of a horse had a tendency to slip down gradually in the direction opposite to its mouth. This explains the first part of the proverb; the second part is equivalent to the saying that a woman will always have the last word and gain her end at last.

_Nou veit bien pûs de meïnes de gâche crue que de biaux musiaux._--One sees many more pasty, doughy looking faces than pretty ones. Said in very cold weather.

_Ch’n’est que faeu et fllâmme._--It is nothing but fire and flame, said of a boaster, and also of a passionate man, whose temper quickly rises, and as quickly dies down.

_Pêle-mêle gabouaré._--Pell-mell, as merry-makers tumble out of a village inn. This word “gabouaré,” derived from the Bas Breton “_gaborel_,” is only found in this phrase.

_Il est coume le pourché du negre, petit et vier._--He is small and old, like the negro’s pig.

_Cope le cô_, _i.e._, “coupe le cou,” is a common asseveration among children. They pronounce the words, drawing their right hand at the same time towards their throat, as if cutting it, and the action is meant to imply that they wish their throats may be cut if they do not tell the truth, or perform what they have promised.

_Vaque (vache) d’un bouan égrùn (croissance)._--A cow that does credit to her food, and that feeds close. _Etre d’un bouan égrùn_--is also said of children who look fat and healthy.

In conclusion, we will give a story which is often told in the country, as a warning to those who are apt to laugh at fools. A half-witted fellow, who had gone to the mill with his corn, was asked by the miller, who wanted to laugh at him:--“John, people say that you are a fool and know nothing. Now, tell me what you know and what you don’t know?” “Well!” answered John, “I know this, that millers have fine horses.” “That’s what you know,” said the miller. “Now tell me what you don’t know.” “I don’t know on whose corn they are fattened,” said John.

--_From Denys Corbet._

[262] EDITOR’S NOTE.--In _Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute Bretagne_, Tome II., p. 29., are various sayings to the same effect, such as:--

“Fille siffler, Poule chanter, Et coq qui pond, Trois diables dans la maison.”

EDITOR’S NOTES.

The following are a few local proverbs and sayings which I have met with at different times, and which I do not find included in Sir Edgar MacCulloch’s collection.

_Il est si avare, il ne dounera pouit daeux p’tits œufs pour un gros._--He is such a miser that he would not give two little eggs for one big one.

_Coume St. Paterne, tu feras pâlir le Diable._--Like St. Paterne, you would turn the Devil pale, said of a man whom nothing will daunt. St. Paterne was one of our local saints, who was specially noted for the conversion of the inhabitants of the Forest of Scissy--the submerged forest which lies off our western coasts. He was induced to do so by a pious Seigneur of the Forest, and began his work there by going into a cavern where the idolaters were celebrating a great feast presided over by the Devil himself. Armed only with his pilgrim’s staff he routed them all, Satan included. He was specially beloved by birds, who followed him wherever he went. He was made Bishop of Avranches, and died in the year A.D. 495.

_La s’maïne de treis (trois) Jeudis ou il n’ y a pas de Vendredi._--The week of three Thursdays and no Friday. This is used when talking of an event which will never come off. Then they say “Ca, se fera, etc.”

_Haut coumme un béguin._--As high as a beacon. The Guernsey “béguins” were tall stacks of furze placed on prominent points so that they could be lit in case of an alarm.

_Ecoute-paret (paroi) jamais n’ot dret._--He who listens through partitions never hears correctly.

_Faire pertus (trou) sous l’iaue._--To make a hole in the water, said of a man who is ruining himself.

_I’ vaut mûx pillaïr (plier) qu’ rompre._--It is better to bend than break.

_Il ne faut pas queruaïr trop près des fossaïs._--One should not plough too close to the hedges. Said of people who have no tact and say the wrong things at the wrong times--“Dancing on the edge of precipices.”

_Maujeu au naïx, signe d’être guervaï, ou baîsi d’un fou._--Tickling in the nose shows that you will either be worried or kissed by a fool!

_Daeux petites paûretaïs en font une grande._--Two small paupers make one big one; said when two impecunious people marry each other.

WEATHER PROVERBS, ETC.

_Quànd tu veis la fieille (feuille) à l’orme_ _Prends ta pouque et sème ton orge._

When you see the leaf on the elm Take thy bag and sow thy barley.

_Quand il fait biau, prend ton manteau,_ _Quand il pleut fais coume tu veus._

When it is fine take your cloak, When it rains do as you like.

_Vent perdu, se trouve au sud._

A lost wind is found in the south.

(This is a Sark proverb, and was found by the Rev. G. E. Lee in the Rev. Elie Brevint’s MSS).

_Hardi des hâgues sus l’s épines_ _D’un rude hiver ch’est le signe._

Many hips and haws on the trees, Is the sign of a severe winter.

_Le dix de Mai des sardes au Gaufricher._

On the 10th of May, sardans (a kind of fish) are to be found at Le Gaufricher--a rock north of Fermain.

_La maïr qui roule au Tas de Peis_ _Ch’est coumme nous verrait de l’iaue quée._

The sea that rolls at the Tas de Pois (the rocks at the end of St. Martin’s Point) look to the beholder like falling rain.

_“La lune levante_ _La maïr battante.”_

At moon rise It is high tide.

_“Fin nord et epais sud_ _Ne s’entrefont jamais d’abus_ _Fin sud et epais nord,_ _Ne sont jamais d’accord.”_

A fine north and a lowering south, have no occasion to quarrel, but a fine south and lowering north, will never agree.--_The two last “dictons” are from John de Garis, Esq._