PROVERBS IN HEALTH BOOKS OF THE

ENGLISH RENAISSAACE

by

RICK WOODBURN, B.S. in Sec.Ed., M.S.

A DISSERTATION

IN

ENGLISH

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in

Partial Ful f illi:':t.-nL of the Requirements for

the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank Professor Joseph T. McCullen, Jr., director

of this dissertation, for the great aid, advice, and criticism he

has given me during my course of study. I am also grateful to the

other members of my committee. Professors Warren S. Walker and James

Gulp, whose advice was welcomed and appreciated.

Professor Leonid A. Jirgensons deserves special thanks for

the generous gift of his time and knowledge in translating the Latin

proverbs in this study. His aid was invaluable.

Finally, I wish to thank Professor Henry David Payne, III,

whose concern and help was more than welcomed during the writing of

this study and of no small significance in its completion.

IX

PREFACE

Folklore includes the study of proverbs, but the folklorist

usually examines the proverb as an expression currently in use by the

folk, or as a literary device in belles lettres. This study examines

proverbs in utilitarian works, health books of the English Renaissance.

The occurrence of proverbs in the pragmatic health book sheds light on

the question of proverb usage in practical writings. In such writings,

the proverb demonstrates qualities which are often ignored in studies

of the proverb.

This study selected a cross section of health books published

during the English Renaissance. The publication dates of the books

were limited to the years between 1534 and 1634. Thomas Eliot pub­

lished The Castel of Helth in 1534. His book is one of the earliest

English health books, and it is one of the most important. In 1633,

James Hart published The Diet of the Diseased. Of the vast number of

medical books published in the designated hundred year period, this

study examines approximately twenty of the more significant, and also

only those books published in English, although some of the works are

translations.

The employment of proverbs found in the medical books falls

into three categories. First, there are medical proverbs, which

represent proverbs used as medical prescriptions. Second, there are

proverbs which are employed as proof in arguments over medical dogma.

iii

Third, there are proverbs which act as language improvers in English

prose writing. Further, special points of concern with Renaissance

medical books are equally as important as the three categories of

proverb employment. One should consider medical lore of the Renais­

sance and medical history. The medical beliefs figure significantly

in health proverbs. Medical evolution affected the medical books,

and, consequently, proverbs employed in the books. One should also

consider the purist-improver controversy over use of the vernacular

in medical books, during which proverbs aided in the development of

English as an effective written language.

The following study demonstrates the use of proverbs in

health books of the English Renaissance. While concentrating on

the specific categories of proverb usage, it also shows the impor­

tance of proverbs in utilitarian works and the significance of

proverbs in the development of English prose.

IV

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii

PREFACE iii

I. THE PROVERB AND THE ELIZABETHAN 1

II. VERBUM SAT SAPIENTE 12

III. VOX POPULI VOX DEI 28

IV. CONCLUSION 47

NOTES 53

BIBLIOGRAPHY 58

APPENDIX 61

V

CHAPTER I

THE PROVERB AND THE ELIZABETHAN

A study dealing with proverbs should begin logically with a

definition of the term "proverb." No definition will be forthcoming;

nor is this statement made lightly. To develop the consummate defi­

nition would be satisfying for any person, but to date such attempts

have met with failure. Many collectors of proverbs have prefaced

their studies with definitions. Each definition has been similar to,

yet at the same time widely divergent from, the others. One tends to

agree with M. P. Tilley that, "There is no agreement on what consti­

tutes a proverb." Archer Taylor, in his important study of the

proverb, freely admits the inadequacy of all definitions and refuses

to tender a comprehensive definition. He concludes that there is an

innate quality demonstrated in recognizing a statement as proverbial.

His working definition is in "recognizing that a proverb is a saying

2

current among the folk." The imperfection in the definition is evi­

dent since it includes many phrases not considered proverbial by most

people.

A further reason why no conclusive definition of the proverb

is offered in this study concerns the nature of the topic: proverbs

in English Renaissance health books. What must be considered first,

therefore, is Renaissance man's definition of the proverb, its

1

importance to him, and his use of it in medical books. In relation

to Renaissance man's attitude toward the proverb, it is necessary to

explain the method of selecting proverbs from the medical books sur­

veyed for this study.

A definition of the proverb is in many cases unnecessary

because writers of the period often prefaced a proverbial statement,

"The prouerb goeth . . .," or "As men say . . .," or "As the olde

Prouerbe sayth . . . ." A problem arises, however, when one recog­

nizes that authors included proverbs and proverbial statements in

the text of their works with no indication that these were anything

other than part of the natural language pattern. vvTiile the reason

for the employment of proverbs and the use of the vernacular are

discussed later, one is still faced with the problem of segregating

true proverbs from what might simply be cleverly phrased sentences.

In these instances, a variety of criteria was utilized. In many

instances, proverbial phrases were recognized by the commonality.

To anyone reasonably familiar with proverbs, these are instantly

recognizable. Some proverbial phrases were recognized after a

familiarization with Renaissance proverbs, especially those now

extinct in modern usage. Those proverbs which escaped detection

through the two previous criteria were located through a personal

definition of the proverb.

Despite the inability to formulate a comprehensive defini­

tion of the proverb, it becomes necessary to develop a simplistic

personal view of the proverb rather in accordance with Renaissance

concepts. It appears that the nature of man strives for a simplistic

explanation for any given phenomenon. Ritual, magical incantations

are crude formulae for producing or explaining an effect. Modern as

well as ancient sciences developed simple statements to explain chemi­

cal or other natural laws. Chemistry has formulae of varied complexity;

mathematics employs equations. Language, in the proverb, has its sim­

plistic formulae for defining misunderstood natural phenomena or

characteristics of human nature. A proverb is a brief statement of

a truism or an observation accurate enough to gain popularity and war­

rant consistent usage. Just as one may drink a glass of water and

recall that it is H O , or regard an atomic reaction and remember that

2 E=MC does work, one may also observe a gambler losing at a game of

chance and remark sagely, "A fool and his money are soon parted."

Those sententious statements in medical books which seek to explain a

phenomenon briefly and lay some claim to the popularity of the state­

ment are considered proverbial in this study. It was under that

criterion that Thomas Cogan's statement, "For there the seruants

thinke they haue not well dyned or supped, vnless they haue a sope

3

of colde mylke after all, as they vsed to speake," is taken as pro­

verbial. It is at once an observation on life and a demonstration of

the commonality of the observation.

Despite all precautions taken, however, one cannot help agree­

ing with Taylor that "much that is truly proverbial escapes us in 4

Elizabethan and older English." The language of the Elizabethan and

the attitude of the Elizabethan toward his language were significantly

different from those of present times. To capture the nuances of mean­

ing in Elizabethan English, to recognize all proverbs, would require

that a person steep himself in the language and culture completely.

Some proverbs, therefore, escape detection simply because they are

alien to the experience of modern man. Such proverbs, it must be

hoped, are few.

It is also difficult for the modern reader to appreciate the

importance an Elizabethan places on proverbs. Wliile modern usage of

proverbs is generally considered either old-fashioned or sententious,

the Elizabethan considered their usage right and proper. Proverbs

were given such credence that they became an important rhetorical

device as the final, most perfect word on any matter. Further, this

penchant for proverbs lasted well into the seventeenth century. The

importance with which the Elizabethan regarded proverbs may be seen in

writings of that period.

Of the philosophies of folklore, the one which resembles most

closely the Elizabethan concept of the proverb is the "survival"

school, the school of thought which considers all folklore the rem­

nants of an earlier civilization. Folktales, songs, poems and proverbs

are the remains of tribal taboos, legends and beliefs which have degen­

erated into entertainments and mere superstitions. Renaissance man,

too, saw in proverbs the substance of an older but wiser philosophy

which had emerged from Man's Golden Age and was passed down to his

progeny. The proverb was almost Prelapsarian knowledge.

James Howell, who published his important collection of Proverbs in

1659, prefaces his work with an explanation of the origins of prov­

erbs. "Proverbs," he writes, "may not improperly be called the

Philosophy of the Common Peeple, or, according to Aristotle, the

truest Reliques of old Philosophy, whereunto he adds another remark­

able Saying, That as no man is so rich who might be able to spend

equally with the Peeple, so none is so wise as the Peeple in general;

for Vox Populi Vox Dei the voice of the People is the Voice of God,

voz de Pleu, voz de Deu, as the Gascon hath it, for it must needs be

true what every one sayes." Tradition, then, becomes a significant

factor in Proverbs, as a sign of their ultimate truth. The people,

finding moral and practical truths in proverbs, handed the sayings

down to children, grandchildren from "time out of mind." Howell con­

cludes, "And though in point of Generation they are a kind of Natural

Children, and of an unknown birth, yet are they no by-blowes or

bastards, but legitimated by prescription and long Tract of Ancestriall

Time, so that, that Topical Axiom may be verified of them more, then of

any other knowledge, viz. Bonum quo communius eo melius."

In addition to the antiquity of proverbs commanding respect,

there was the matter of their practicality as bits of truth. Tilley

has stated, "The typical popular proverb is an old truth concisely and

often adroitly worded." Henry Peacham's rhetoric book. The Garden of

Eloquence (1593), viewed the proverb as a practical lesson made concise

and simple. In the section on "^odixis" or proving a point by experi­

ence, he writes, "To this place do belong many Prouerbs and common

sayings which are taken from generall proofe and experience, hence is

this saying: Trust not a horses heele, nor a dogs tooth. And like­

wise this: fire and water haue no mercy. Briefly the greatest part

of all notable saings and common Prouerbs were first formed vppon

Q

experience, and are still supported by it." In many instances the

point of practicality became the hallmark which guaranteed the

authenticity of a proverb. Howell offers a definition of the proverb

in his preface. "Now all Proverbs," he writes, "consist most commonly

of Caution, and Counsell, of Directions, and Document, for the regu­

lating of Humane life; wherein as there is much Witt, so there is

oftentimes a great deal of Weight wrapp'd up in a little. The chief

Ingredients that go to make a true Proverb, being Sense, Shortnesse

and Salt; . . . so it may be said, that in Proverbs there is much

wisedom couch'd up in a concise quaint way, and that with a kind of

quicknesse, familiarity and mirth, and sometimes twixt jest and 9

earnest." It is with a large degree of seriousness that Peacham

warns, "There are diuerse vices which ought to be auoyded & banished

out of Prouerbs, strangenesse, vnlikenesse, vncoraeliness, barrennesse,

and vntruth." He further defines the vices and states of "barren"

and "untrue" proverbs: "Barren Prouerbs are those which containe no

pith or vertue, whereby they should teach and delight. Untrue and

..11 false Prouerbes are such, as many instances may reproue.

From the above discussion, it is easy to see how important a

proverb could be as a rhetorical device. Even in the early nine­

teenth century the proverb still held such an eminent position that

Henry Bohn wrote, "Their usefulness is at least equal to their dignity,

as they . . . are adapted effectually to persuade: for what can strike

more than universal truth, well applied to a point in question? They

drive the nail home in discourse, and clinch it with the strongest con­

viction: for which reason Aristotle, in his Rhetoric, places proverbs

12 among the undeniable testimonies of truth." Thomas Wilson, in his

The Arte of Rhetorique, notes that proverbs were most useful in ampli­

fication of language "to make our tale appere vehemente, to seme

13 pleasaunt, or to be well stored with much copie." One "kind of

Amplifiyng is when wee gather suche sentences are are communely

spokin, or elles vse to speake of suche thynges as are notable in

14 thys lyfe." The nature and form of the proverb enabled it to act

in several ways. It was proof positive in any argument; its antiquity

and function as a truth from daily life assured such respect. It was

also a brief yet eloquent form of speech aptly suited for summation of

argument. Peacham wrote, "Amongst all the excellent formes of speech

there are none other more briefe, more significant, more euident or

more excellent, then apt Prouerbs: for what figure of speech is more

fit to teach, more forcible to perswade, more wise to forewarne, more

sharpe to reproue, more strong to confirme, or more piercing to

imprint?"-'-

Howell recognizes the functions of the proverb in rhetoric,

as proof and ornament. In his preface, he regards Saint Paul as one

of the noblest users of proverbs, a writer who linked proverbs and

divine inspiration. Considering proverbs as teaching devices.

8

he writes, "For a significant, and sapid succinct Proverb mal:ts a

firmer Impression, it sticks unto, and works upon the Intellectuals

oftentimes more then a whole Oration, or long-lunged Sermon: More­

over, Proverbs may be sayed to serve as Perl, or other pretious

stones for the Embrodering of a Speech, or as sinews to strengthen

it and enforce a belief upon the Auditor; for as the Italian hath

it, Proverbio non falla, ther's a kind of infallibility in Proverbs,

1 c.

for it must needs be true what every one says . . . ."

The naivete of Howell's final statement makes it difficult

for the modern reader to adjust to the seriousness of the statement.

However, to merely regard the Elizabethan as an idolizer of simplistic

phrases is to do an injustice to the age. The Renaissance man was not

a naive child; above all he was a shrewd observer of human nature, and

felt the accuracy of proverbs. While it is true that some people

leaned heavily on proverbs, the more educated members of society saw

them as tools to be used well, not abused or over-used. Nor were they,

as F. P. Wilson writes, "merely or mainly of use for clouting a hob­

nailed discourse." In most instances proverbs were used as any

other rhetorical device, carefully and only as emphasis required.

"Finally," Peacham writes of proverbs, "for their perspicuitie they

are like the most bright and glorious starres of the fiimament, which

as they are more excellent then others in brightnesse and glorie, so

are they more looked vpon, more admired, and more beloued, and as

they excell others in the dignitie of light so are they more distantly

remoued and more thinly dispersed. In like maner ought Prouerbes to

be sparingly sprinkled, both in priuate speech, and in publike ora­

tions, and then not without some fit occasion to vse the, for

prouerbs being fitly applyed and duly place, do extend their power

and shew their dignitie: otherwise they loose their grace, and the

18 oration his strength."

The importance of the proverb as a rhetorical ornament, as

mentioned briefly before, will be discussed at length further in

this study. At present, however, one should consider the attitude

of the Renaissance Englishman toward his language. In The Triumph

of the English Language, Richard Foster Jones has done an excellent

study of the struggle between writers in Latin and writers in the

19 vernacular which dominated prose writing in Renaissance England.

The point of divergence between the two groups centered principally

on the belief that English was unlearned and inelegant. The proverb,

then, becomes important as a language improver, and reasons for its

use become more evident. The simple proverbs become "starres of the

firmament" and "Perl, or other pretious stones for the Embrodering

of a Speech." The need to enrich the language prompted borrowing

from other languages words and phrases and, also, proverbs. F. P.

Wilson writes that "the many sixteenth-century collectors and writers

who acclimatized foreign proverbs to the English soil were hailed as

20 benefactors who enriched the 'copy' of their native tongue."

Indeed, many qualities of the proverb lend themselves to a

certain elegance which was readily recognized by the Elizabethan.

Peacham pointed to the common use of "Paroemion" or alliteration in

10

proverbs, "which faciiitie and pleasantnesse of sound, do cause such

prouerbes and sentences to be the better esteemed, and the oftener

21 vsed." Delighted with the rhyming quality of some proverbs, Putten-

ham traced their development back to the court of Charlemagne, "whereby

it came to passe that all your old Prouerbes and common sayinges, which

they would haue plausible to the reader and easie to remember and beare

22 away, were of that sort as these."

Further, there were numerous collections of proverbs, both

native and foreign, upon which a writer could draw. Tilly character­

izes the two groups in his introduction to A Dictionary of the Proverbs

in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. The native prov­

erb, he says, is often alliterative, as is Anglo-Saxon poetry, or rhymed

The foreign proverb usually lacks rhyme but is often concise and force-

23 ful. Foreign proverbs may be traced to originals, and often the

writer attempts to give the origin. In the medical books under con­

sideration, a large number of proverbs are given in Latin, and a few in

French, Italian, and Spanish. Sources for the foreign proverbs are

varied. Erasmus made a collection which was popular in Elizabethan

England. There were also several dictionaries of foreign languages,

Cotgrave's and Torriano's in particular, which often used proverbs to

illustrate the meaning of a word. Howell's collection of domestic and

foreign proverbs was important, as was George Herbert's collection of

foreign proverbs. Tilley concludes, "The Renaissance was in any case

so steeped in foreign literatures that writers could freely allude to

11

foreign proverbs, knowing quite well that their readers would follow

them." Finally, Thomas Wilson sums up his statement on the excel­

lence of the proverb with, "But what nede I heape all these together,

seyng Heywoodes Prourbes are in prynte, where plentye are to be hadde:

25 whose paynes in that behalfe, are worthye immortall prayse."

Although it is difficult to seriously adapt to the high regard

in which Renaissance man held proverbs, his attitude is not difficult

to accept and understand. The Renaissance humanist had rediscovered

the classics and admired the ancients. Proverbs were felt to be a

part of the Golden Age of Man and, therefore, of inestimable worth.

As "reliques" of old wisdom, they were employed in rhetoric as final

statements, summations of argument whose truth could not be refuted.

As the vernacular came into greater usage, the elegance and grace of

the proverb was noted and employed in giving dignity to a rather

clumsy language. Both usages of the proverb were practical, and this

practicality may be seen in the writings of the age. \\fhile various

studies have been made of proverbs in the works of Shakespere, Chaucer

and authors of many periods, utilitarian literature containing prov­

erbs has lacked the investigation it deserves. This study will

investigate the medical books of the English Renaissance to determine

how and why proverbs were used in the writings.

CHAPTER II

VERBUM SAT SAPIENTE

One of the first concerns faced when one surveys proverbs in

Renaissance medical books is the special characteristic of the medicine

discussed in these writings. It is upon this characteristic that many

medical proverbs are based. Renaissance man believed that proverbs

were founded on experience and confirmed by observation. He viewed

medicine as the same trial and error process. Thus, proverbs based on

supposed medical facts could be employed in making succinct diagnoses or

prescriptions. Further, just as proverbs came from ancient times, medi­

cine, too, was founded by ancient authorities. Those proverbs which

cannot be classified as medical found a usefulness in medical works when

they became "proof" in debates which arose as medicine began a gradual

change from a medical art based on ancient medical authorities to a

modern empiricism. The tension inherent in any drastic change of

thought is seen in the medical books. By analyzing proverbs in the

medical writings of the Renaissance, one may trace the results of the

shift from the old philosophical medicine to the empirical.

What is generally termed a medical proverb is "a type of pro-

26 verbial wisdom" which "deals with health and its maintenance." It

expresses guidelines of conduct in the matter of health just as other

proverbs express guidelines for other matters of life. While human

12

13

nature has not changed dramatically in five centuries, medical know­

ledge has. We live in an age of complex technical medicine which

discounts the naive medical proverb as mere superstition. Yet one

still finds traces of the medical proverb in today's culture. Every­

one is familiar with the proverb, "An apple a day keeps the doctor

away"; yet most are ignorant of the reasoning behind the maxim. Many

people were reared by mothers who firmly believed that "Milk and fish

are poison together." One is vaguely aware that the belief has some­

thing to do with ptomaine, but that is a modern view which knows of

toxic organisms. Renaissance man knew nothing of microscopic organ­

isms; however, his beliefs are still with us. Such longevity of

medical proverbs can be explained by the realization that both the

medical proverb and medicine of the Renaissance are based upon the

same concepts—observation, experience and tradition. Because of

this almost coeval origin, proverbs in medical writings of the

period become less surprising.

Chaucer's description of the "Doctour of Phisik" in The

Canterbury Tales is also applicable to doctors of the English Ren­

aissance. After almost two hundred years, little had changed in

medicine from the time of Chaucer to Shakespeare's day. As did

Chaucer's Doctour, a physician of the English Renaissance also:

Wei knew . . . the olde Esculapius, And Deiscorides and eek Rufus, Olde Ypocras, Haly, and Galyen, Serapion, Raxis, and Avycen, Averrois, Damascien, and Constantyn, Bernard and Gateden and Gilbertyn.

14

These lines are a listing of the chief medical authorities recognized

during the Middle ages, authorities who were recognized two centuries

later. Of the names, the most important ones for the purposes of this

study are Esculapius (Asclepiades), Deiscorides (Dioscorides), Ypocras

(Hippocrates) and Galyen (Galen). They are the ancient formulators of

a system of medicine which ruled until the late Renaissance and still

influenced medicine until relatively recent times.

The ancient physicians founded the theory of humors and elabo­

rated it into a complex science. The theory of humors assumed that all

bodies were constructed of four elements: fire, air, earth, and water.

Each element had the properties of either heat or cold and moisture or

dryness. Fire was hot and dry; air was hot and moist. Earth was cold

and dry; and water was cold and moist. Further, the elements and their

properties were only one factor which joined six other "natural things"

to determine the body's health. The Naturals were elements, complexions,

humors, members, powers, operations, and spirits.

Humors were liquids in the body: blood, phlegm, yellow bile

and black bile. These fluids were contained in the body and were main­

tained in a state of balance by the body's natural heat. An imbalance

in one of the humors irritated the body and manifested itself in a

variety of illnesses. Those people who were naturally well-balanced

were fortunate. Those not so fortunate were easily recognized by

their "complexions." A complexion was simply the state wherein one

element had dominance over the others in one's body. A sanguine

15

complexion was hot and moist with air having preeminence. Phlegmatic

complexions were cold and moist with water dominant. Choleric people

were hot and dry, fire being the ruling element. Melancholy, the

great "disease" of the Renaissance, was caused by a cold and dry com­

plexion in which earth manifested itself.

Fortunately, these states of discomfort were not necessarily

permanent. If a person demonstrated one of the above complexions or

indicated that a humor was out of balance, there were a variety of

ways to correct the imbalance. Although bleeding, vomits and purges

were used, the first and safest way to a balanced body was through

diet. Most of the general health books of the Renaissance devote a

large section to diet and the natures of the individual foods and

drinks. The recognition of the qualities possessed by a food allowed

one to employ it in regaining his humoral balance. For example, let­

tuce was cold and moist in the second degree and could be used to

balance a choleric complexion, which was hot and dry. From this idea

arose several proverbs. In the natural state, the body desired inter­

course only for procreation. An imbalance in the favor of fire

literally inflamed the desires and promoted lust. The obvious answer

was to eat something cold and moist to counter-balance the hot and

dry nature. In The Haven of Health, Thomas Cogan writes, "Yea rawe

Apples if they be olde, being eaten at night going to bed, without

drinking to them are founde verie commodius in such as haue boat

stomackes, or be distempered in heat and dryth by drinking much wine,

and are thought to quench the flame of Venus, according to that old

16

English saying, He that will not a wife wedde, must eate a cold Apple

28 when he goeth to bed." Similarly, there were some foods which

counteracted humors. William Vaughan writes in the 1600 edition of

his Naturall and Artificial Directions for Health, "Hare and Conies

flesh perboyled, and then rosted with sweet hearbes, cloues, and

other spices, consumeth all corrupt humors and fleagme in the stomack,

and maketh a man to looke amiably, according to the prouerb: He hath

29 deuoured a Hare." In later editions, he quotes the proverb, "He

30 hath swallowed vp a Hare." The policy of using opposites to balance

the humors in the bodies of the sick is summed up by Thomas Thayre.

He writes, "In bote sicknesse vse a cold diet: in a moist sicknesse

vse a drying diet, Contraria contrariis curantur: all distempera-

. 31 tures are cured by their contraries."

Although some works were written to help cure diseases, many

health books of the Renaissance were written to help prevent diseases.

The common proverb, "Every man is either a fool or a physitian," was

used to show that healthy persons had to maintain constant watch on

their diet, sleep, exercise, even evacuations and love making.

A diet well-balanced in the degrees of heat, cold, moisture,

and dryness was the most important factor in maintaining good health.

Because nuts were hot and binding, they were considered dangerous.

It was said, "One nut doth good, two hurt, the third doth kill."

Taken in proper order and with a moist food, however, nuts were very

good. A proverbial verse states, "P£st_ £ise£ nux si_t, post cames

caseus adsit." Fish was cold; therefore nuts were permissable.

17

Similarly meat was hot, and the cold cheese balanced it. The verse,

"Petre quid est Pesca? Est cum vino noblis esca," simply pointed out

that the cold, moist peach was best eaten with wine, which was con­

sidered hot and drying.

The reasoning behind a medical proverb is intricate. A

French proverb is explained by Vaughan concerning the best kind of

meat. He writes:

Before you be resolued of this, I must declare vnto you the sorts of flesh, and the natures of it. There bee two sorts of flesh, the one foure-footed, and the other that of Fowle. Among those that be foure-footed, some are yong, some are of middle age, others are old: the young are moist, and doe commonly cause excrements and loosenesse in the belly: old flesh is dry, of small nourishment, and of hard digestion; therefore I take that flesh to bee best which is of middle age, if not to wantons taste, yet at the least to nourish soundly and profitably, according to the French Prouerbe: He that loues young flesh and old fish, loues contrary to reason.

Qui veut ieune chair et vieux poisson, Se trouer epugner a raison.-*

There is, however, another (English) proverb which states, "Young flesh

and olde fish doth men best feed." Although they seem diametrically

opposed, the reasoning behind this proverb lies in the fact that as

men grow older they lose their natural moisture. Young flesh, with

its moist nature, rectifies the inadequacies in older men.

Balance in diet was important; of equal importance to health

was temperance. Many health books were written totally on the theme

of moderation in diet, exercise, sleep and even love making. Gluttony,

after all, was still one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Many health prov­

erbs are not directed toward specific aspects of life, as are the

18

diet proverbs above, but are general directions which usually warn

against intemperance: "Enough is as good as a feast"; "Intemper-

anter acta inventus, effetam parit senectuten"; "Effe decet vivas,

vivere non vt edas"; and the most popular, "Plures mori crapula

quam gladio." Moderation became the key phrase in all the medical

books. Over-indulgence in anything could lead to a miserable health. •

James Hart warns against misuse of sweet meats. He writes, "They

are of a temperate qualitie, participating of some heat, and are of

good nourishment, a good friend to the stomacke, exciting appetite,

and nourish well especially the red. But let a moderation as in all

other things, so especially in those sweet meats be used, which by

too much intising thy taste, may make thee at length finde by experi-33

ence, that sweet meat hath sowre sauce."

Medicine founded on the humors lasted almost two thousand

years. Even today there are hints of its very powerful influence.

We still consider red complected people hot-tempered, and at present

blood letting in the form of leeching is done in isolated areas. The

ancient authorities established rules and precepts which were used to

control medical thought almost into recent times. Early Renaissance

men, like the people of the European Middle Ages, regarded the old

physicians as almost infallible, just as they regarded the proverbs

as infallible. In one instance, an ancient physician and a proverb

became linked. Galen, called the Prince of Physicians, lived an

ideal life according to his and the other ancients' precepts.

19

Thomas Cogan writes of him:

He lived (as Coelius Rhodigenus writeth) a hundred and 40 years, and dyed only for feebleness of nature which, (as I haue shewed before) is called mori nautralis, when a man dieth as an apple that falleth from the tree whe it is ripe. The order of his life was thus. He vsed such abstinence in meate & drinke, that he left off alwaies before sacietie or fulnesse of bellie. Which we commonly cal to rise with an appetite, and is indeed the principall point in preseruing of health. Again he neuer eate anie crud or raw thing as fruits, herbes, rootes & such like. Which may be a second caution for al men to obserue. Whereby he had alwaies a sweete breath. Moreouer as ley-sure would suffer he used bathing, frication and exercise. Yea sometimes in the winter season when he was in the countrey, he refused not to cleaue wood, and to punne bar­ley, and to doe other countrey workes onely for the exercise of his bodie, as himselfe witnesseth. I Jhereof at length arose this prouerbe, Galenie valetudo! and is as much to say as a most perfect state of health, which I wish to.al good students, & the way to attain it is to keepe Galens dyet.-

Galen's life was felt to be the epitome of sobriety, temperance and

good medical practice. It was so perfect that the "Galenie valetudo"

or "Good health of Galen" became the byvjord for health. It must be

stated, however, that Galen did not live one hundred forty years.

According to the best evidence, he was bom in 130 A.D. and died in

35 200 A.D., and thus lived seventy years.

In a way, the problem of Galen's real and his legendary age

points to a very serious problem which arose early in the sixteenth

century and continued until the old medicine was completely over­

thrown. During the Middle Ages the old authorities had been regarded

with respect verging on slavishness . In the Renaissance, however,

the ancients began losing ground to the new methods of medicine.

Empiricism cast doubts about the trustworthiness of the traditional

20

medical practices. The old physicians were being replaced by author­

ities of the science of medicine: Paracelsus, Vesalius and Harvey.

In The Evolution of Modern Medicine, William Osier writes,

"The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries did three things in medicine—

shattered authority, laid the foundation of an accurate knowledge of

the structure of the human body and demonstrated how its functions

should be studied intelligently—with which advances, as illustrating

this period, may be associated the names of Paracelsus, Vesalius and Of.

Harvey." Each of these three pushed experimental medicine, a sci­

ence based on questioning and experimentation, further into the light

of day. Each one recognized that what was advocated by him was in

direct conflict with the ancient authorities and tradition, but each

continued with the work of modernizing science.

Paracelsus was a strange mixture of scientist and magician

(the two were closely related then) who is credited with founding the

study of chemical medicine. He believed firmly that the cures for

diseases were found in chemistry. In many instances he was appall­

ingly incorrect, but the general ideas he expressed xfere fundamen­

tally sound. One of his most significant beliefs, however, was

demonstrated when, in front of a class of students, he burned

volumes of Galen and Hippocrates. He dared not only to question

the old authorities, but also utterly denied their teachings any

relevancy. Paracelsus' irascible character, however, led to dis­

missal from his position as lecturer at the University of Basel in

1527. When he died in 1541, his reputation was at extremes: he was

21

either a quack or a new god of medicine. Although he never published

during his life, his influence was greatly felt throughout the Conti-

37 nent and into England.

Andreas Vesalius revolutionized anatomy in 1543 with his pub-

38 lication of Die Humani Corpus Fabrica. The work revealed aspects of

human anatomy never dreamed of by the ancients. Osier writes, "The

publication of the 'Fabrica' shook the medical world to its founda­

tions. Galen ruled supreme in the schools: to doubt him in the

least particular roused the same kind of feelings as did doubts on

39 the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures fifty years ago." When

Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood, the carefully built

temple of ancient medicine received the final blow which began its

slow but inevitable collapse.

In 1616, William Harvey began as Lumbeian lecturer to the

College of Physicians in England. His lecture notes reveal that even

then he was aware of the true nature of the heart and the circulation

of blood. It was not until 1628, however, that he published De Mortu

Cordis in Frankfurt. The reasoning behind the delay may be found in

a passage of D<e Mortu Cordis. He writes:

Thus far I have spoken of the passage of the blood from the veins into the arteries, and of the manner in which it is transmitted and distributed by the action of the heart; points to which some moved either by the authority of Galen or Columbus, or the reasonings of others, will give in their adhesion. But what remains to be said upon the quantity and source of the blood which thus passes, is of so novel and unheard of char­acter, that I not only fear injury to myself from the envy of a few, but I tremble lest I have mankind at

22

large for my enemies, so much doth wont and custom, that become as another nature, and doctrine once sown and that hath struck deep root, and respect for antiquity influence all men: Still the die is cast, and my trust is in my love of truth, and in the candour that inheres in cultivated • J 40 minds.

The "cultivated minds" of the Renaissance were not quite so willing

to accept the truth. Many medical books published midway through the

seventeenth century still adhered to the old philosophy. Even these,

however, differ from their predecessors in significant ways.

If one compares a medical book published in the middle of the

sixteenth century with another published in the early seventeenth cen­

tury, one is struck by the lack of formal documentation in the earlier

work. Statements, prescriptions, and diagnoses are set down with only

the minutest reference to source or substantiating authority. If one

looks for proverbs in the two volumes, again there is a lack in the

earlier book. An examination of the problem shows that as the old

medical authorities were challenged, their defenders found it necessary

to support them with a variety of proofs. Proverbs, as well as Scrip­

ture and the ancients themselves, were employed as proofs. In the

matter of proverbs, one need only examine how they are used.

Sir Thomas Eliot's The Castell of Helth is without proverbs.

Published in 1534 and re-issued many times, the text of the book has

no proverbs, medical or otherwise. The dedication which prefaces the

1534 edition contains several proverbs and proverbial statements, but

they are friendship proverbs. Similarly, The Mirrour or Glass of

Health (1580), A Compendious Treatis conteynynge Precepts Necessary

23

to the Preseruacion of Healthe (1551?) and Andrew Boorde's The Breviarv

of Health (1552) are all singularly lacking in proverbs. If there are

proverbs, they are usually found in the epistolary introduction. The

dearth of proverbs is also reflected in the manner in which the dis­

cussion in the books is supported. In most instances, there are a few

references to the ancient authors, but little other documentation.

There is a general lack of awareness of new advances in medicine. Also,

there is a certain confidence in the truthfulness of the ideas expressed.

Toward the end of the sixteenth century there is an increase in

41 books either in support of Paracelsus and chemical medicine or in

42 support of astrological medicine. In the medical writings still

adhering to the old authorities, there is a reluctance to put forth an

idea without various sorts of proof to support it. There is a marked

rise in the number of proverbs used in the medical books. Also, the

ancients are quoted freely and used liberally as models of exemplary

lives. There is a tendency to quote biblical passages (God's Law) and

give details from saints' lives and other miraculous stories. There

43 are even occasional references to "modern" physicians.

One may suggest two reasons for the increase in proverbs.

First, during the late sixteenth century there was a growing number

of medical authors who wrote in the vernacular rather than in Latin.

Secondly, with the decline of the ancient authorities there was the

need to give added proof to the medical dogma. The best way to do so

was through the use of vivid quotations from the ancients themselves.

Scriptural passages and proverbs, for "it must needs be true what every

one sayes."

24

Where medical proverbs are used for specific prescriptions or

diagnoses, the proverbs included for proof tend to be non-medical.

Archer Taylor notes that "no single application of a proverb exhausts

44

its meaning." A general proverb can be used in a variety of situa­

tions and still be equally significant in each of the cases. Cogan

writes a warning that young people should learn from an early age to

live temperately. He concludes, "Intemperanter acta inventus effetam

parit senectutem. A ryotous youth breedth a lothsome age. For as the

Lawyer sayth. Quod defertur non aufertur." The first proverb is med­

ical in nature, but the second is not. "That which is deferred is not

relinquished" acts as a final proof to the argument to support the old

medical belief.

For William Vaughan the proverb represents the truth which

proves the argument. Vaughan's best knox m work, Directions for Health,

Naturall and Artificial, went through at least six editions. The 1600

edition consists of seventy-five pages with two proverbs in the text.

Of the two, only one is stated as being a proverb: "He hath deuoured

lx(s

a Hare." The 1612 edition, which consists of twice as many pages,

follows the same organization with several sections expanded, and has

nine new proverbs added. Many of the new proverbs are health proverbs

which aid in substantiating specific cures. The proverb of the 1600

edition, however, is changed to, "He hath swallowed vp a Hare."

None of the preceding text is changed, which indicates that Vaughan

took the wording and use of proverbs seriously.

25

In its sixth edition, the 1626 edition, Vaughan's work is

considerably expanded, mostly because of the numerous quotations,

stories, and proverbs that he employs. There are not fewer than

thirty proverbs, proverbial phrases and rhymes in the text. Through­

out the book there are countless examples of his almost absolute faith

in ancient authority. He writes of judging persons by their complex­

ions: "And the outward phisignomy of the body, in the most part is

verified by our ancient rimes:

Faire and foolish, little and loud. Long and lazie, blacke and proud:

Fat and merry, leane and sad. Pale and peeuish, red and bad."

The proverbs are there undoubtedly because they illustrate the sub­

jects under discussion V7ith their well-known antiquity.

Vaughan's best use of the proverb as the final word of proof

comes when he discusses the medicinal qualities of mirth. He writes,

"Mirth enlargeth the heart, and disperseth much naturall heat with

the bloud, of which it sendeth a good portion to the face; especially,

if the mirth be so great, that it stirreth a man to laughter. Mirth,

I say, maketh the fore-head smooth and cleere, causeth the eyes to

glister, and the cheekes to become ruddy. To winde vp the truth in

a word:

'Tis mirth that nurseth life and blood, ,Q Farre more then wine, or rest, or food."

As a final example of the use of proverbs as documentation,

one need only look to James Hart's The Diet of the Diseased (1733).

26

The work is a monument to the old medical system, and it clings stead­

fastly to the ancient authorities. In the work, as in Vaughan and

others, it is not uncommon to find a passage on a subject supported

by a statement from Galen, a quotation from St. Paul, and a proverb.

In several sections. Hart vehemently attacks Paracelsus and firmly

advocates the old order. An illustration of his dependence on author­

ity may be found in a discussion on the effects of sugar. In a lengthy

discussion in which he states simply that sugar comes from cane and is

good for one except when used to excess. Hart refers to Galen, Pliny

and Solin, a personal experience, and two proverbs, "Sweet meats hath

often sower sauce," and "Sub melle dulce venenum." The entire matter

is then summed up with, "Verbum sat sapiente, A word is enough for a

.,50 wise man.

There are some medical books of the late Renaissance which do

not use proverbs. These are usually books in support of the new medi­

cine. There are some medical books as early as 1580 which contain many

proverbs. In these instances, the proverbs appear to be used because

the author is writing in the vernacular. It is clear that as the

authority of the ancient physicians fell away from medicine, medical

writers began feeling threatened by the new science; a concerted effort

was made to bolster the ancients with heavy documentation. Proverbs,

which developed along with medicine and often reflected the old form

of medical thought, were strong support. If a proverb was used, how

could the veracity of the idea be false?

27

The enormous amount of documentation in the late Renaissance

medical books cannot be accounted for by simply stating that the age

was given over to scholarship. Renaissance men had begun questioning

the old authorities. As medical discoveries progressed, the ancients

were proven wrong. Medical writers were reticent to give up inherited

usages. Their medical traditions ruled out experimentation in support

of the ancients; indeed, experimentation was the prime destroyer of

the medical traditions. It was necessary, therefore, to use any mat­

ter which could support the old order. Where authors had once felt

sufficient referring to Galen or Hippocrates, they now felt it neces­

sary to quote the authorities. Scripture, as Divine Law, added

substantial weight. Finally, proverbs, both domestic and foreign,

aided in the support of the past.

CHAPTER III

VOX POPULI VOX DEI

The proverb, it has been noted, entered the medical books of

the English Renaissance through the use of the vernacular; and the

function of the proverb as a rhetorical device was recognized by the

Elizabethan. Yet the reasons which compelled the Elizabethan writer

to employ proverbs constitute a problem that should be explored

closely. Of central importance is the controversy which raged

between two groups. One group felt serious information, such as

that in health books, should be written in Latin; the other group

wished to write in the vernacular. It was in the special rhetorical

device of the proverb that vernacularists found both a subtle and

effective answer to Latinists, ink-hornists and purists. The pub­

lication of influential medical books in English indicated that the

victory of the vernacular over Latin was assured.

One must also remember the high regard in which the Eliza­

bethan held the proverb. It was considered to be the most ancient

of philosophies. As "vox populi," the voice of the many, the

proverb was a dynamic and eloquent rhetorical device. Thus, with

an understanding of Elizabethan attitudes toward language and medi­

cal writings, one may also understand the function of proverbs in

the medical books.

28

29

As far as his language was concerned, the early Elizabethan

was faced with a dilemma. With the invention of the printing press,

relatively large numbers of books flooded England, with a consequent

rise in literacy, but not in "learnedness." The learned person was

a university-educated man who knew Latin, was familiar with Greek,

and probably Hebrew. To be simply literate, to read English, was

not enough for erudition. All of the important documents were to

be written in Latin. Latin was, after all, the international lan­

guage. Latin was the language of Cicero, Pliny, the Church Doctors,

and many of the great thinkers. It was also believed that Greek

and Latin were two of the original languages given to mankind at the

Tower of Babel. What was most important, however, was the belief

that Latin was a supremely eloquent language. The term "eloquent"

no longer holds the same meaning for us that it did for Renaissance

man, but we may surmise the importance. Latin was a structured

language with established rules, a flexible syntax and a versatile

vocabulary which allowed it to be both expressive and decorous.

The vernacular of England was, to learned Elizabethans, a

seething mass of irregularity and contradictions. The Great Vowel

Shift had not yet established itself. Spelling was a matter of

individual whim, and the number of dialects appalled the purists.

This was the period which saw movements begun to "improve" and

"regularize" the new English tongue, to make it more eloquent.

In many ways, the objections to the use of the vernacular

were quite justified, especially as far as medical writers were

concerned. English was a very awkward and crude instrument of

30

expression in the early Sixteenth Century. It certainly lacked a

suitable vocabulary for scientific terms, and those it did have had

been borrowed. The Elizabethan also viewed English as a new language,

lacking in the antiquity which characterized Latin. If serious inform­

ation and thought were to be written in English, the vernacular would

have to meet the high standards of Latin. For those medical writers

who chose to write in English, the problem of making the language more

eloquent was solved in a variety of ways. The writers could either

Latinate the language or simply allow the tongue to express itself

naturally with the aid of rhetorical devices. Because of its antiq­

uity and elegance, the proverb proved a significant rhetorical device.

While most writers of the Renaissance, and especially the

English Renaissance, were defending the vernacular and attempting to

make it a fit vehicle for expression, medical writers were defending

the simple right to put medical knowledge into the language of the

people. Of all the iconoclastic actions of Paracelsus, one of the

most shocking to Renaissance minds was that he lectured in German.

All lectures in all universities were given in Latin; even Harvey

presented his discoveries on the heart and blood in Latin. Para­

celsus was adamant in his usage of German, however; and in his

"Credo" he writes, "I have thus far used simple language, and I

cannot boast of any rhetoric or subtleties; I speak in the language

of my birth and my country . . ., and let no one find fault with me

for my rough speech. My writings must not be judged by my language,

but by my art and experience, which I offer the whole world, and

31

which I hope will be useful to the whole world.""* The statement

expresses succinctly the justification of the medical writer for

writing in English. Knowledge was to be shared with the world, and

the vernacular was the most fitting vehicle for the dissemination.

The "whole world" had always required the "universal language"; now,

with literacy on the rise, it meant all people, hence all of one's

countrymen first.

In The Triumph of the English Language, Richard Foster Jones

traces the change from Latin to the vernacular. One aspect of forces

behind the change, he reasons, was the growing influence of Puritanism,

Puritanism was negligible in the early sixteenth century, but by the

end of the century, it had gained enough momentum to carry it over

into the seventeenth century with disastrous results. "Furthermore,"

Jones writes, "there developed in this class an emphasis upon utility,

which was beginning to attach . . . a somewhat immoral nature to that

which seemed to them vain, empty, and useless. Perhaps a more impor­

tant factor . . . was the conviction that learned men were faced with

the solemn duty of educating by means of the vernacular their less

52 fortunate brothers." At a time when fewer and fewer persons were

learning Latin, and the souls of the ignorant were in need of grace,

tracts in Latin must have seemed to Puritans vain and useless, if not

somewhat papist in coloring.

It was partly through the desire to educate the ignorant that

writers began publishing medical books in the vernacular. In England,

especially, a growing nationalism prompted medical writers to seek

32

actively to help their fellow countrymen by writing in a language all

could understand. Part of the title of Eliot's The Castel of Helth

(1534) states that the wook was made "wherby euery manne may knowe

the state of his owne body, the preseruatio of helth, and how to r Q

instructe welle his physytion in syckeness that he be not decyued."

Eliot's book is designed to help the patient aid his physician. Other

medical books of the Renaissance are written for those who could not

afford a doctor's care. Still other books are detailed accounts and

directions by which the healthy could maintain their health. It was

partly upon the humanitarian purposes of the books that writers in

the vernacular defended themselves from violent opposition.

Jones states that the primary opposition to medical treatises

published in English rested on the fact that medical art was learned

from classical books written in Latin or Greek. A physician had to

understand languages to function well, but any man could understand

English. If the knowledge were placed in every man's hands, every

54

man could be his own physician, some argued. The inevitable prob­

lem of competition or a glutted market was certainly a factor. How­

ever, the classical physicians did have some legitimate claim for

opposition. If anyone could be a doctor by simply being able to

read English, there would be a flood of inexperienced persons prac­

ticing medicine through greed or simple ignorance. The danger to

lives was great. When one considers the practices of the learned

doctors, however, the danger from them was almost equally as great.

The opposition to English medical books was significant, however.

33

In a postscript to a medical book which he translated, John

Read describes an incident wherein he had been reminded of the anger

of classical doctors. "For being on a time in companie," he writes,

by chaunce it was tolde me vnto my face, that there were too many

bookes set foorth in the English toung, and that our bookes did more

harme then good, and that the Arte therby is made comon. For that

quoth he, euerie Gentleman is as wel able to reason thein, as our

selues." In a defense on publishing a book in English, William

Clowes noted similar objections. The physicians disliked his work

because, "It embases the Art . . . and makes it too common, whereby

Cf.

every bad man and lewd woman is become a surgeon."

The usual response to such criticism was, of course, that

classical physicians were both proud and greedy. Were they not so,

they would never object to so ambitious a project as educating the

unlearned in the art of medicine for the good of the country.

Another retort to the numerous objections was to point out that

the ancient authorities wrote in their respective languages with

no attempt to hide knowledge from the masses. In a preface to his

translation of a medical work, John Read writes:

Why grutch they Chirugerie should come foorth in English? would they haue no man to know but onely they? or what make they themselues? for if Galen the Prince of this arte being a Grecian wrote in the Greeke: King Auicene of Arabia in the speech of the Arabyans: If Plinius, Celsus, Serenus, & other of the Latines wrote to the people in the Latin tongue: Mercellus Ficinus (who all men assent to be singulerly learned) disdained not to write in the Italian tongue: generally, if the intent of all that euer set foorth any noble studie, haue beene to be read, of as many as woulde: what reason is it, that we should huther muther heere among a few, the thing that was made common to all?

34

Similar sentiments are expressed by several authors, including Eliot.

Knowledge, they believe, is a matter to be shared by all. Medical

knowledge, especially, since it applied to all people, should easily

be available to all. Those individuals who believed the contrary

were probably vain or greedy. Besides, the English writers reasoned,

the art of medicine was, like any other art, a skill which came with

much experience and insight. "Art," writes William Clowes, "comes to

no man by succession, but by great pains, long study, much care and

diligence.

One must not think, however, that writers advocated not

learning Latin. Those who knew languages were twice blest. They

knew both the art of medicine and the writings of the authorities

in the original. In A Detection John Securis discusses the advan­

tages of knowing Latin. To know Latin and Greek was to be able to

study the philosophy of medicine and the reasoning behind the medi­

cation. It was, therefore, advantageous for a physician to be

university-educated. Of surgeons Securis writes, "It were good and

necessarye that no Surgion shoulde practyse his surgery, unles he

coulde reade and write, and had knowledge and experience in the

59 simples belonginge to his art." Many writers in the vernacular

also attempted to insure some degree of erudition in their readers.

Many of their quotations are in Latin and are sometimes untranslated.

Other writers tried to keep the flow of income from diminish­

ing. William Vaughan wrote his books with an eye to helping the poor

35

who could ill afford doctors. In one section of the 1612 edition of

Approved Directions for Health, Both Naturall and Artificially he

writes, "Aboue all vomites or purgations, I see none comparable to

Stibium or Antimonie prepared, which I dare boldly commend as a most

soueraine and cheape remedy for agues, dropsies, fluxes and distilla­

tions unto the pooer sort . . . As for rich men, let them see the

Physitian, least that noble trade decay for want of maintenance:

fsCi according to that olde saying: Stipends doe nourish Artes."

The fact that Vaughan uses a proverb in the above statement

points to another problem of the medical writers: if they were to

write in English, how were they to make it as eloquent and forceful

as Latin or Greek? One obvious answer was to borrow from other

languages, especially Latin, to fill the void in vocabulary. In

extremes, the Latinate language led to "ink-horn" terms. Andrew

Borde began the prologue to The Breuiary of Healthe as follows:

"Egregious doctours and maysters of the Eximious and Arcane Science

of physicke, of your Urbanitie Exasperate not your selfe agaynst me

for raakying of this lytle volume of Phisycke." Assuming that

Borde was serious, one can easily see the uselessness of such ter­

minology. Even among those writers who employed ink-horn terms

there was never a total agreement on the meaning of the words.

Another method of making English eloquent was to allow the

vernacular to follow its own natural bent. After it had been

established that English was not inferior to Latin, Greek or any

of the modern tongues, there were numerous rhetoric books written

36

to help those people who wrote in the vernacular. Peacham, Puttenham

and Wilson listed the various rhetorical devices which could be used,

all two hundred of them. Writers in the vernacular were not slaves

to rhetoric, however; the devices were simply tools which allowed the

clever writer to make the best use of his language. One need only

compare the works of the Elizabethan writers, Shakespeare and Kyd,

for example, to note how the same rhetorical devices were employed

with drastically different effects.

The rhetorical devices which included proverbs were allitera­

tion, rhyme and amplification. These were the areas in which Peacham,

Wilson and Puttenham felt proverbs were especially suitable. Rhymes

were used in proverbs to make them "plausible to the reader and

62 easie to remember and beare away." Alliteration in proverbs was a

quality "which faciiitie and pleasantnesse of sound, do cause such

prouerbes and sentences to be the better esteemed, and the oftner

fs '^ vsed." Wilson wrote that "Amplification is a figure in Rhetorique,

which consisteth mooste in Augmentynge and diminishynge of anye

64 matter, and that in diuers wayes."

Rhyming proverbs are found in the health books of the Renais­

sance. Many medical proverbs are rhymed, which makes them easy to

remember. Other proverbs are rhymed simply for the beauty of the

rhyme. Examples of rhyming proverbs in the health books are: "Many

times for a little land they take a fool by the hand"; "He that will

not when he should, often cannot when he would"; "Haste might make

waste"; "If thou wilt live ever, wash milk from thy liver"; "It's no

37

lesse courage to maintain, than things at first to get and gain";

"The toothsomest is not always the wholesomest"; "Children and

chicken would always be picking"; "The cat would fain fish eat,

but is loath her feet to wet"; "To a red man, read thy read,/

With a brown man, break thy bread"; "As a man is mette, so is he

grette."

Alliterative proverbs are not uncommon in medical books.

Like the rhyming proverbs, many of the alliterative proverbs

demonstrate the same lilting rhythm which made proverbs even more

valuable as language improvers. Some examples of alliterative

proverbs are: "Must they strike Richard for Robert"; "Must they

rob Peter to pay Paul"; "Pride is never painful"; "Every man is

either a fool or a physician"; "Sweet irieat hath sour sauce"; "More

are killed by surfets than by the sword"; "Offered service

stinketh"; "A soft fire makes sweet malt"; "Better unborn than

untaught"; "God never sent mouth, but also he sent meat"; "Soon

ripe, soon rotten."

Amplification is more often determined by the context in

which a proverb is used than the particular proverb itself. There

are, however, numerous phrases which usually serve as amplification

devices. Examples are: "Without all barking"; "To grind (something)

to oat meal"; "Conscience is hanged"; "To differ as chalk from

cheese"; "To smell out a rat"; "To play fast and loose"; "As a blind

man throws his staff"; "As the blind man shot the crow"; "Servants

riding horse back and princes going afoot"; "To hide one's talent

38

in a napkin"; "The best of the bunch"; "To dine with Duke Humphrey";

"Neither for love nor money"; "Drunk like a beggar." Proverbs were

considered succinct, powerful and eloquent, and, what is m.ore sig­

nificant, proverbs were also a part of the common diction. The

Elizabethan drew no distinction between the simple catch phrase and

the legitimate proverb. It is, therefore, impossible to judge the

total effect of the proverb in the writings of the period. Once a

cliche or catch phrase loses its currency, it is almost impossible

to recognize it as a special rhetorical element. It is sometimes

only through an author's statement of the popularity of a phrase

that we become aware of its function. In The Arte and Science of

Preseruing Bodie and Soul, John Jones writes of childhood: "And in

childhode labours shoulde beginne, bycause the twigge, you knowe the

Prouerbe, will easelyest twine whiles it is greene, he soon prickes

that will be a thorne, soon croketh the tree that good camocke will

fsfs

be, and vse maketh maysterie." The familiar proverb, "As the twig

is bent, so grows the tree," is quoted and pointed out. In the entire

quotation, however, there are also three other proverbs: "He soon

pricks that will be a thorn," "Soon croketh the tree that good

camock will be," and "Use makes mastery" or "Practice makes perfect."

The first proverb is employed as a proof for the discourse, but the

other proverbs are added simply as part of natural speech and might

have been missed had they not been so grouped.

At times, the references to proverbs can be quite oblique.

The proverbs are incorporated into the text in close conjunction

39

with the discussion. William Vaughan describes prodigals who smoke

tobacco excessively. "They recount tales of Robin Hood, of Donzel

.1 67

del Phoebo, &c., he writes. The proverb referred to is, "Tales

of Robin Hood are good enough for fools." In another section dis­

cussing mirth, Vaughan remarks, "All haile Doctor Dyet, Doctor Quiet,

Doctor Merry-man." The proverb, "The best physicians are Doctor

Diet, Doctor Quiet and Doctor Merryman," is still fairly well-known.

It is the popularity of these proverbs, then, which allowed them to

be employed without recognizing their proverbial nature. Writers

of medical books apparently believed that readers knew proverbs

well. The writers could then make the most oblique references to

the proverbs and expect the readers to understand the allusion.

For example, when James Hart writes of the necessary diets

for various ages, he notes, "And children and chickens, they say, 69

must not be long kept from food." The proverb is "Children and

chickens will always be picking." In an earlier section of his

The Diet of the Diseased, he discusses the long lives of Old Tes­

tament characters and concludes, "But lest I heare ne sutor ultra

crepidam, I leave this theme to the Divine." The popularity of

"Let not the shoemaker go beyond his craft" insured recognition of

even the Latin quotation.

Similarly, William Vaughan was able to incorporate proverbs

into the text of his work. "The world is corrupted," he writes,

"and it is hard to conforme the minde to anothers humorous will.

40

and hasty Marriages are soonest repented." "Marry in haste, repent

in leisure" is the proverb. Again Vaughan writes, ". . . or if a man

be pincht with penury, that makes the good old wife to trot" Then let

him (if it be possible) rimoue into a warmer then his owne Countrey,

72 such as New England, and Virginia are knowne to be." The proverb

"Poverty makes the good old wife trot" is employed here as a form of

amplification.

An excellent example of a writer's use of vernacular proverbs

can be found in Vaughan's Naturall and Artificiall Directions for

Health. He writes of a madman, "This Gentleman, by reason of crosses,

hauing fallen into a sorrowfull discontentment, began to scome all

them of his ranke, & grinding the world as it were into oat-meale,

would eyther be aut Caesar, aut nihil, eyther a Monarch, or a Mole-

73 catcher." Vaughan seemingly translates the Latin proverb, but in

reality he anglicized it. The Latin translates "Either Caesar or

nothing." Vaughan places the phrase in the common English idiom and

in the experience of the common English reader.

A writer seldom changed a proverb. Vaughan himself, it has

been noted, re-worded "He hath deuoured a hare," to "He hath swal­

lowed vp a hare" to insure the authenticity of the proverb. However,

it was not uncomm.on for an author to Anglicize a phrase to make it

mesh with the style of the varnacular. Thomas Cogan cites a proverb

in his discussion of puddings, and states, "A hungrie dogg will eat

74 thirtie puddinges, as the Irish man sayeth." He has taken a

41

classical Latin proverb, ''lejy.nus_ raro_ s^imi^j^i^ v^lgarja temnit,"

which translates, "A hungry dog will eat dirty puddings," and modi­

fied it into a mild joke on the Irish. Similarly, Shakespeare took

the Latin proverb "Quod defertur, non aufertur" ("That which is

deferred is not relinquished") and Anglicized it as "Omittance is

no quittance."

It can be seen, then, that authors of the Renaissance employed

proverbs with great care. Like any rhetorical device, proverbs were

to be used sparingly. Peacham, it will be remembered, compared prov­

erbs to bright stars "which as they are more excellent then others in

brightnesse and glorie . . . so are they more distantly remoued and

more thinly dispersed." He further warned, "In like maner ought

Prouerbes to be sparingly sprinkled, both in priuate speech, and in

publike orations, and then not without some fit occasion to vse them,

for prouerbs being fitly applyed and duly placed, do extend their

power and shew their dignitie: otherwise they loose their grace,

and the oration his strength." The ornamental quality, the grace,

and the strength of proverbs were important features to those writing

in the vernacular. Further, the antiquity of proverbs gave added

dignity to a supposedly new language. Proverbs, in effect, were

vital instruments of communication for the Pvenaissance writer.

As a final observation, it should be noted that uses of prov­

erbs in writings were dependent on an author's preference for them.

After all, with over two hundred rhetorical devices from which to

choose, one need not depend on any single device. Although Shakespeare

42

used proverbs liberally, Ben jonson steadfastly refused to use them

in his later works. Similarly, medical writers demonstrated the same

acceptance or renunciation of proverbs in the text of their works.

John Securis employs them relatively freely. John Jones indulges him­

self to a greater extent. Andrew Borde, Edward Edwards, and Thomas

Vicary hardly use proverbs at all in their works. As time passed,

William Vaughan showed increasing interest and fondness in proverbs.

The numbers of proverbs in editions of Naturall and Artificiall Direc­

tions for Health grow constantly with each new edition. He apparently

became aware of the innate qualities of proverbs as he expanded the

book. Finally, such a writer as James Hart almost over-indulges him­

self in proverbs, when he should have realized that enough is as good

as a feast.

Although various authors do not employ proverbs in the text

of their works, even those authors who avoid proverbs in the text

often employ them in the dedication to the volume. Other authors

similarly include proverbs in digressions and postscripts but avoid

them otherwise. Dedications, digressions, and postscripts are

usually personal statements by the author; he may wish to flatter

his patron or sway a reader. The fact that many authors incorporate

proverbs into their writing style indicates that proverbs held a

significant position as a stylistic technique. Whenever an author

is evident in the first person in the writing, when he seeks to

establish a rapport with the reader, he is more likely to employ

proverbs than when he makes a detached observation.

43

The proverbs in epistolary introductions, dedications, post­

scripts, even in simple digressions, are employed both for their

eloquence and for their compactness and aptness of expression.

Authors often chose the proverb, because of its succinctness, to

express a personal opinion forcefully. One may see how this impact

was possible in the rhetorical device of amplification. With the

aid of a carefully chosen proverb, the author could make himself

evident and forceful. Further, the Elizabethan considered the prov­

erb to be an elegant form of expression; it was only proper that a

writer would wish to make his dedication as eloquent as possible.

Still, this reason does not account for the occurrence in other areas

of writing in which the proverb acts to crystalize an idea. In "De

Cordis," for instance, Harvey uses only one proverb. Pondering

whether to continue the discussion and risk censure, he concludes,

"The die is cast." The proverb is used as a rhetorical device,

amplification, for personal expression, not as an ornament.

The proverb was appropriate for personal expression because

of both its concentration and commonality. Everyone knew proverbs;

hence everyone would understand the impression to be conveyed. A

clever writer could demonstrate scorn, ridicule, admiration or

admonition on any aspect of health simply by using the proper prov­

erb. Medical books often included discussions of non-medical

matters. Polemical digressions on the subject of clothing, manners,

customs and religion are not uncommon, which adds to the possibil­

ities of personal opinion and, hence, amplification. Proverbial

44

phrases used for amplification contain self-evident possibilities tor

personal expression: "Drunk like a beggar"; "To smell out a rat";

"The best of the bunch."

James Hart uses many proverbs in The Diet £f_ the Diseased.

If one examines his use of proverbs closely, one notes that rhetori­

cal usage of the proverb often occurs during a personal digression.

This use is especially evident in both the introduction and conclusion,

which are replete with proverbs. The polemical nature of the first

section of his conclusion demonstrates the great number of proverbs;

the second half, much less personal, contains no proverbs.

Hart also adopts the practice of transforming foreign prov­

erbs into the English idiom. He translated "Aute capillata, post

est occasio calva" ("The opportunity has hair; afterwards it is

bald") into the very English "He that will not when he should, often

cannot when he would." There are several occasions in which he

transforms the Latin into idiomatic vernacular. The use of the

vernacular in such situations indicates his attempt to communicate

with the reader on a personal level.

A final example of an author's concentrating his thoughts

into a proverb can be seen in the introduction to The Arte and

Science of Preseruing Bodie and Soule. The introduction is a

beautifully logical discussion of virtues, which dedicates the

work to Elizabeth I. As a heading for each section of his dis­

course, John Jones employs a proverb to state the theme. In

fact, the proverb becomes the topic statement which is explained

45

and expounded upon in the discussion that follov;s. Jones begins,

after a brief introduction, with three virtues and states, "Power

78 maketh, Wisedom guideth, & Mercie preserueth." The discussions

of these graces lead up to the "celestial graces," motion, light,

and influence, and the statement, "Motion ingendreth. Light

79 shapeth and sheweth. Influence disposeth or qualiteth." Three

other proverbs are employed: "Reason ruleth. Courage defendeth,

and Loue mainteineth"; "Faith planteth, Hope watereth, Charitie

prospereth, increaseth and fostereth"; "Power ruleth, Wisedom

80 gurdeth, lustice preserueth." The proverbs are adaptations

of common proverbial phrases and forms. A close parallel is

found in Jones' work when he quotes the proverb, "Meate makes,

81 Cloth shapes, and Manners a man."

The significance of the proverb in the medical books is

best viewed from its importance as a rhetorical device. At a

time when the vernacular seemed most inadequate, the proverb

demonstrated attractive qualities as a language improver. Con­

sider the main arguments against English during the early

Renaissance. English was ineloquent; it had no ancient tradi­

tion. There were no rules by which to govern its formation.

English was not as succinct as Latin, nor did it have the

rhythmatic qualities of Latin. Proverbs possess qualities which

answered the charges. Proverbs were ancient, succinct and

rhythmatic. They had a relatively stable form which was still

46

flexible enough to allow for adaptation to specific instances. Fur­

ther, as part of the common speech, they could be incorporated into

an individual author's style. Because medical writers faced the

same problems as any other writer expressing himself in the vernacu­

lar, they eagerly accepted the proverb as both language ornament and

tool for expressiveness.

CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

As a branch of the study of Folklore, proverbs have attracted

students of the proverb to examine it in its basic milieu, the people,

or in its artistic medium, belles lettres. Medical books fail to fall

clearly into either category and therefore have been over-looked as a

source of proverbs. Although medical books have been investigated by

students of Folklore, the study has been approached from the stand­

point of a search for folk medicine, with virtually no research into

use of the proverb in utilitarian tracts such as medical books. A

growing trend to regard the Renaissance health books as a work of

literature, however, may prompt more studies of the books. In the

present study, proverbs in health books of the English Renaissance

have been examined in their relationship to their milieu.

Health proverbs are the most evident and easily explained

proverbs in health books. A health proverb is a proverbial phrase

which comments on some aspect of health: "Be thou sick or whole,

put mercurie in thy coole"; "More have died by intemperance than by

the sword." The Renaissance health proverb is a reflection of med­

ical beliefs current during the Renaissance. The dominant medical

theory of the period was the belief in the humors, fluids in the

body which maintained the health of the body. Imbalance in the

47

48

humors caused discomfort for the body. Remedies were accessible to

rectify the imbalance: bleeding, purging, or dieting, for instance.

Since the cures were usually simplistic, they could be expressed in

simplistic terms. Hence, the use of health proverbs came into being.

A proverb was easy to remember, reflected "sound" medical belief, and

was generally believed among the people. It is only natural that med­

ical writers of the Renaissance included them in their works.

The Elizabethan believed firmly in the veracity of the prov­

erb. The proverb "Vox populi vox dei" was not taken lightly. The

Renaissance man, and men of other cultures for that matter, firmly

believed that "the voice of the many is the voice of God." Aristotle

called proverbs the most ancient reliques of philosophy. Solomon

collected proverbs for the Old Testament, and many of the greatest

minds of the ages had devoted time to the study and collection of

proverbs. The proverb could, and often did, function as an undeni­

able proof in arguments.

It became helpful for medical writers of the Renaissance to

employ proverbs as proof to substantiate arguments. Among the many

changes which the Renaissance brought about, the weakening of confi­

dence in authority was one of the most significant. In medicine the

change was felt no less significantly. The system of madicine was

founded on ancient authorities of medicine, Hippocrates, Deiscorides,

Galen. There were also "modern" authorities who followed in the

path of the ancients. However, the truly modern physicians were the

49

rising group of empiricists v.mo questioned the teachings of the old

authorities. Men like Paracelsus, Versalius and Harvey brought

about changes in medicine which undermined the authority of the

ancient medical figures. Alterations in dogma bring about tensions,

and this fact is no less true for the medical writers. Some writers

and physicians turned to the chemical medicine advocated by Paracel­

sus. Others attempted to use astrology as the only effective means

of medication. Still others practiced the doctrines of sympathy and

signatures. Even in these alternatives to the old medicine, the

writers demonstrated something in common. They all turned to the

past for their doctrines. The more ancient a belief was, it was

felt, the closer to the truth it was. If the old authorities were

at fault, more ancient authorities would be correct. The writers

often searched for medical precedents which existed before the

Greeks. Chemical physicians identified chemistry as the medicine

given to the Hebrew prophets by God. Other writers credited Adam

as the first doctor when he received the secrets of plants from

his creator. In addition to the various medical schools of thought,

a significant group of medical writers maintained belief in the old

authorities. However, it became necessary to support the ancients

with any proof which was available. Again, the search was toward

the past. As reliques of ancient learning, proverbs provided an

answer to the problem of proof.

Proverbs which function as proof in arguments in support of

the old authorities are not necessarily health proverbs. It is an

'. h

50

advantage of proverbs that one use of the proverb does not exhaust

all possibilities of its application. A proverb such as "Verbum

s ^ sapiente" ("A word to the wise is sufficient") possesses an

endless variety of uses. This proverb also typifies the attitude

of the Elizabethan writer toward both his reader and the proverb.

If a proverb stated something, the statement must be true. Only

a fool would doubt the veracity of the ancient proverb. The prov­

erb was the perfect device for nailing down an argument in favor

of the old order of medicine.

In addition to the belief in the veracity of the proverb,

the Elizabethan also held the proverb in high regard as an eloquent

form of expression. The proverb was prized by many rhetoricians as

a truly elegant and expressive rhetorical device. Proverbs were

excellent for amplification, the process by which a speech is made

more or less significant in intent. One could "smell out a rat"

or find something was "the best of the bunch." The speaker's intent

is either heightened or lessened by proper choice of proverb in

amplification. Proverbs also contain various traits which made them

pleasant-sounding—rhyme, rhythm and alliteration—and proverbs are

succinct modes of expression.

The rhetorical qualities of the proverb become important

during the controversy which raged over use of the vernacular for

serious writings. During the Renaissance, the universal language

was Latin; all important works were to be written in Latin; and

medicine was a serious matter. The erudite Elizabethan also felt

51

that English was an improper mode of communication. It was crude,

new and undisciplined. Most of all, English was considered inelo­

quent. As erudition in languages declined, however, there were some

writers who saw a need for works written in English. Medical authors

wanted to inform the common man of the proper means of health. The

only way by which to reach the common man was through the vernacular,

but there was a need to improve the vernacular. The writers found in

the proverb both a subtle and effective answer to the dilemma. Writers

in fields other than medicine made the same discovery of the proverb;

with its aid, the victory of the vernacular .over Latin was assured.

The problem of identifying proverbs in the medical books is

not as difficult as it may appear. In many instances, the authors

themselves identify the proverbs with the statement, "As the olde

prouerb goeth," or "As the common saying is." There are several

scholarly aids to the study of Renaissance proverbs, the most impor­

tant of which is Tilley's A Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in

the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Because the proverb is a

common form of speech, it is difficult to determine whether some

proverbs in the medical books are there by the author's intent or by

accident. It is equally difficult to identify all expressions which

might have been considered proverbial by the Elizabethan. However,

there are a sufficient number of proverbs clearly identified as

proverbs in the works. Their functions may merge; the difference

between whether a specific proverb is employed as proof or as

52

ornament is not always distinct. The significance of tlieir use is

their place in the development of English prose. Through the prov­

erb, English became more effective than it might have been. One

medium which clearly shov/s the steady evolution of English prose

through the Renaissance is the medical book. The function of the

proverb in the health books shows how significant a factor the

proverb proved to be in the development of English prose as a

proper vehicle for expression and erudition.

NOTES

Morris Palmer Tilley, A Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1950), p. v.

2 Archer Taylor, The Proverb and an Index to the Proverb (Hatboro,

Pennsylvania: Folklore Associates, 1962), p. 3.

3 Thomas Cogan, The Haven of Health (London: Henrie Midleton,

1585), p. 201. 4 Taylor, p. 3.

James Howell, Proverbs, or Old Sayed Sawwes & Adages (London: J. G., 1659), p. i.

Howell, p. ii.

Tilley, p. vi.

o

Henry Peacham, The Garden of Eloquence (1593) (Gainesville, Florida: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, 1954), p. 87.

9 Howell, p. i.

Peacham, p. 31.

Peacham.

12 Henry G. Bohn, "Preface to the Fourth Edition," A Handbook

of Proverbs (London: H. G. Bohn, 1855), p. xii. 13 Thomas Wilson, The Arte of Rhetorique (London: Richard

Graston, 1553), p. 64. 14

Thomas Wilson, p. 66.

Peacham, p. 30.

Howell, p. ii.

53

54

F. P. Wilson, "Shakespeare and the Diction of Common Life," Proceedings of the British Academy, 1941 (London: Oxford University Press, 1941), p. 186.

18 Peacham, p. 31.

19 Richard Foster Jones, Th£ Triumph of the English Language

(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1953). 20 F. P. Wilson, p. 186.

21„ Peacham, p. 50.

22 George Puttenham, The Arte of English Poesie, eds. Gladys

Doidge Willcock and Alice Walker (London: Cambridge University Press, 1936), p. 13.

23 Tilley, p. vi.

24 Tilley, p. vii.

25 Thomas Wilson, p. 66.

Taylor, p. 121.

27 Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales,"

The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, ed. F. N. Robinson (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1957), 11. 429-434.

28 Cogan, p. 201.

29 William Vaughan, Natural and Artificial Directions for

Health (London: Richard Bradocke, 1600), p. 17. 30 William Vaughan, Approved Directions for Health, both

Naturall and Artificiall (London: T. S., 1612), p. 38. 31 Thomas Thayre, A Treatise of the Pestilence (London:

E. Short, 1603), p. 17. 32 William Vaughan, Directions for Health, Naturall and

Artificiall (London: John Beale, 1626), p. 33. 33 James Hart, The Diet of the Diseased (London: John

Beale, 1633), p. 65.

Cogan, p. 198.

35 William Osier, The Evolution of Modern Medicine (New

Haven: Yale University Press, 1921), pp. 74-76.

55

•^^Osler, p. 132.

37 Osier, p. 135.

38 Osier, p. 154.

•^^Osler, p. 159.

40 William Harvey, The Works of William Harvey, trans. Robert

Willis (New York: Reprint Corporation, 1965), p. 45. 41 A notable example of the "chemical" school of medicine is

The Difference Between the Auncient Phisicke and the Latter Phisicke (London: Robert Walley, 1585). The author dismisses the writings of Aristotle and Galen as false because the works are founded on "heathen Ethickes" which are alien to Christian belief. Instead, he advocates a return to the "auncient phisicke" of chemical medicine V7hich was founded on the word of God handed dov/n by Him to the Hebrew Patriarchs. Paracelsus, he claims, simply revived the learning and rescued it from the heathen authorities.

42 An example of astrological medicine is found in The Mirrovr

or Glasse of_ Health. Necessary and needfull for euery person to looke in, that wili keepe their bodye from the Sicknesse of the Pestylence, and it sheweth how tbe Planets do reygne in euery bower of the day and nyght, wyth the natures and expositions of the xii. Signes, denyded by the twelue Months of the yeare (London: Hugh Jackson, 1580).

43 William Vaughan expanded his 1600 edition of Naturall and

Artyficiall Directions for Health and retitled it Approved Directions for Health, both Naturall and Artificiall: Deriued from the best Physitians as Well Modeme as Auncient. His is only one of many titles which give credit to modern physicians. It is indicative of the tension caused by an attempt to serve both moderns and ancients.

44 Taylor, p. 10.

^^Cogan, pp. 199-200.

Vaughan, 1600 edition, p. 17.

Vaughan, 1612 edition, p. 38. 48 Vaughan, 1626 edition, p. 144.

4Q Vaughan, 1626 edition, p. 158.

^%art, pp. 96-97.

56

Paracelsus, "Credo," Paracelsus: Selected Writings, ed. Jolande Jacobi (New York: Pantheon Books", Inc., 1942), p. 77.

52 Richard Foster Jones, p. 31.

1534).

53 Thomas Eliot, The Castel of Helth (London: T. Bertheleti,

54 Richard Foster Jones, p. 48.

55 John Read, "Postscript," A Most Excellent and Compendiovs

Method of Curing Woundes (London: Thomas East, 1588).

William Clowes, "In Defense of Publishing This Book," Selected Writings of William Clowes, ed. F. N. L. Poynter (London: Harvey & Blythe Ltd., 1948), p. 162.

57^ , Read, p. ii.

58 Clowes, p. 162.

59 John Securis, A_ Detection and Ouerimonie of the Daily

Enormities comitted in Physick (London: Thomas Marshi, 1566), pp. 28-29.

Vaughan, 1612 edition, p. 85.

61 " Andrew Borde, The Breuiary of Healthe (London: W. Powell,

1552), p. i.

Puttenham, p. 13.

Peacham, p. 50.

Thomas Wilson, p. 67.

^^F. P. Wilson, p. 183. fsfi

John Jones, The Arte and Science of Preseruing Bodie and Soule in Healthe, Wisedome, and Catholike Religion (London: Henrie Bynneman, 1597), p. 74.

^Vaughan, 1626 edition, p. 79.

(LO

Vaughan, 1626 edition, p. 157.

57

69 Hart, p. 38.

Hart, p. 9.

Vaughan, 1626 edition, p. 64.

72 Vaughan, 1626 edition, p. 4.

73 Vaughan, 1626 edition, p. 137.

74 Cogan, p. 201.

William Shakespeare, "As You Like It," The Complete Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare, ed. William Allan Neilson and Charles Jarvis Hill (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1942), III, v, 11. 133.

Peacham, p. 87.

Hart, p. 402.

John Jones, p. ii.

John Jones.

80^ , , John Jones, pp. iii-v.

John Jones, p. 79.

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Hart, James. The Diet of the Diseased. London: John Beale, 1633.

Harvey, William. The Works of William Harvey. Trans. Robert Willis. New York: Reprint Corporation, 1965.

Howell, James. Proverbs, or. Old Sayed Savnjes & Adages. London: J. G., 1659.

Jones, John. The Arte and Science of Preseruing Bodie and Soule in Healthe, Wisedome, and Catholike Religion. London: Henrie Bynneman, 1579.

Jones, Richard Foster. The Triumph of the English Language. Stanford; Stanford Ur.iversity Press, 1953.

Lessius, Leonard. Hygiasticon: or, The Ri^ht Course of Preserving Life and Health Unto Extream Old Age. London: Cambridge University Press, 1634.

Moulton, Thomas. The Mirrovr or Glasse of Health. London: Hugh Jackson, 1580.

Osier, William. The Evolution of Modern Medicine. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1921.

Paracelsus. Paracelsus; Selected Writings. Ed. Jolande Jacobi. New York: Pantheon Books, Inc., 1942.

Peacham, Henry. The Garden of Eloquence (1593). Gainesville, Florida: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, 1954.

Puttenham,^ George. Thie Arte of English Poesie. Ed. Gladys Doidge Willcock and Alice Walker. London: Cambridge University Press, 1936.

Securis, John. A Detection and Querimonie of the Daily Enormities Committed in Physick. London: Thomas Marshi, 1566.

Shakespeare, William. The Complete Plays and Poems of William

Shakespeare. Ed. William Allan Neilson and Charles Jarvis Hill. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1942.

60

Taylor, Archer. The Proverb and an Index to the Proverb. Hatboro, Pennsylvania: Folklore Associates, 19o2.

Thayre, Thomas. A Treatise of the Pestilence. London: E. Short, 1603.

Tilley, Morris Palmer. A Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Ann Arbor: Uni­versity of Michigan Press, 1950.

Vaughan, William. Naturall and Artificial Directions for Health, Deriued from the Best Philosophers, as Well Modeme, as Auncient. London: Richard Bradocke, 1600.

. Approved Directions for Health, both Naturall and Artificiall: Deriued from the Best Physitians as Well Modern as Auncient. London: T. S., 1612.

. Directions for Health, Naturall and Artificiall: Deriued from the best Phisitians, as Well Moderne as Antient. London John Beale, 1626.

Vicary, Thomas. The Anatomie of the Bodie of Man. Ed. F. J. Furni-vall and Percy Furnival. London: Oxford University Press, 1888.

Wilson, F. P. "Shakespeare and the Diction of Common Life." Proceedings of the British Academy, 1941. London: Oxford University Press, 1941.

Wilson, Thomas. The Arte of Rhetorique. London: Richard Graston,

1553.

Wingfield, Henry. A Compendious Treatise Conteynyinge Precepts Necessary to the Preseruacion of Healthe. London: R. Stoughten "[1551 (?)].

APPENDIX

The following is a list of all the proverbs and proverbial

phrases found in the medical books selected for this study. The

proverbs are listed according to language; and, if an author used

both a foreign proverb and an English translation, both are listed

in their respective categories. The proverbs are alphabetized in

their respective groups according to important words in the indi­

vidual proverb. For example, "As the blind man shot the crow" is

alphabetized under "blind." All foreign proverbs are translated

following the proverb. Similarly, all English proverbs have been

corrected in spelling as far as could be allowed without altering

the proverb. In instances in which an author merely alluded to a

proverb, the whole proverb is supplied. After each proverb and its

translation, the author or authors who employed the proverb are

listed by last name with the page number of the work on which the

proverb appears. The titles of books cited by the author's last

name are to be found in the bibliography.

Most of the proverbs listed were confirmed as true proverbs

through M. P. Tilley's A Dictionary of the Proverbs in England in

the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries and James Howell's

Proverbs.

61

62

English

Anger is short madness.

Hart

Anger resteth in the bosome of fools.

Hart

Sail to Anticira.

p. 388.

p. 392.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 86.

^°8^^ p. 140.

He that will not a wife wed, must eat a cold apple when

he goeth to bed.

Cogan p. 89.

Art is the follower cf nature.

R- B. p. 16.

Without all barking.

Jones p. 55.

Barly should sweat in the mow, as the husbandmen use

to speak.

Hart p. 127.

The best of the bunch.

Hart p. 58.

As the blind man throws his staff.

Hart ("Introduction") p. 8.

As the blind man shot the crow.

Edwards p. iii.

He had rather part from his heart blood as from a penny more.

Hart ("Introduction") p. 21.

63

That wiiich is bred in the bone will never out of tlie flesh.

For these men the which do brew in a bottle and bake in a

wallet, it will be long or he can lay Jack and salet.

Borde, A Boke for to Leme p. 13.

Butter is gold in the morning, and silver at noon, and lead

at night.

Cogan p. 15 7,

Soon crooketh the tree that good cammock will be.

Jones p. 74.

The cat would fain fish eat, but is loath her feet to wet.

Hart ("Introduction") p. 20.

To differ as chalk from cheese.

Harrison p. 140.

A sparing hand in the use of cheese I hold always the best.

Hart p. 209.

Children and chickens must be always picking.

Cogan p. 195.

Hart p. 38.

Children should eschu the sight and hearing of that that

might make them worse if they learn not that that

might make them better.

Jones p. 72.

A good cook can make you good meat of a whetstone.

Cogan p. 150.

64

Conscience is hanged.

'J ' s p. 55.

All distemperatures are cured by their contraries.

Th^y^e p^ 17^

Contrary things set one against an other are always a

great deal better known.

Securis p. i.

Let no man medle with an other man's corn, but with his own.

Securis p. 19.

Many corns maketh a great heap.

Borde, A Boke for to Leme p. 14.

That's my country which gives me my well-being.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 4.

It's no less courage to maintain, than things at first

to get and gain.

Hart p. 104.

Covetousness bringeth nothing home.

Hart p. 312.

That which is deferred is not relinquished.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 20.

You have not well dined or supped unless you have a sop

of cold milk after all.

Cogan p. 201.

After dinner sit a while. After supper walk a mile.

Cogan p. 189. Cogan p. 192. The Englishmans Doctor p. 23.

65

To wipe dirt with dirt.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 136.

As diverse men desire diverse meats, so use they diverse

orders in eating,

Cogan p. 201.

We ought to drink as hot as our blood.

Hart p. 188.

Drunk like a beggar.

Hart p. 135.

l>Jho will live empty shall die full of days.

Lassius ("Poem to the Reader") p. i.

English are great eaters.

Hart p. 110.

Enough is as good as a feast.

Jones p. 46.

Fair and foolish, little and loud. Long and lazy, black and proud:

Fat and merry, lean and sad.

Pale and peevish, red and bad.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 144.

Faith planteth, Hope watereth. Charity prospereth,

increaseth and fostereth.

Jones P* ^'^'

Man feeds to live and liveth not to feed.

Cogan P* 1^^' Hart P- 109.

A soft fire makes sweet malt.

Vaughan (1626 edition) P« 16-

66

he that loves young flesh and old fish loves contrary to reason.

Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 34.

Young flesh and old fish doth men best feed.

Cogan p. 141.

Many times for a little land they take a fool by the hand.

Hart p. 347.

Fortune helps the hardy.

Hart p. 404.

A friend in a corner.

Cogan p. 169.

Friendship should be requited.

Eliot (1534 edition) p. ii.

They leap out of the frying-pan into the fire.

Hart p. 402.

Fury is but a long anger.

Hart p. 388.

He giveth twice that giveth quickly.

Eliot (1534 edition) p. i.

Set the hare's foot against the goose gibblets.

Hart p. 235.

Who eats a hare will look fair.

Vaughan (1600 edition) p. 17. Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 38. Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 36.

Haste might make waste.

Hart P- 245.

67

If the head gets in, the whole body follows.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p, I34,

The healthy are to be kept by the like, the unhealthy

with unlike.

Jones p, 5

For heat is in the heart, as in the fountain or spring,

and in the liver, as in the river.

Eliot (1534 edition, "Book I") p. 6.

Use honey within and oil without.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 46.

To dine with Duke Humphrey.

Hart p. 361.

Hunger setteth his first foot into the horse manger.

Harrison p. 133.

To keep hunger on foot at a banquet.

Lassius p. 25.

It is better to yield to an inconvieniency than to a

mischief.

Hart p. 284.

More perish by intemperance than by the sword.

Hart p. 34.

Lassius p. 105.

Wingfield p. ix.

To kill with kindness.

Hart p. 12.

68

p. 45.

^ M S & that cannot rule him in his diet. Will hardly rule his realm in peace and quiet.

The Englishmans Doctor p 15

Farre fetched and dear bought, and therefore good for ladies.

Hart

Few law\ ers die well, and few physicians live well.

Vaughan (1626 edition)

Like lettuce like lips.

Hart

He that liveth moderatly, doth love always faithfully.

Eliot (1534 edition)

Look before you leap.

p. 9.

p. 404.

p. 11-

Borde, A Boke for to Leme p. 14.

Puissance is dreadful; richness is honourable; but love for

surity is most incomparable.

Eliot (1534 edition) p. iii.

Neither for love nor money.

Hart p. 128.

Hasty marriages are soonest repented.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 64

God never sent mouth, but also he sent meat.

Jones p. 38.

Meat makes, cloth shapes, and manners make a man.

Jones p. 79.

The meat which remaineth profits more than that which is

eaten.

Cornaro p. 18.

69

Let a morsel ol meat be ever last in thy luouth

Hart

Under sweet meats is many times a poison hid.

Securis

Sweet meat hath sour sauce.

Hart ("Introduction") Hart

No meat for mowers.

p. 115.

pp. 77-8.

p. 2. pp. 65, 97.

Cogan

As a man is meet, so is he great.

p. 29.

Jones p. 80.

When fern weareth red, then is milk good with bread.

Cogan p. 45.

If thou wilt live ever, wash milk from thy liver.

Hart p. 210.

'Tis mirth that nurseth life and blood. Far more than wine, or rest, or food.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 158.

Motion ingendereth, light shapeth and showeth, influence

disposeth or qualitieth.

Jones p. ii.

T o not be able to keep man nor mouse,

Borde, A Boke for to Leme

Be thou sick or whole, put mercury in thy coal,

Cogan

14

p. 45

Either a monarch or a mole-catcher.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 137

70

N:j3e_d maketh the old v:ife to trot.

Hart p. 404.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 4.

One nut doth good, two hurt, the third doth kill.

The Englishmans Doctor p. H .

As oil feedeth the fire.

Cogan p. 265.

He will have an oar in every man's boat.

Hart p. 341.

To grind (something) into oat-meal.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 137.

Raw pears a poison, baked, a medicine be.

The Englishmans Doctor p. 11.

VThen the philosopher doth make an end, the phisician doth

begin.

Borde, Breviary p. ii.

The best physicians are Doctor Diet, Doctor Quiet, and

Doctor Merryman.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 157.

Every man is either a fool or a physician.

Hart p. 124.

Every man's natural place preserveth him which is placed

m It.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 3.

He that is a plain man will deal plainly, will speak

plainly, and write plainly.

Securis p. ^ 2.

71

To play fast and loose.

Hart ("Introduction") p. 6.

We must wash the pot before we put in the meat.

Cogan p. 192.

Hart p. 113.

Power maketh. Wisdom guideth, and Mercy preserveth.

Jones p. ii.

Power ruleth. Wisdom guideth. Justice preserveth.

Jones p. V.

A hungry dog will eat thirtie puddings, as the Irish

m.an sayeth.

Cogan p. 128.

I leave this Puritanism.

Hart P- 153.

The preservation of life would be too dear bought at the

price of so much pain.

Lassius P* 199*

Pride is never painfull.

Hart P- 153

He who lives by prescription lives miserably.

Hart Lassius

To smell out a rat.

p. 3. p. 4,

Hart ("Introduction") P* 3.

Reason ruleth. Courage defendeth, and Love maintaineth.

Jones P- 111*

72

To a red man, read thy read.

With a brown man, break thy bread.

Vaughan (1626 edition)

The remedy is worse than the disease.

Hart

I will, quoth Will, revenged be. Not so, quoth Wit, be ruled by me.

Vaughan (1626 edition)

Soon ripe soon rotten.

Jones

Must they rob Peter to pay Paul?

Hart

Tales of Robin Hood are good enough for fools.

Vaughan (1612 edition) Vaughan (1626 edition)

That which savours is good and nourisheth.

Cornaro

Offered service stinketh.

Securis

I saw servants riding on horse back while princes go afoot.

Hart ("Introduction")

Let the shoemaker meddle with his shoes.

Securis

They will fight with their old shoes.

p. 144.

p. 319.

p. 136.

p. 72.

p. 405.

p. 81. p. 79.

p. 8.

p. 44.

21,

p. 19.

Vaughan (1626 edition)

He that will not when he should, often cannot when he would.

Hart

20.

p. 252.

73

Sleep is the disposition of the first sensitive of the brain.

Jones p. 48.

Stipends do nourish arts.

Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 85.

It yields no more nourishment than a stone.

Hart p. 89.

Must they strike Richard for Robert?

Hart p. 404.

Haste not from study to thy book, from study still refrain.

Three or four hours, then thereunto thou mayest repair again.

Hart P- 217.

As evident as the sun at noon day.

Lassius P* "°*

The sword hath killed his thousands, but gluttony his

ten thousands.

Hart p. 3.

To hide one's talent in a napkin.

Hart ("Introduction") PP- m * 27.

The more tears we shed, the less is our sorrow.

Vaughan (1626 edition) P- 139.

He soon pricks that will be a thorn.

Jones

The toothsomest is not always the wholesomest.

Hart

p. 74

p. 97,

74

p. 74.

p. 36.

p. 74.

The truth ought to taice place in all things and above all

things.

Securis p^ 40.

The twig will easiliest twine while it is green.

Jones

Better unborn than untaught.

Jones

Use maketh mastery.

Jones

To victual the camp.

Lassius p. 65.

Venison, being eaten in the morning, prolongeth life,

but eaten at night it bringeth sudden death.

Vaughan (1600 edition) p. 17.

Vaughan (1612 edition) pp. 37-8.

Venus grows cold without the fellowship of Ceres

and Bachus.

Lassius p. 187.

No violent thing can last long.

Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 104.

Unto an old man, wine infuseth oil in his decayed lamp.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 29.

Wine mingled with water, suddenly drunk, ingendereth

leprosy.

Hart p. 125.

75

^ l-_ne, women. Baths, by art or nature warm, Iscd or abused, do men much good or harm.

The Englishmans Doctor p. 4.

Wine is old man's milk.

Cogan p. 215.

A cloud of witnesses.

Hart p. 238.

If a woman look but on her apron strings, she will find

out a shift.

Hart ("Introduction") p. 11.

Beautiful women are like an apple which is fair without

and rotten within.

Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 92.

A word is enough for a wise man.

Hart p. 97.

It seemeth that the world desireth to be deceived.

Hart ("Introduction") p. 18.

Wisdom's residence is in dry regions, and not in bogs

and fens.

Lassius P* 83.

All the wit of the world lieth not in one man's head.

Securis P- ^3.

A riotous youth breedeth a lothsome age.

Cogan P- 199.

76

Latin

Adeo a teneris assuscere multum est.

Therefore it is important to become accustomed from a

young age.

Cogan p. 207,

Aliquid latet quod non patet.

Anything is puzzling which is not obvious.

Hart p. 377.

Latet anguis in herba.

The snake is lurking in the grass.

Hart P- ^05.

Exeat ex Aula qui velit esse plus.

May he leave the Court who wishes to be pious.

Vaughan (1626 edition) P- 134.

Aurora Musis amica.

The dawn is a friend of muses.

Vaughan (1626 edition) P- 1^2.

Obstrepere anser inter olores.

To honk as a goose among swans.

Hart ("Introduction") P- 27.

Quasi aqua omnia.

Everything as if water.

Hart P'

Fides sit penes Authorem.

Let the credibility rest with the author.

Hart P

23.

29

77

p. 305.

Nihil est ex omni parte beaturn.

There is no complete happiness.

Hart

Aut Caesar, aut nihil.

Either Caesar or nothing.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 137.

Tot capita, tot sententiae.

So many heads, so many opinions.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 73.

Caseus ante cibum confert, si defluat alvus;

Si constipetur teminet ille dapes.

If your stomach is flowing, eat cheese before food;

If it is constipated, let it end the meal.

Hart p. 209.

Caseus est gelidus, stipans, crassus quoque durus.

Cheese is cold, congealing, fat and hard.

Cogan p. 159.

Caseus est sanus, quem dat avare manus.

That cheese is healthy which the hand gives greedily.

Hart p. 209.

Non nix, non Argos, Mathusalem, Madalanaetie

Esaus non Lazarus, caseus ille bonus.

That cheese is good which is not snow (white), nor

Argos (full of eyes), nor Mathusala (old), nor

Mary Magdalen (full of whey or weeping), nor Esau

(rough), nor Lazarus (spotted).

Cogan p. 160.

78

Cito, longe & tarde.

Speed far away and return slowly.

Thayre p. 27.

Contraria contrariis curantur.

Opposites cure opposites.

Thayre p. 17.

Nam contraria iuxta se posita magis elucescunt.

Opposite things put next to each other will become

more clear.

Hart p. 2.

Impura corpora quo magis nutris eo magis laedis.

The more you nourish impure bodies, the more you

hurt them.

Hart ("Introduction") p. 2.

Plures mori crapula quam gladio.

More die by drunkedness than by the sword.

Cogan p. 171.

Crassa enim crassis conveniunt.

The coarse, therefore, suits the coarse.

Cogan P* 25.

Offenso Creatore, offenditur nobiscum omnis creatura.

If the creator is offended, every creature with

us is offended.

Vaughan (1626 edition) ?• I' l*

79

0 quam difficile est crimen non prodere vultu!

0 how difficult it is not to betray a crime by

your face.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 144.

Effe decet vivas, vivere non vt edas.

Man feeds to live, and lives not to feed.

Cogan p. 188.

Quod defertur non aufertur.

That which is deferred is not relinquished.

Cogan p. 200. Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 20.

Sed none diverso.

Is it not by diversity?

Securis p. 56.

Non est tanto digna dolore salus.

Good health is not worthy so much pain.

Lassius p. 199.

Dulcia dum fas est, fugitivae gaudia vitae

Carpe, volubilibus labitur annus equis.

While it is possible, seize the pleasant things and

joys of fleeting life, because the year is escaping

with rapid horses.

Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 137.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 153.

Errare possum, haereticus esse nolo.

1 make a mistake, but I don't wish to be a heretic.

Hart p. 382.

80

Vivimus e_xen!p J _, non regulis.

We live by examples, not by rules.

^^^t pp. ^^ 134^

Audentes fortuna juvat.

Fortune helps the brave.

Hart p. 404.

Furor arma ministrat.

Fury supplies weapons.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 20.

Galeni valetudo.

Good health of Galen.

Cogan p. 198.

Plures gula quam gladio periere.

More perish by intemperance than by the sword.

Hart pp. 3, 34, 103.

Pone gulae metas, ut sit tibe longior aetas.

Esse cupis sanus? sit tibi parca manus.

Put boundries for your throat, so that your

life is longer.

Do you wish to be healthy? If so, may your

hand be sparing.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 2.

Nam intemperanta medicorum nutrix.

For intemperance heals the nurse.

Cogan p. 188.

81

Ira furor brevis est.

Anger is brief fury.

Hart p. 388.

Impedit ira animum, ne possit cernere verum.

Anger hinders the mind so that it is not able to

distinguish the truth.

Hart p. 389.

Credat ludaeus apella.

Let them believe it who list.

Hart p. 347.

luva temet (inquiunt) ipse tum iuvabit te Deus.

Help yourself, they say, and God himself will help you.

Cogan p. 268.

Intemperanter acta inventus, effetam parit senectuten.

An intemperate youth leads to a loathsome old age.

Cogan p. V.

Dare lac aut vinum febricitantibus & capite dolentibus,

est dare venenum.

To give milk or wine to those who have fevers or

headache is to give poison.

Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 45.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 42.

Impletur lachrimis, egrediturque dolor.

He is filled with tears and the grief departs.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 139.

82

Similes habent labra lactucas.

Like lettuce like lips.

Hart

Profecto non magis nutrit quam lapis.

It yields no greater nutrition than a stone.

Hart

Varia lectio delectat.

An alternate choice is delightful.

Vaughan (1626 edition)

Homo homini lupus.

Man is a wolf to man.

Hart

Interdum docta plus valet arte malum.

Diseases sometimes prove greater than art can cure.

Hart

Sed manum de tabula.

p. 404,

89

p. 388,

p. 337,

Hand off the table.

Hart p. 354

Saepe manus, raro pedes, nunquam caput.

(Wash) often the hands, rarely the feet and never

the head.

Hart p. 295.

Omne medicamentum quod transit in alimentum, cessant

esse medicamentum.

Every medication which turns into nourishment

ceases to be medication.

R. B. 30.

83

Qui medice vivit misere vivit.

He who lives by prescription lives miserably,

Cogan Hart Lassius

Medicima vitam prorogare potest.

Medicine can prolong life.

Cogan

Medicus est naturae minister.

P-P-P-

1 1 .

3. 4 .

11,

A doctor is a servant of nature.

Hart p. 358.

Sub melle dulce venenum.

Under honey, poison is sweet

Hart 97,

Dulci sub melle saepe venena satent.

Sweetness under honey often hides poison.

Securis

Falcem ne mittas in messem alienam.

Don't let your sickle go into another man's harvest

Securis

Mane petas montes, post caenam flumina, fontes.

In the morning seek the mountains, after dinner

(seek) the rivers, fountains.

Cogan

Ex mails moribus bonae leges oriuntur.

From evil customs good laws arise.

Hart ("Introduction")

78.

19,

p. 192.

p. 16.

84

Contra mortem non est remedium.

Against death there is no remedy.

Thayre p^ 3^

Mox, procul, et tarde, cede, recede, redi.

Go soon far away, return slowly.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 8.

Mulus mutuum scabunt.

Mules scratch each other's backs.

Cogan p. 5

Mundus vult decipi.

The world wants to be deceived.

Hart ("Introduction") pp. 3 I8.

Nam omne nimium vertitur in vitium.

Every excessiveness turns into a fault.

Hart p. 21.

Hart ("Introduction") p. n .

Ut sis noete leuis, sit tibi caena breuis.

So that you be light at night, may your dinner be short.

Cogan p. 239.

Observatis observandis.

After observing what has to be observed.

Hart ("Introduction") p. 26.

Ante capillata, post est occasio calva. Before, the opportunity had hair; afterwards it is bald.

Hart ("Introduction") p. 9. Hart p. 252.

85

Plus vident duo oculi quam unus.

Two eyes see more than one.

Securis p. 43.

Omnibus placeto.

May it please everyone.

Hart p. 50.

Quia opposita semper juxta se posita magis eluciscunt.

Often when opposites are put next to each other,

they become more clear.

Securis p. i.

Organum verborum sunt guttur, lingua, palatum.

Adde molae dentes, et duo labra simul.

The organs of speech are the throat, tongue and

the palate.

Add to these the molar teeth and, at the same

time, two lips.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 92.

Otia si tollas, periere Cupidinis arcus.

If you do away with leisure, the bows of Cupid

have perished.

Vaughan (1626 edition) P- 131.

Regula presbyteri jubet hoc pro lege teneri,

ut bona sint ova, Candida longa nova.

The rule of the elders order this law be regarded: that

the eggs be good, (let them be) white, long, new.

Hart P- l^S'

86

Quando deest panis tunc est cibus omnis inanis.

When bread is missing, then all food is superfluous.

Hart p. 42.

Petre quid est Pesca? Est cum vino nobilis esca.

Peter, what is a peach? With wine it is a noble food.

Hart p. 63.

Patria est vbicunque bene.

Where ever I feel well is my country.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p.

Sero sapiunt Phryges.

The Trojans are wise too late.

Vaughan (1626 edition) P- 79

Pictoribus atque poetis quidlibet audendi sem.per sunt

aequa potestas.

Painters and poets always have an equal power of

adding whatever they wish.

R. B. P*

there be cheese.

Hart

•4.

34

Post pira da potum.

After pears take a drink.

Vaughan (1626 edition) P- 5 '

Post pisces nux sit, post cames casius adsit.

After fish let there be nuts; after meat let

69

87

Pisces sine vino venerium

Fish without wine is poison.

Cogan p. 145.

Praepropere, laute, nimis, ardenter, studiose.

Too hastily, sumptuously, excessively, ardently,

zealously.

Hart p. 108.

Si fueris pridem, remanebis asinus idem.

If you have been an ass before, you will stay the same.

Hart ("Introduction") p. 5.

Primus jucundus, tollerabilis estque secundus,

Tertius est vanus, set fetet quatriduanus.

The first is pleasant, and the second tolerable.

The third is empty, but the fourth day stinks.

Harrison p. 133.

Non minor est virtus quam quaerere part tueri.

It's no lesser courage to guard what you have

achieved than to seek new things.

Hart P- 104.

Quatuor ex puris vitamducunt elementis

Chameleon, talpa, maris balec, et Salamandra.

The chameleon, mole, sea creature and salamander

live in the four pure elements.

Hart P- 28,

88

p. 28.

Ex quibus constamus jisdem nutrimur.

We are nourished by the things which element us.

Hart

Q^od nullius est, iure Gentium prime occupanti conceditur.

That which is of no one, by the law of the nations,

is granted to the first occupant.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 5.

Sanctificat, sanat, ditat quoque surgere mane.

Rising in the morning makes one blessed, healthy,

and also rich.

Cogan p. 243.

Simulata sanctitas duplex iniquitas.

A simulated sanctity is a double iniquity.

Hart p. 403.

Sapeintis in sicco resident, non in paludibus et lacunis.

Wisdom resides in dry places, not in bogs and fens.

Lassius p. 83.

Scientiae nobis non innascuntur, sed acquirutur.

Sciences are not born with us but are acquired.

Securis p. 24.

Nam scitum est periculum ex aliis facere.

It is clever to learn from other people's experiences.

Cogan p. 265.

Scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim.

Learned or not learned, we all write poems now

and then.

Hart ("Introduction") p. 1.

89

Incidit in Scyllam, cum vult vitare Charybdim.

He falls into the hands of Scylla while wishing to

avoid Charybdis.

Hart p. 402,

Nam bis pueri senes.

Old men are twice children.

Cogan p. 184.

Amicus Socrates, amicus Plato, sed magis amica Veritas.

Socrates is my friend; Plato is my friend; but a

greater friend is truth.

Hart p. 382.

Securis p. 40.

Vt lavit suippsitque cibum, det membra sopori.

As one bathes and eats, one must give his limbs sleep.

Cogan p. 196.

Tu nunquam comedas stomachum ni noueris esse

Purgatirai vacuumque cibo, quem sumpseris ante.

May you never eat your stomach full unless you know it

is clean and empty of the food which you have taken

before.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 107.

Nee propere a mensa studijs vacaveris unquam,

Sed tribus aut horis quatuor inde vaca.

Haste not from study to thy book, from study still refrain.

Three or four hours, then thereunto thou mayest repair

again.

Hart p. 217

90

^^ sutor ultra crepidam.

Let not the shoemaker go beyond his craft.

Cogan p. 168.

Hart pp. 9, 222.

Securis p. 19.

Quouis tempore et hora mittere sanguinem necessitas

concedit et iubet.

Any time or hour in necessitie, let blood.

Thayre p. 4 7.

Sit tibi postremus semper in ore cibus.

Let a morsel of food be ever last in your mouth.

Hart p. 115.

Non quaero quod mihi vtile est, sed multis.

I am not asking what is useful for me, but for many.

Thayre ("To the Reader") p. i.

Verbum sat sapienti.

A word to the wise is sufficient.

Hart p. 97.

Sere numinis vindicta.

A late vindication.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 164. Vinum Belnesse super omnia vina recense.

You regard the wine of Belnese above all wines.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 24.

Vinum lumphatum cito potatum generat lepram.

Wine mingled with water, suddenly drunk, ingenders leprosy.

Hart p. 124.

91

Vinimi memoriae mors est.

Wine is the death of memory.

Cogan p. 213.

Vinum moderate sumptum acuit ingenui.

Wine, moderately consumed, sharpens ingenuity.

Cogan p. 212.

Nullum violentum est perpetuum.

Nothing violent is perpetual.

Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 104.

Venter non habet aures.

The stomach doesn't have ears.

Hart p. 404.

Sino Cercre et Baccho friget Venus.

Without Ceres and Bachus, Venus grows cold.

Lassius o. 187.

Vita, quin vitam maxime inerur.

Life not lived fully is incomplete.

Cogan p. 211.

Vivium personae, non rei.

Fault of the person, not the thing.

Hart P- 234.

92

Italian

Chi era tanto dotto, per mettere la Reginna sotto.

Who was so much a scholar to influence the Queen.

Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 98. Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 135.

Fa put pro quel' che se lascia sul' tondo,

che quel' che se mette nel ventro.

That which one leaves on the dish is more useful

than that which is put in the belly.

Cornaro p. 18.

Ed e contario, Chi piu mangia, manco mangia.

And to the contrary, he who eats more,

eats less.

Cornaro p. 18.

Mangiera piu, chi manco mangia.

He who will eat much, let him eat little.

Cornaro p. 18.

Poco vive, chi troppo sparechia.

Who eats too much will live little.

Cornaro P*

A vecchio infunde lolio ne la lam.pada quasi extincta.

18.

To an old man, it infuses oil into his almost

extinct lamp.

Vaughan (1612 edition) P* 27. Vaughan (1626 edition) P- 29

93

p. 110.

Frencn

Les Anglois son grand mangeurs.

The English are great eaters.

Hart

Qui veut jeune chair et vieux poisson,

Se trover epugner a raison.

Wlio loves young flesh and old fish.

He loves contrary to reason.

Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 34.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 33,

Poisson sans vin est poison.

Fish without wine is poison.

Cogan p. 144.

La qualite ne nuit pas, ains la quantite.

The quality does not hurt, but the quantity does.

Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 51.

Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 46.

Spanish

La mujer hermosa es como la manzana, adentro podrida,

y afuera galana.

The beautiful woman is like an apple, fair without,

and rotten within.

Vaughan (1612 edition) p. 92 Vaughan (1626 edition) p. 131

94

Greek

KttKOS opuis KaKOU wou

An evil bird, an evil egg.

Jones p. 10.