“A whistling woman and crowing hen,
Are neither fit for God nor men.”
In Normandy they say:—“Une poule qui chante le coquet, et une fille qui siffle, portent malheur dans la maison.”[262]
And in Cornwall:—“A whistling woman and a crowing hen, are the two unluckiest things under the sun.”
Trachier (chercher) la Ville par Torteval.—To seek for the Town by way of Torteval, is said of one who goes a round-about way to work. The rural parish of Torteval, situated at the south-west corner of Guernsey, is, of all the parishes in the island, the one furthest removed from the town of St. Peter Port. Compare the French “Chercher midi à quatorze heures.”
Il ôt (ouit, entend) fin coume une iragne (araignée).—His sense of hearing is as quick as that of a spider. Whether the abrupt retreat of the common wall-spider into the inner recesses of its web, at the approach of anything that alarms it, is to be attributed to the sense of hearing, sight, or feeling, would be difficult to determine. The fact, however, has been noticed, and has given rise to this saying.
Entre le bec et le morcé,
Ill y a souvent du destorbier.
T’wixt cup and lip—there’s many a slip.
Qui épouse Jerriais ou Jerriaise,