O
O, a round spot; a circle; ‘This wooden O’ (i.e. circular space), Hen. V, Prol. 13; Ant. and Cl. v. 2. 81. See [oes].
oade, woad. B. Jonson, Poetaster, ii. 1 (Albius).
oatmeals, a set of riotous and profligate young men (Cant); ‘Roaring boys and oatmeals’, Ford, Sun’s Darling, i. 1 (Folly’s song).
Ob and Soller, a dabbler in scholastic logic; one who deals with obs (objections) and sols (solutions) in disputations; ‘To pass for deep and learned Scholars, although but paltry Ob and Sollers’, Butler, Hud. iii. 2. 1242.
obarni, in full Mead obarni, i.e. ‘scalded mead’, a drink used in Russia; ‘Hum, Meath and Obarni’, B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, i. 1 (Sat.). Russ. obvarnyi, scalded.
oblatrant, railing, reviling. One of the words ridiculed by B. Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1 (Crispinus). L. oblatrare, to bark at.
obley, a little cake of bread, prepared for consecration in the celebration of the Eucharist, the sacramental wafer; ‘The kyng shall offre an obbley of brede . . . with the whiche obleye after consecrate the king shall be howseld’, Devyse, Coron. Hen. VIII (NED.); spelt ubblye, Morte Arthur, leaf 360. 6; bk. xvii, ch. 20. ME. obly or ubly. ‘nebula’ (Prompt. EETS. 312, see note, no. 1528); obeley ‘oblata’ (Voc. 598. 24). OF. oublee, ‘hostie’ (Didot), Med. L. oblata, ‘panis ad sacrificium oblatus, hostia nondum consecrata’ (Ducange).
†obliquid, directed obliquely. Only in Spenser, F. Q. vii. 7. 54.
obnoxious, exposed to; ‘The having them obnoxious to ruin’, Bacon, Essay 36, § 3; submissive, ‘In consort, men are more obnoxious to others’ humours’, id., Essay 20, § 6; ‘They that are envious towards all are obnoxious and officious towards one’, id., Essay 44, § last; Dryden, ii. 1 (Emperor). L. obnoxius, lit. exposed to harm, also, exposed to the power of another, hence, submissive.
obsequies, funeral rites, a funeral. 3 Hen. VI, i. 4. 147. Anglo-F. obsequies (Rough List), Med. L. obsequiae, ‘exequiae funebres’ (Ducange).
obsequious, dutiful in performing funeral obsequies, or in manifesting regard for the dead; ‘To shed obsequious teares upon this Trunke’, Titus And. v. 3. 152; ‘To do obsequious Sorrow’, Hamlet, i. 2. 92; obsequiously, in the manner of a mourner, ‘I obsequiously lament’, Richard III, i. 2. 3.
obtrect, to disparage. Middleton, A Fair Quarrel, iv. 1 (Usher). L. obtrectare.
occupy, to make use of; ‘Sondrie wares, . . . that men did commonly occupy’, Udall, tr. of Apoph., Socrates, § 67; to trade, Luke xix. 13; ‘They dyd dwell amonges them . . . occupying with them verye familiarly’, More’s Utopia (ed. Arber, 31). See Bible Word-Book. But often used in an indecent sense, till the word became odious, as Shak. notes, 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 161.
occurrent, occurrence, event. Bacon, Henry VII (ed. Lumby, 68 and 181); Bible, 1 Kings v. 4.
odible, hateful. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. iii, c. 12, § last; Fabyan, Chron., bk. i, c. 8. L. odibilis.
œillade, an amorous glance. Merry Wives, i. 3. 68. F. œillade (Cotgr.), deriv. of œil, an eye.
o’er-hill’d, covered over. B. Jonson, Masque of Beauty (January). See [hill].
oes, bright round spots. Bacon, Essay 36; stars, Mids. Night’s D. iii. 2. 188; O’s, small metallic spangles, as in ‘embroidered with O’s’, B. Jonson, Masque of Hymen, prose description at the end, § 3.
oil: oil of angels, oil of gold coins (i.e. coin employed in bribes). Massinger, Duke of Milan, iii. 2 (Officer). Oil of ben (or been), oil from the ben-nut, or winged seed of the horse-radish tree (Moringa pterygosperma). Middleton, The Widow, ii. 1 (Ricardo). Arab, bân, the horseradish tree, or ben-nut. See Stanford (s.v. Ben). Oil of devil, a ‘momentous preparation’ of unknown ingredients. Beaumont and Fl., Humorous Lieutenant, iii. 3 (Leontius). Oil of height, the red elixir, a red oil, fabled to transmute other metals into gold. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Surly). Oil of luna, the white elixir, for transmuting other metals into silver. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Subtle). Oil of mace, oil from the spice called mace; but with a punning reference to the mace borne by a serjeant who arrested a prisoner. Middleton, A Mad World, iii. 2 (Sir B.). Oil of talc, a cosmetic, said to have been obtained from talc. B. Jonson, Alchem. iii. 2 (Subtle); Massinger, City Madam, iv. 2 (Shave ’em).
old, great, plentiful, abundant; ‘Old utis’, high merriment, 2 Hen. IV, iv. 2. 22; ‘Ould filching’, abundant stealing, Arden of Fev. ii. 2. 53. ‘Old’ is used as an intensitive in many parts of England and Scotland, e.g. in Cheshire ‘old doings’ signify great sport, great merriment, an uncommon display of hospitality, see EDD. (s.v. Old, 11). ME. ‘gode olde fyghtyng’, Bone Florence, 681 (NED.).
old, a country pronunc. of ‘wold’, plain open country. King Lear, iii. 4. 125; also ould, Drayton, Pol. xxvi. 38.
oilet-hole, an ‘eyelet-hole’, a small round hole worked in cloth. Shirley, Opportunity, ii. 1 (Pimponio); Gent. of Venice, iii. 1. 7. F. œillet, a little eye, an eilet-hole (Cotgr.). From F. œil, an eye. See NED. (s.v. Oillet).
olfact, to smell; a pedantic form. Butler, Hud. i. 1. 742. L. olfactus, pp. of olfacere, to smell.
oliphant, elephant. Heywood, Brazen Age (Meleager), vol. iii, p. 187. ME. oliphant (Kingis Quair, 156); Anglo-F. olifant (Ch. Rol. 3119), oliphant (Bozon, 19).
olla podrida, a medley. Randolph, Muses’ Looking-glass, i. 4 (Roscius solus). Span. olla podrida (lit. rotten pot), a dish composed of many kinds of meats and vegetables stewed or boiled together; for detailed account of ingredients, see Stevens.
on cai me on; ‘Bid on cai me on, farewell’, Marlowe, Faustus, 40 (ed. Tucker Brooke). Gk. ὂν καὶ μὴ ὄν, existence and non-existence (Aristotle). The meaning is, Bid farewell to Aristotle and philosophy.
on-end: phr. still on-end, continually. Mirror for Mag., Northumberland, st. 17. See [an-end].
on gog, ‘a-gog’, in eagerness, full of eagerness. Gascoigne, Grief of Joy, ed. Hazlitt, ii. 288; to set on gog, to excite, make eager, Twyne, tr. of Aeneid, x (NED.).
on hight, aloud, in a high voice. Spenser, F. Q. v. 4. 45. ME. on highte: ‘And spak thise same wordes al on highte’ (Chaucer, C. T. A. 1784).
one, alone, solus; ‘I one of all other’, More’s Utopia (ed. Lumby, 170); his one, his own, ‘Then was she judged Triamond his one’, Spenser, F. Q. iv. 5. 21.
†oneyers; ‘Burgomasters and great oneyers’, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 1. 84. Meaning doubtful; perhaps persons who converse with great ones (Schmidt).
only, alone; ‘Th’ only breath him daunts’, Spenser, F. Q. i. 7. 13; especial, ‘Mine onely foe, mine onely deadly dread’, id., i. 7. 50; ‘His onely hart-sore and his onely foe’, id., ii. 1. 2.
onsay, a saying of ‘On!’, the word to advance, the signal to start. New Custom, ii. 2, l. 10 from end; see NED.
ontwight; see [untwight].
operance, operation, action. Two Noble Kinsmen, i. 3. 73.
operant, operative, active. Hamlet, iii. 2. 184; Webster, Appius, v. 3 (Virginius); Heywood, The Royal King, i. 1 (King); vol. vi, p. 6.
†ophic, (?) relating to serpents; ‘Resolve To ophic powder’, Lady Alimony, ii. 3 (Morisco). The sense is doubtful.
oppignorate, to pawn, to pledge. Bacon, Hen. VII (ed. Lumby, 91). L. oppignerare, to pledge; from pignus, a pledge.
optic, a magnifying glass, lens. Beaumont and Fl., Thierry, i. 1 (Theodoret); optic glass, a telescope, Milton, P. L. i. 288.
optimate, a noble or aristocrat. Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, i. 381; xi. 706. L. optimates, prop. members of the ‘Nobilitas’ in Rome, fr. optimus, best.
opunctly, according to appointment; at the time appointed. In Cook, Green’s Tu Quoque; Ancient E. Drama, ii. 565, col. 2. For appunctly. Cp. Med. L. appunct(u)are, ‘pacisci, convenire’ (Ducange).
orangeado-pie, a pie with candied orange-peel. Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. I, iv. 2 (Crambo). See [oringado].
orbity, bereavement, childlessness. Heywood, Dialogue 2 (Pamphilus); vol. vi, p. 127. L. orbitas, orphanage, childlessness.
ordinary, a public dinner, where each one pays his share. ‘Crown ordinary’, a five-shilling dinner, Beaumont and Fl., Bloody Brother, iv. 2 (Norbret); ‘He kept a daily Ordinary (thanks being the only shot his guests were to pay)’, Fuller, Pisgah, iii. 6. 328. F. ordinaire, ‘ce qu’on a accoutumé de servir pour le repas. Il tient un bon ordinaire’ (Dict. Acad. 1762).
ordinately, regularly, in an orderly way, righteously; ‘To walke ordinatly, and in a plain way’, Latimer, 1 Sermon bef. King (ed. Arber, 27). Cp. L. ordinate, in an orderly manner (Vulgate, 1 Mac. vi. 40).
ore, the name of a fine kind of wool, esp. from Leominster; ‘To whom did never sound the name of Lemster ore?’, Drayton, Polyolbion, song vii, 1. 152; xiv. 237; ‘But then the ore of Lempster’, B. Jonson, The Honour of Wales, 2 Song; ‘The finest Lemster ore’, Herrick, Oberon’s Palace; Fuller, Worthies, 33. See EDD., NED., and Notes and Queries, 6th S. i. 260.
ore, seaweed. Drayton, Pol. iv. 74. In prov. use, see EDD. (s.vv. Ore and Ware). OE. wār, ‘alga’ (Napier, OE. Glosses, 23. 2).
orgule, pride. State Papers, Hen. VIII, i. 88 (NED.). OF. orguel (F. orgueil), pride.
orguillous, proud, haughty; ‘Proud and orgulllous’, Caxton, Reynard (ed. Arber, 36); orgillous, Tr. and Cr., Prol. 2. Anglo-F. orguillous (Gower, Mirour, 1612). F. orgueilleux, proud.
oricalche, a very precious metal. Spenser, Muiopotmos, 78. L. orichalcum, yellow copper ore, brass, highly prized by the ancients; Gk. ὀρείχαλκος, mountain-copper (hence F. archal, in fil d’archal, brass-wire).
orient, applied to pearls and precious stones of superior quality and brilliancy, as coming from the East. B. Jonson, Volpone, i. 1 (Mosca). Hence lustrous, brilliant, bright; ‘Now Morn . . . sowed the earth with orient pearl’, Milton, P. L. v. 2; ‘Ten thousand banners rise into the air with orient colours waving’, id., i. 516. Cp. F. perles d’Orient (Dict. Acad. 1762).
oringado, candied orange-peel. Shirley, Lady of Pleasure, i. 1 (Steward). Cp. Span. naranjada, ‘a conserve made with oranges’; naranja, orange (Stevens). See [orangeado-pie].
ork, orc, a sea-monster. Drayton, Pol. ii. 95; vii. 51. L. orca.
orkyn, a small coin, a quarter of a stiver; ‘Bye an yearthen potte . . . for an orkyn’, Udall, tr. of Apoph., Diogenes, § 28. Du. oortken, ‘an orkey, or the fourth part of a stiver, or two doits’ (Hexham); dimin. of oort, a small coin; see Franck.
orped, stout, active, bold. Spelt orpid, Golding, Metam. vii. 440; fol. 85 (1603); (of a boar) fierce, furious, id., viii. 395; fol. 99. ME. orped, stout, brave (Gower, C. A. i. 2590); see Dict. M. and S. OE. orped, gloss of adultus, syn. snell (Napier, OE. Glosses, 3361).
orpharion, a large kind of lute with from six to nine pairs of strings, played with a plectrum; ‘The orpharion to the lute’, Drayton, Pastorals, iii. 111. Composed of the names of Orpheus and Arion, mythical musicians of Greek poetry.
orphelin, an orphan. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 171. 11. Anglo-F. orphelin, destitute, orphanin, an orphan (Gower); Late L. type *orphaninus, deriv. of orphanus, Gk. ὀρφανός, bereft of parents or children.
orpin, orpiment, yellow arsenic. Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, ii. 713. F. orpin, ‘orpine, orpiment or arsenick’ (Cotgr.).
ortyard, orchard. Golding, Metam. xiv. 624; fol. 175, back (1603). OE. ortgeard. The first element ort = L. hortus (in Med. L. ortus), a garden; cp. Norm. F. ort, ‘jardin, verger’ (Moisy 558), Anglo-F. ort (Gower, Mirour, 12868).
ospringer, an osprey. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xviii. 557; ‘Ospringe, a byrde’, Palsgrave.
ossifrage, the Lammergeyer or Geir Eagle, identified with the ‘ossifraga’ of Pliny; ‘Ossifrage, a kind of Eagle, having so strong a Beak that therewith she breaks bones and is therefore called a bone-breaker’, Blount; in Bible, Lev. xi. 13, ossifrage (RV. gier eagle). Identified with the ‘osprey’ or fish-hawk. Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, iii. 505.
ostend, to show. Webster, Sir T. Wyatt (Q. Mary), ed. Dyce, p. 194; Heywood, Silver Age (Jupiter), vol. iii, p. 163. L. ostendere.
ostent, a prodigy, manifestation. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, v. 748; show, Hen. V, v, chorus, 21; ostentation, Heywood, Iron Age, Part I (Ulysses); vol. iii, p. 329. Also, to display, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. ii, c. 14, § 6. L. ostentum, a prodigy (Vulg., Exod. vii. 3); ostentare, to display (Vulg., Heb. vi. 11).
osteria, a hostelry, inn. B. Jonson, Volpone, ii. 3 (Mosca); Beaumont and Fl., Fair Maid of the Inn, ii. 2. 1. Ital. osteria (Florio), Med. L. hostellaria, ‘diversorium’ (Ducange).
ostry, a hostelry. Marlowe, Faustus, ii. 3 (Robin). Hence ostry-faggot, a faggot in a hostelry, Greene, Looking Glasse, iii. 3 (1242); p. 133, col. 1. See [hostry].
otacousticon, an ear-trumpet, an instrument used to assist hearing. Tomkis, Albumazar, i. 3 (Ronca). Gk. ὠτ- (ὠτός, gen. of οὖς an ear) + ἀκουστικός, acoustic.
other, left; other leg, left leg, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 11. 23; other eye, left eye, id., iii. 9. 5; other hand, left hand, id., v. 12. 36.
other-gates, of another kind. Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, ii. 1 (Truepenny); ‘Works . . . requiring other-gates workmen’, Gauden, Tears of the Church, Pref. (Davies); in another way, Twelfth Nt. v. 1. 199. Still survives in the north country and in Warwicksh. (EDD.).
ouch, the socket of a precious stone, an ornament, jewel. Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, iv. 1 (Moroso); ‘Thou shalt make them (the stones) to be set in ouches of gold’, Bible, Exod. xxviii. 11; 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 52. ME. nowch, ‘monile, scutuler’ (Prompt. EETS. 309). Anglo-F. nouche, a brooch (Gower, Balades, xxxiii. 2); nusche (Rough List). See [owch].
ought, pt. t. owned, possessed. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, iii. 1 (Leonora). Also, owed; Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xi. 608; Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 39; ii. 8. 40. ME. oght (Dest. Troy, 12404), ouhte, owned, possessed (P. Plowman, C. iv. 72). OE. āhte, pt. t. of āgan, to possess, own. See [owe].
oultrage, ‘outrage’, violence. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 182, back, 31. Anglo-F. oultrage, oltrage, outrage, extravagant conduct (Gower). Med. L. ultragium, ‘immoderatio’, ‘injuria’ (Ducange), deriv. of L. ultra, beyond.
oultrance: phr. put to oultrance, put to the extremity, put to death; Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 67, back, 10. Anglo-F. oultrance: ‘la guerre jusques al oultrance’ (Gower, Mirour, 8040); see NED. (s.v. Outrance). See [utterance].
ouphe, a fairy, an ‘elf’, ‘oaf’, goblin, Merry Wives, iv. 4. 49. Icel. ālfr, an elf. See [aulf].
out, proverbial saying, out of God’s blessing into the warm sun, from better to worse, Heywood’s Proverbs, bk. ii, ch. 5 (ed. Farmer, pp. 67 and 148); Harrison, Desc. Britain, in Holinshed (ed. 1577, i. fol. 11a). Cp. Lyly’s Euphues (ed. Arber, 320), ‘Thou forsakest God’s blessing to sit in a warme Sunne’; and, ‘If thou wilt follow my advice . . . thou shalt come out of a warme Sunne into God’s blessing’ (id. 196), where the proverb is reversed; ‘Thou must approve the common saw, Thou out of heaven’s benediction comest To the warm sun!’ King Lear, ii. 2. 157, 158 (see W. A. Wright’s note in C. P. Series). The original meaning of this proverbial expression is not clear.
out, to put out, extinguish, Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, i. 735; ‘Witness that Taper whose prophetick snuff Was outed and revived with one puff’, Quarles, Argalus and Parthenia (ed. 1678, 77).
outbrast, pt. t. burst out. Sackville, Induction, st. 11. Pt. t. of ME. outbresten; ‘The blode outbrast’ (Dest. Troy, 8045); see NED. (s.v. Outburst).
out-brayed, pt. t. brayed out, uttered aloud. Sackville, Induction, st. 18. Doubtless confused with [abraid].
out-breast, to outvoice, surpass in singing. Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 3. 145.
outcept, except. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, i. 2 (Pan); ii. 1 (Hilts).
out-cry, an auction; because such a sale was proclaimed by the common crier. B. Jonson, Catiline, ii. 1 (Fulvia); New Inn, i. 1 (Host); Fletcher, Maid in the Mill, v. 1 (Bellides). See Nares.
outrecuidance, arrogance. Chapman, Mons. d’Olive, iv. (Dique); Eastward Ho, iv. 1 (or 2) (Golding). F. oultrecuidance, an overweening presumption, pride, arrogancy (Cotgr.); F. outrecuidance; O. Prov. oltracuidar, oltra, L. ultra, beyond + cuidar, to think, L. cogitare.
outrider, a highwayman. Heywood, 1 Edw. IV (Hobs), vol. i, p. 43.
outsquat, to throw out (as from a sling), to scatter; ‘The greatest sort with slings their plummet-lompes of lead outsquats’, Phaer, tr. of Aeneid, vii. 687.
overcraw, to triumph over, lit. to crow over. Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 50. See Nares.
overdight, pp. covered over. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 53; iv. 8. 34. Dight, pp., appears in later poetic language to be often taken as an archaic form of decked, see NED. (s.v. Dight, vb. 10).
overflown, flushed with wine. Middleton, Phœnix, iv. 2 (Ph.). Cp. Milton, P. L., i. 502, ‘Then wander forth the sons of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.’
overgrast, overgrown with grass. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Sept., 130.
overhaile, to draw over. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Feb., 75. See [hale and ho].
overlashing, extravagant. Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, 105); extravagance, Gosson, School of Abuse, p. 39.
overlive, to survive. Bacon, Essay 27, § 4.
overlook, to look down upon, despise. Hen. V, iii. 5. 9; B. Jonson, Alchem. iv. 1 (Subtle).
overlop, the planking of a deck; the ‘orlop’; ‘His bed was not laid upon the overlop’, North, tr. of Plutarch, Alcibiades (Shak. Plutarch, p. 295, § 3). Du. overloop, ‘the covert or deck of anything; the hatches of a ship’ (Hexham).
overseen, betrayed into error, deluded. Chapman, Argument 2 to Iliad, bk. xiv; intoxicated, Earle, Microcosmographie, § 16; ed. Arber, p. 37. ‘Overseen’ is still in prov. use in both senses: (1) cheated, deluded; (2) overcome with drink, intoxicated; see EDD. (s.v. Overseen, 3 and 4).
over-shot, i.e. an over-shot mill, a mill worked by water pouring over the top of the wheel. Fletcher, Mad Lover, iv. 2 (Chilax).
overthwart, across, transversely. Morte Arthur, leaf 262, back, 15; bk. x, c. 64; cross, malicious, id., lf. 180. 25; bk. ix, c. 15; an adverse circumstance, Surrey, Praise of Mean Estate, 12; in Tottel’s Misc. p. 27. ‘Overthwart’ (meaning across) is in prov. use in many parts of England (EDD.). ME. overthwarte: ‘ovyr wharte, transversus’ (Prompt. EETS. 321).
overture, an open space. Spenser, Shep. Kal., July, 28. The gloss has: ‘Overture, an open place; the word is borrowed of the French, and used in good writers.’ Anglo-F. overture, an opening (Gower).
overture, used to mean overthrow. Middleton, Family of Love, i. 1 (Glister). See NED. for other examples.
overwent, oppressed, subdued. Spenser, Shep. Kal., March, 2. The gloss has: ‘overwent, overgone.’
owch, a clasp, esp. a jewelled clasp, jewel. Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 31. See [ouch].
owdell, a kind of poem. Drayton, Pol. iv. 184. Welsh awdl, a rime or assonance.
owe, to possess. Tempest, i. 2. 407; Meas. for M. i. 4. 83; ii. 4. 123. ME. owen, to possess (Chaucer, C. T. C. 361); OE. āgan. See [ought].
ower, a form of oar; ‘And there row’d off with owers of my hands’, Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, xii. 628; cp. ‘my hands for oars’, id., x. 482.
Owlglass, a jester, buffoon. B. Jonson, Poetaster, iii. 1 (Tucca to Histrio). The word is an English equivalent of German Eulenspiegel; see below. ‘A merye jeste of a Man that was called Howleglas’, Title of an old German jest-book translated into English in 1560.
owl-spiegle, an English part-rendering of German Eulenspiegel (Eule, owl + spiegel, glass mirror), the name of a German jester of mediaeval times, the hero of a jest-book. Used as a term of abuse: ‘Out, thou houlet! . . . owl-spiegle!’, B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 1 (Maud.); ‘Ulen Spiegel!’, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Subtle). Hence F. espiègle (Hatzfeld). See above.
ox: Proverbial saying—The black ox has trod on his foot, i.e. he has fallen into decay or adversity; it often implies old age: ‘She was a pretty wench . . now . . the black oxe hath trod on her foote’, Lyly, Sapho and Phao, iv. 2 (Venus); ‘When . . the blacke Oxe (shall) treade on their foote—who wil like of them in their age who loved none in their youth’, id., Euphues (ed. Arber, 55); ‘The black ox had not trod on his nor her foot’, Heywood’s Proverbs (ed. Farmer, p. 17); ‘The black ox never trod on his foot, i.e. he never knew what sorrow or adversity meant’, Ray, Prov. Phrases (ed. Bohn, 173). Cp. Gascoigne, Glasse of Governement, v. 6 (Gnomaticus). The saying is still in prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Black, 5 (11)).