A phrase current, according to Ray, in Gloucestershire for those "who
always have a sad, severe, and terrific countenance," is, "He looks as if he
lived on Tewkesbury mustard"--this town having been long noted for its
"mustard-balls made there, and sent to other parts." It may be
remembered that in "2 Henry IV." (Act ii. sc. 4) Falstaff speaks of "wit as
thick as Tewkesbury mustard." Then there is the familiar adage applied
to the man who lacks steady application, "A rolling stone gathers no
moss," with which may be compared another, "Seldom mosseth the
marble-stone that men [tread] oft upon."
Among the good old proverbs associated with flax may be mentioned
the following, which enjoins the necessity of faith in our actions:--
"Get thy spindle and thy distaff ready, and God will send the flax."
A popular phrase speaks of "An owl in an ivy-bush," which perhaps
was originally meant to denote the union of wisdom with conviviality,
equivalent to "Be merry and wise." Formerly an ivy-bush was a common
tavern sign, and gave rise to the familiar proverb, "Good wine needs no
bush," this plant having been selected probably from having been sacred
to Bacchus.
According to an old proverb respecting the camomile, we are told
that "the more it is trodden the more it will spread," an allusion to which
is made by Falstaff in "I Henry IV." (Act ii. sc. 4):--
"For though the camomile, the more it is trodden on, the faster it grows;
yet youth, the more it is wasted, the sooner it wears."There are many proverbs associated with the oak. Referring to its
growth, we are told that "The willow will buy a horse before the oak will
pay for a saddle," the allusion being, of course, to the different rates at
which trees grow. That occasionally some trifling event may have the
most momentous issues is thus exemplified:--
"The smallest axe may fell the largest oak;"
Although, on the other hand, it is said that:--"An oak is not felled at one chop."
A further variation of the same idea tells us how:--"Little strokes fell great oaks,"