Rhymes Old and New : collected by M.E.S. Wright

Excerpt

COUPLETS

If the grass grow in Janiveer,
’Twill be the worse for't all the year.

If Janiveer calends be summerly gay,
’Twill be wintry weather till the calends of May.

Winter thunder, and summer flood,
Bode England no good.

A bushel of March dust is a thing
Worth the ransom of a king.

A cold April
Is the poor man’s fill.

A wet Good Friday and Easter Day
Brings plenty of grass, but little good hay.

At Easter let your clothes be new,
Or else be sure you will it rue.

’Tis like to be a good year for corn
When the cuckoo comes to the bare thorn.

Sunshine and rain bring cuckoos from Spain,
But the first cock of hay flays the cuckoo away.

Cuckoo oats and Michaelmas hay,
Will make the farmer run away.

A shower of rain in July, when the corn begins to fill,
Is worth a plough of oxen, and all belongs theretill.

’Tis time to cock your hay and corn
When the old donkey blows his horn.

’Tween Martinmas and Yule,
Water’s wine in every pool.

Farmers’ wives! when the leaves do fall,
’Twill spoil your milk, and butter, and all.

St Thomas gray, St Thomas gray,
The longest night and the shortest day.

If Christmas Day on a Monday fall,
A troublous winter we shall have all.

If Christmas Day a Monday be,
A wintry winter you shall see.

Friday’s a day as’ll have his trick,
The fairest or foulest day o’ the wik.

A blue and white sky,
Never four and twenty hours dry.

Saturday new, and Sunday full,
It never was fine, and never wool.

Red sky at night, is the shepherd’s delight,
Red sky at morning, is the shepherd’s warning.

Rain, rain, go to Spain,
And never, never, come again.

Rain, rain, rattle stone,
Pray, hold up till I get home.

If the cat washes her face o’er the ear,
’Tis a sign that the weather’ll be fine and clear.

A robin red-breast in a cage
Puts all Heaven in a rage.

A skylark wounded on the wing,
Doth make a cherub cease to sing.

He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be beloved by men.

The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider’s enmity.

The beggar’s dog and widow’s cat,
Feed them, and thou shalt grow fat.

If you want to live and thrive,
Let a spider run alive.

Whoso does a wren’s nest steal,
Shall God’s bitter anger feel.

The martin and the swallow
Are God Almighty’s bow and arrow.

White for right, red for wrong,
Green for gently go along.

Five score to the hundred of men, money, and pins,
Six score to the hundred of all other things.

Next to the lion and the unicorn,
The leek’s the fairest emblem that is worn.

A Friday dream on a Saturday told,
Is sure to come true ere it’s nine days old.

Under the furze is hunger and cold,
Under the broom is silver and gold.

Find odd-leafed ash, or even-leaved clover,
And you’ll see your true love before the day’s over.

Eat an apple going to bed,
Knock the doctor on the head.

King Grin,
Better than all medicin.