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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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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.