I’ fait de sen Quéripel.—Is untranslatable literally, but may be rendered “he acts like a Quéripel.” and is said of a man whose vanity leads him to give himself airs, and take too much upon himself. The name existed in Guernsey as early as the fourteenth century, at which time it was written Carupel, but there is not the slightest clue when or how the saying originated. It may possibly be a corruption of some proverbial expression current in Normandy.
Il est dans les Arabies de Mons. Roland.—“He has got into Mr. Roland’s Arabias,” is a remark made when a preacher, a public speaker, or any one who sets up for a talker, has got beyond his depth, and is discoursing on a subject which he does not understand. The Rolands, now extinct, are believed to have been a Huguenot family that took refuge in Guernsey in the sixteenth century.[259] The Monsr. Roland who figures in the saying is supposed to have been a schoolmaster.[260]
Old Guernsey House.
Ch’est prendre de Pierre Chyvret pour dounaïr à Monsieur Careye.—“It is taking from Pierre Chyvret to give to Mr. Carey,” is used in the sense of “sending coals to Newcastle,” or “taking from the poor to give to the rich;” but who the particular individuals were whose names figure in this saying it is impossible to say. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth a Mr. Nicholas Careye was farmer of most, if not all, the mills in Guernsey situated on the Crown domain, he being then Her Majesty’s Receiver. At a time when all persons residing on a manor were obliged to bring their corn to be ground at their Lord’s mill, under severe penalties, such a monopoly in the mills as Mr. Carey possessed, must have tended to make him a very wealthy man.[261] It is not unlikely that he, or one of his immediate descendants, who enjoyed the same privilege, may have been the person whose name became proverbial for riches. The name of Peter Chyvret occurs in another saying too coarse to be quoted, but which suggests the idea that he may have been an idiot, and, if so, probably living on charity. It is, however, worth noting that a certain Peter Chyvret was, about the beginning of the present century, in possession of property situated in the neighbourhood of one of the mills of which we have spoken. He is reported to have been one of those eccentric characters of whom it is difficult to say whether they have all their mental faculties—a mixture, in fact, of shrewdness and simplicity. As he was by no means in indigent circumstances it is scarcely probable that he can be the same man alluded to in this saying.
Tenir à pìnche-beleïne.—Means to hold lightly, without a firm grasp. It is used in the following proverbial saying:—
“A pìnche-beleïne—sû la haute épeine,
Si je m’déroque—je n’en dirai mot.”