before swine. gratitude and ingratitude; wasteA PECK of March dust is worth a king’s ransomThe month of March is traditionally wet and blustery. A peck in former times was a dry
measure of two gallons. Thomas Fuller, discussing this saying in his Worthies of England
(1662, p. 87), links the ‘king’s ransom’ to the £100,000 raised in 1193–4 to pay for the release
of King Richard I, who, on his way home from crusading in the Holy Land, was being held
captive in Germany.
1533 J. HEYWOOD Play of Weather D1 And now to mynde there is one olde
prouerbe come: ‘One bushell of march dust is worth a kynges raunsome.’ 1685 R.
BOYLE Discourse of Causes of Insalubrity of Air 55 It is proverbially said in England,
that a Peck of March Dust is worth a King’s Ransom: So infrequent is dry Weather,
during that Month. 1836 E. HOWARD Rattlin the Reefer III. viii. A spoonful of the soup
to-day will be worth a king’s ransom—a peck of March dust! pooh! 1936 H. C. BAILEY
Clue for Mr. Fortune 36 The flower borders.. were planted with bush roses.. stunted by
the rigours of that grim March. .. ‘Bushel of March dust worth a king’s ransom,’ Reggie
murmured. 1978 R. WHITLOCK Calendar of Country Customs iii. [The farmer] values
dry, cold weather, such as often occurs in late February and March. ‘A peck of dust in
March is worth a king’s ransom,’ is still an oft-quoted proverb. weather lorepeck see also we must EAT a peck of dirt before we die.The PEN is mightier than the swordCf. CICERO De Officiis I. xxii. cedant arma togae, arms give way to persuasion.1582 G. WHETSTONE Heptameron of Civil Discourses iii. The dashe of a Pen, is
more greeuous then the counter use of a Launce. a 1712 W. KING Eagle & Robin in
Poetical Works (1781) III. 49 Poor Bob.. A goosequill on for weapon ty’d, Knowing by
use that now and then A sword less hurt does than a pen. 1839 BULWER-LYTTON
Richelieu II. ii. Beneath the rule of men entirely great, The pen is mightier than the
sword. 1976 T. SHARPE Wilt iii. The man who said the pen was mightier than the sword
ought to have tried reading The Mill on the Floss to Motor Mechanics. 2002 Washington
Post 6 Mar. C1 In the long run, casualties and causality may be equally important—or
maybe Laura Bush and her conference on education had the edge, yesterday, the pen
being mightier than the sword and all. tact