In Mr. Trench's charming little book on _Proverbs_, 2nd ed., p. 31., he
remarks:
"There are not a few (proverbs), as I imagine, which, living on the
lips of men, have yet never found their way into books, however worthy
to have done so; either because the sphere in which they circulate has
continued always a narrow one, or that the occasions which call them
out are very rare, or that they, having only lately risen up, have not
hitherto attracted the attention of any one who cared to record them.
It would be well, if such as take an interest in the subject, and are
sufficiently well versed in the proverbial literature of their own
country to recognise such unregistered proverbs when they meet them,
would secure them from that perishing, which, so long as they remain
merely oral, might easily overtake them; and would make them at the
same time, what all _good_ proverbs ought certainly to be, the common
heritage of all."
"_Note._--The pages of the excellent _Notes and Queries_ would no doubt
be open to receive such, and in them they might be safely garnered up,"
&c.
I trust this appeal of Mr. Trench's will be at once responded to by both
the editor and correspondents of this periodical. With the former {393}
must rest the responsibility of withholding from reproduction any proverbs,
which though sent him as novelties, may be already registered in the
recognised collections.
Mr. Trench's first contribution to this _bouquet_ of the wild flowers of
proverbial lore is the following, from Ireland:
"'_The man on the dyke always hurls well._' The looker on," says Mr.
Trench in explanation, "at a game of hurling, seated indolently on the
wall, always imagines that he could improve on the strokes of the
actual players, and if you will listen to him, would have played the
game much better than they, a proverb of sufficiently wide
application."--P. 32.
Each proverb sent in should be accompanied with a statement of the class
among whom, or the locality in which, it is current. The index to "N. & Q."
should contain a reference to every proverb published in its pages, under
the head of _Unregistered Proverbs_, or _Proverbs_ only. Correspondents
should bear in mind the essential requisite of a proverb, _currency_. Curt,
sharp sayings might easily be multiplied; what is wanted, however, is a
collection of such only as have that prerequisite of admission into the
ranks of recognised proverbs. And while contributors should not lose sight
of "the stamp of merit," as that which renders the diffusion of proverbs
beneficial to mankind, still they should not reject a genuine proverb for
want of that characteristic, remembering that,--
"'Tween man and man, they weight not every stamp;
Though light, take pieces for the _figure's_ sake."
And that the mere _form_ of a proverb often affords some indication of its
age and climate, even where the _matter_ is spurious. I have a large MS.
collection of English proverbs by me, from which I doubt not I shall be
able to extract some few which have never yet been admitted into any
published collection. Of these at some future time.