Mr. Hazlitt,[3] "will have much difficulty in appreciating this proverbial dictum. An estate has been lost or won in the course of a single season; but the hop is an expensive plant to rear, and a bad year may spoil the entire crop."
Actions which produce different results to what are expected are thus spoken of:—
"You set saffron and there came up wolfsbane."
In Devonshire it may be noted that this plant is used to denote anything of value; and it is related of a farmer near Exeter who, when praising a certain farm, remarked, "'Tis a very pretty little place; he'd let so dear as saffron."
Many, again, are the proverbial sayings associated with roses—most of these being employed to indicate what is not only sweet and lovely, but bright and joyous. Thus, there are the well-known phrases, "A bed of roses," and "As sweet as a rose," and the oft-quoted popular adage:—
"The rose, called by any other name, would smell as sweet,"
Which, as Mr. Hazlitt remarks, "although not originally proverbial, or in its nature, or even in the poet's intention so, has acquired that character by long custom."
An old adage, which is still credited by certain of our country folk, reminds us that:—
"A parsley field will bring a man to his saddle and a woman to
her grave,"
A warning which is not unlike one current in Surrey and other southern counties:—