Woman's Tongue -- Folk-lore of Women -- by T.F. Thistelton-Dyer

"How sweetly sounds the voice of a good woman!
It is so seldom heard that, when it speaks,
It ravishes all senses."
MASSINGER, Old Law, iv. 2. ALTHOUGH a well-known proverb tells us that "a silent woman is always more admired than a noisy one," the Chinese have a favourite saying to the effect that "a woman's tongue is her sword, and she does not let it rust;" with which may be compared the Hindustani proverb, "For talk I'm best, for work my elder brother-in-law's wife;" which has its counterpart in this country, where it is said, "A woman's strength is in her tongue," and in Wales the adage runs thus:--

"Be she old, or be she young,
A woman's strength is in her tongue." But proverbial literature has generally held that whatever a woman says must be received with caution; and, according to an African adage, "If a woman speaks two words take one and leave the other," with which may be compared an Eastern, saying, "A woman's talk heat from grass"--that is, worthless.

But, granted the effective use frequently made by this weapon, the teachers of old were of opinion that "Silence is the best ornament of a woman;" or, as another version expresses it, "Silence is a fine jewel for a woman, but it is little worn."

In days gone by a singular sign--a very favourite one with oil painters--was "The Good Woman," originally expressive of a female saint, a holy or good woman, who had met her death by the loss of her head, and how by the waggery of after ages the good woman came to be converted into the Silent Woman, as if it were a matter of necessity, is thus explained--

"A silent woman, Sir! you said;
Pray, was she painted without a head?
Yes, Sir, she was! You never read of
A silent woman with her head on.
Besides, you know, there's nought but speaking
Can keep a woman's heart from breaking!" And M. W. Praed, in his tale of "Lillian," by an ingenious metaphor of a beautiful idiot would explain a headless woman--

"And hence the story had ever run,
That the fairest of dames was a headless one." But proverbial wisdom is generally agreed that "there never was in any age such a wonder to be found as a dumb woman," and the Germans say, "when a woman has no answer the sea is empty of water."

In the old Scotch ballad of "The Dumb Wife of Aberdour," the husband is represented (writes Mr. W. A. Clouston in Notes and Queries, 6th Series, i. 272) as meeting with "a great grim man"--the devil, in fact--to whom he complains of his misfortune in having a wife who was dumb; upon which the Arch-fiend says to him

"Tak no disdain,
And I sall find remeid,
Gif thou wilt counsel keep,
And learn well what I say:
This night, in her first sleep,
Under her tongue then lay
Of quaking aspen leaf.
The whilk betokens wind,
And she shall have relief
Of speaking, thou shalt find,
What kind of tale, withouten fail,
That thou of her requires.
She shall speak out, have thou nae doubt,
And mair than thou desires." To make sure work, the husband lays three leaves under her tongue; and when she awoke in the morning she at once began to speak to him--with a vengeance. He afterwards consults with the fiend about making her dumb again, but quoth Satan:--

"The least devil in hell
Can give a wife her tongue;
The greatest, I you tell,
Can never make her dumb." The Satanic device of placing an aspen leaf in a woman's mouth to make her speak, he adds, is alluded to in an old English book entitled "The Praise of All Women, called Mulierum Pean. Very fruitful and delectable to all the Readers--

"'Look and read who can,
This work is praise to each woman.'" The author, Edward Gosynhill, thus accounts for the origin of woman's tongue:--

"Some say, the woman had no tongue
After that God did her create,
Until the man took leaves long
And put them under her palate;
An aspen leaf of the devil he gat,
And for it moveth with every wind,
They say women's tongues be of like kind." On the principle that "Speech is silver, silence is gold," it was formerly held that "One tongue is enough for two women"--an adage, we are told, which is "no less applicable to stormy Shrews than adverse to learned women who have the command of many tongues." It should be remembered, also, that the rhyme, which with a slight alteration is often uttered as a warning to children over-talking their elders, ran in former times thus:--

"Maidens should be mild and meek,
Swift to hear and slow to speak." Another version slightly different is this: "Maids should be seen and not heard," which occurs in "The Maids' Complaint against the Bachelors" (1675, p. 3), where it is called "a musty proverb"; and among further maxims, it is said, "Silence is a fine jewel for a woman but little worn," and "Silence is the best ornament of a woman."

The persistency of a woman's tongue has been made the subject of frequent comment in our proverbial lore, experience, having long proved that "a woman's tongue wags like a lamb's tall," or, as it is said in France, "Foxes are all tail, and women are all tongue." And, according to an Alsatian proverb, "If you would make a pair of good shoes, take for the sole the tongue of a woman--it never wears out." A Welsh proverb says "Arthur could not tame a woman's tongue," which is not surprising if there be any truth in the maxim that "A woman will scold the devil out of a haunted house," which reminds us of an amusing little anecdote told of Tom Hood, who, on hearing the piety of a very loquacious lady spoken of, humorously said, "Yes, she is well known for her mag-piety;" and there is the German proverb, "Women are never at a loss for words." An amusing couplet, which is proverbial in the neighbourhood of Salisbury, thus speaks of a woman's tongue:--

"Nature, regardless of the babbling race,
Planted no beard upon a woman's face;
Not Freddy Keene's razors, though the very best,
Could shave a chin that never is at rest." And as, from time immemorial, women have been accused of gossiping, it is not surprising that this fault should have been made the subject of legal penalties, as at St. Helena, where, among the ordinances promulgated in the year 1789, we find the following:--"Whereas several idle, gossiping women, made it their business to go from house to house, about this island, inventing and spreading false and scandalous reports of the good people thereof, and thereby sow discord and debate among neighbours, and often between men and their wives, to the great grief and trouble of all good and quiet people, and to the utter extinguishing of all friendship, amity, and good neighbourhood; for the punishment and suppression thereof, and to the intent that all strife may be ended, we do order that if any women, from henceforth, shall be convicted of tale-hearing, mischief-making, scolding, or any other notorious vices, they shall be punished by ducking, or whipping, or such other punishment as their crimes or transgressions shall deserve, or the Governor and Council shall think fit."

According to an Italian saying, "three women and three geese make a market," which is also found among Hindustani proverbs, "Madame Slut and two farmers' wives make a fair," a version of which has long been current in this country, where it is said, "three women make a market, four a fair," as they are sure to attract notice, and to make themselves heard. This piece of proverbial lore is alluded to in "Love's Labour's Lost" (act iii. sc. 1.):--

"Thus came your argument in;
Then the boy's fat l'envoy, the goose that you bought." And in an old work entitled "Marriage of Wit and Wisdom," published about the year 1570, we find the proverbial phrase, "She can cackle like a cadowe," i.e., a jackdaw, with which may be compared the adage, "She's a wagtail." An early MS. of the fifteenth century contains this version:

"A young wife and a harvest goose,
Much cackle will both;
A man that hath them in his clos [possession],
He shall rest wroth." And we may compare with the above the following from the old nursery rhyme:--

"Misses One, Two, and Three, could never agree,
While they gossiped round a tea-caddy." A woman's tongue, again, it is said, must not be always trusted, for "a honey tongue, a heart of gall," or, as another version puts it, "Too much courtesy, too much craft." Similarly, an African proverb says, "Trust not a woman, she will tell thee what she has just told her companion;" and a Turkish adage tells us not to "trust the promise of the great, the calm of the sea, the evening twilight, the word of a woman, or the courage of the horse." Nothing, too, is more derogatory to a woman than coarse or bad language, and hence she is warned that "Bad words make a woman worse:" words which call to mind Martial's epigram:--

"Fair, rich, and young! How rare is her perfection,
Were it not mingled with one foul infection;
So proud a heart, so cursed a tongue,
As makes her seem nor rich, nor fair, nor young." And a popular maxim attributed to Tasso tells us that "Women have tongues of craft, and hearts of guile;" and, on this account, we are told that "he who listens to the words of a woman will be accounted worthless," as, not only lacking common sense, but as acting on her advice which can bring him no good.

Although proverbial wisdom is agreed that, to quote a German adage, "A woman has never spoiled anything through silence," her fondness of talking is further exemplified in such proverbs as "Her tongue steals away all the time from her hands," and "All women are good Lutherans," they say in Denmark, "because they would rather preach than hear Mass;" whereas the old English saying enjoins, "Let women spin and not preach." One of Heywood's proverbs tells us that "Husbands are in heaven whose wives scold not," which is similar to the well-known adage:--

"It is a good horse that never stumbles,
And a good wife that never grumbles;" for, as it is commonly said throughout Scotland, "A house wi' a reek and a wife with a reerd will make a man rin to the door," a dictum which has its equivalent in Spain--

"Smoke, a dripping roof, and a scolding wife,
Are enough to drive a man out of his life." a version of which was formerly current in the North of England:--

"Smoke, rain, and a very curst wife,
Make a man weary of house and life;" and we may compare the Hindustani proverb which, describing a woman who is quarrelsome beyond endurance, says, "She quarrels with the breeze." Disagreeable as such tongues may be, equally to be avoided is "a groaning wife," for as the Scotch peasantry tell us, "a grunting horse and a graneing wife seldom fail their master," implying that women who are constantly in the habit of complaining how ill they are, generally contrive to live as long as their neighbours.

Closely allied with the proverbial lore associated with a woman's tongue may be mentioned the strong antipathy to a woman whistling about a house or even out of doors, for, according to a well-known proverb, of which there are several versions:--

"A whistling woman and a crowing hen,
Are neither fit for God nor men;" or, as they say in the West of England, "A whistling woman and a crowing hen are two of the unluckiest things under the sun." Why there should be this deep-rooted prejudice it is difficult to decide, unless we accept the explanation in the subjoined couplet:--

"A whistling wife and a crowing hen,
Will call the old gentleman out of his den;" or, as the peasantry say in Cheshire, "Will fear the old lad out of his den." There are numerous versions of this popular piece of folk-lore, one warning us that--

"Whistling girls and crowing hens,
Always come to some bad end;" and again--

"A whistling wife and a crowing hen,
Will come to God, but God knows when;" and we may compare the Sinhalese proverb, "It is said that even the hen reared by a talkative woman crows." This superstition, too, is largely shared by the seafaring community, and, some years ago when a party of ladies were going on board a vessel at Scarborough, the captain declined to allow one to enter, exclaiming, " Not that young lady, she whistles." Curiously enough the vessel was wrecked on her next vovage, so had the young lady set foot on it, the catastrophe would have been attributed to her. A correspondent of Notes and Queries tells us that, one day after trying to induce his dog to come into the house, his wife essayed to whistle, when she was suddenly interrupted by a servant--a Roman Catholic--who apologetically said, "If you please, ma'am, don't whistle. Every time a woman whistles, the heart of the Blessed Virgin bleeds." Another legend informs us that the superstition originated in the circumstance that a woman stood by and whistled as she watched the nails for the cross being forged. The French have a similar prejudice, their proverb running as follows:--"Une poule qui chante le coq, et une fille qui jiffle, portent malheur dans la maison," a variation of which runs thus:--

"La maison est misérable et méchante
Ou la poule plus haut que le coq chant."
("That house doth everday more wretched grow,
Where the hen louder than the cock doth crow"); and another popular adage warns us that--

"La poule ne doit pas chanter devant le coq," a translation of which is sometimes heard in our own country:--

"Ill fares the hapless family that shows,
A cock that's silent, and a hen that crows." This superstition, too, is not confined to Europe, for there is a Chinese proverb to the same effect:--

"A bustling woman and crowing hen,
Are neither fit for gods nor men." It is an injunction of the priesthood, writes a correspondent of Notes and Queries (4th Series, xi. 475), "and a carefully observed household custom, to kill immediately every hen that crows, as a preventive against the misfortune which the circumstance is supposed to indicate;" and the same practice, he adds, prevails throughout many parts of the United States. The Japanese tells us that "when the hen crows the house goes to ruin," with which may be compared the Russian adage, "It never goes well when the hen crows," whilst the Persian proverb puts the matter sensibly thus:--"If you be a cock, crow; if a hen, lay eggs;" and there is the Portuguese maxim with a similar meaning, "It is a silly flock where the ewe bears the bell;" a further proverb telling us that "a house is in a bad case where the distaff commands the sword;" and the Italians go still further, for they say that "when a woman reigns the devil frowns," to which may be added the Indian adage, "What trust is there in a crowing hen?"

From the numerous instances recorded of this piece of folk-lore we may quote an amusing extract from one of Walpole's letters to Lady Ossory, January 8, 1772, wherein after informing her Ladyship of the damage done to his castle by the explosion of the Hounslow Powder Mills, he humorously writes:--

"Margaret [his housekeeper] sits by the waters of Babylon and weeps over Jerusalem. Yet she was not taken quite unprepared, for one of the Bantam hens had crowed on Sunday morning, and the chandler's wife told her three weeks ago, when the Barn was blown down, that ill-luck never came single. She is, however, very thankful that the china-room has escaped, and says God has always been the best creature in the world to her."

But a talkative, as well as a whistling, woman is, in German lore, equally warned against making an undue use of her tongue, for "a glaring sunny morning, a woman that talks Latin, and a child reared on wine never come to a good end;" or, as another adage has it, "A woman and a hen are soon lost in gadding"; and according to another warning, whereas "a gossiping woman talks of every one, every one talks of her." The most remarkable thing, as the Japanese say, is that, although "a woman's tongue is only three inches long, it can kill a man six feet high;" but the Chinese have a common proverb to the effect that, whereas "a man's words are like an arrow close to the mark, a woman's is like a broken fan." A further way, also, in which woman is occasionally able to use her tongue to advantage is in the art of dissimulation when love is concerned, a piece of craft which, skilfully devised, has deceived many a lover, for, as the Spanish adage goes--

"He that speaks me fair and loves me not,
I'll speak him fair and love him not;" with which may be compared the Hindustani proverb, "A shrill tongue and a false hand."

But, after all, it must not be forgotten that even "the whisper of a beautiful woman can be heard further than the loudest call of duty;" and again, "A sweet tongue will conquer the whole world, and a crooked one will estrange it."

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Woman's Eyes -- The Folk-lore of Women -- T.F. Thistelton-Dyer

"Where is any author in the world
Teaches such beauty as a woman's eye?"
Love's Labour's Lost, act iv. sc. 3. POETIC imagery, in painting the varied beauties of the eye, has applied to them a host of graceful and charming similes, many of which illustrate the beliefs and fancies of our forefathers respecting these so-called "keys of the human face," or, as Shakespeare has described them, "windows of the heart."

It has long been a disputed question as to what has been the recognised favourite colour of the eyes, the poets of all ages having laid much stress on the chameleon-like iris of the eye, which ever seems to vary in its green or bluish hue. Thus Homer speaks of Minerva as the "blue-eyed goddess," an epithet which has given rise to considerable comment, opinions having largely differed as to whether the poet meant this colour, or something between a green, blue, or grey.

Green eyes are often mentioned in classic literature, and they found special favour with early French poets, who were extremely fond of speaking of them under the title of yeux vers--a taste which seems to have been generally prevalent on the Continent. The Spaniards considered this colour of the eye an emblem of beauty, and as such there is an amusing allusion to it in "Don Quixote":--"But now I think of it, Sancho, thy description of her beauty was a little absurd in that particular of comparing her eyes to pearls. Sure, such eyes are more like those of a whiting, or a sea-bream, than those of a fair lady; and in my opinion Dulcinea's eyes are rather like two verdant emeralds, veiled in with two celestial arches, which signify her eyebrows. Therefore, Sancho, you must take your pearls from her eyes, and apply them to her teeth, for I verily believe you mistake the one for the other!" And we may quote the subjoined well-known lines in praise of green eyes, which show, like many others of the same kind, in that high esteem they were formerly held:--

"Ay ojuelos verdes,
Ay los mis ojuelos,
Ay hagan los cielos,
Qui de mi te acuerdos." Then, again, Villa Real, a Portuguese, wrote a treatise for the purpose of setting forth the estimation in which he regarded them; and Dante, it may be remembered, speaks of Beatrice's eyes as emeralds--

"Spare not thy vision, we have stationed thee
Before the emeralds, whence love erewhile
Hath drawn his weapons on thee"-- "emeralds," of course, here meaning the eyes of Beatrice.
In our own country we find no lack of allusions to green eyes, and in the "Two Noble Kinsmen " AEmilia, in her address to Diana, says: "Oh, vouchsafe with that thy rare green eye, which never yet beheld things maculate!" On the other hand, Shakespeare speaks of jealousy as "a green-eyed monster," and we know that the phrase has been frequently used in an uncomplimentary manner. But this is the exception, for what more pleasing, or graceful, instance of their being in repute as an object of beauty can be quoted than that given by Frances Collins, who tells us that her husband in writing to a certain lady always spoke of her eyes as sea-green:--

"So stir the fire and pour the wine,
And let those sea-green eyes divine,
Pour their love-madness into mine." And at another time he wrote these lines:--

"Cupid plucked his brightest plume,
To paint my mistress in her bloom;
Caught her eyes, the soft sea-green,
At a summer noontide seen." Longfellow in his "Spanish Student" (act ii. sc. 3) has painted with exquisite effect this phase of beauty in the following passage, where Victorian inquires: "How is that young and green-eyed Gaditana that you both wot of?" To which Don Carlos sympathetically adds, "Ay, soft, emerald eyes!" After a while, Victorian resumes her praises, remarking:--

"You are much to blame for letting her go back.
A pretty girl, and in her tender eyes
Just that soft shade of green we sometimes see
In evening skies." But perhaps one of the highest tributes of honour to green as the colour of the eye is that given by Drummond of Hawthornden, who could not write too eulogistically of his green-eyed maiden--

"When nature now had wonderfully wrought
All Auristella's parts, except her eyes;
To make those twins two lamps in beauty's skies,
The counsel of her starry synod sought.
Mars and Apollo first did her advise,
To wrap in colour black those comets bright,
That love him so might soberly disguise,
And unperceived wound at every sight.
Chaste Phoebe spake for purest azure dies,
But Jove and Venus, green about the light,
To frame thought best, as bringing most delight,
That to pined hearts hope might for ay arise.
Nature, all said, a paradise of green
There placed, to make all love which have them seen." And Mr. Swinburne in his "Félise" gives a beautiful picture of the chameleon-like iris--

"O lips that mine have grown into,
Like April's kissing May;
O fervid eyelids, letting through
Those eyes the greenest of things blue,
The bluest of things grey." According to a writer in the Quarterly Review, in an amusing paper on physiognomy, the following characteristics may be ascertained by the colour of the eyes: "Dark blue eyes are most common in persons of delicate, refined, or effiminate nature; light blue, and, much more, grey eyes, in the hardy and active; greenish eyes have generally the same meaning as the grey; hazels are the more usual indications of a mind masculine, vigorous, and profound;" with which may be compared the following well-known lines:--

"Black eyes most dazzle at a ball,
Blue eyes most please at evening fall;
The black a conquest soonest gains,
The blue a conquest best retains;
The black bespeaks a lovely heart,
Whose soft emotions soon depart;
The blue a steadier frame betray,
Which burns and lives beyond a day;
The black the features best disclose,
In blue my feelings all repose;
Then each let reign without control,
The black all mind, and blue all soul." Like green, blue eyes have always been much admired, and have attracted the notice of poets. Thus Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in her "Hector in the Garden," speaks of--

"Eyes of gentianellas azure,
Staring, winking at the skies"; and Longfellow, in his "Masque of Pandora," says:--

"O lovely eyes of azure,
Clear as the waters of a brook that run,
Limpid and laughing in the summer sun." Akenside compares blue eyes to the "azure dawn," and Kirke White sings the praises of the maiden's "blue eyes' fascination." Shelley, again, in his "Prometheus Unbound," likens eyes of this colour to the "deep blue, boundless heaven;" but it is perhaps Keats who--in his sonnet, written in answer to a sonnet by J. H. Reynolds, ending thus:--

"Dark eyes are dearer far
Than those that mock the hyacinthus bell"-- has given us the most elaborate picture of the charm of blue eyes:--

"Blue! 'tis the life of heaven--the domain
Of Cynthia--the wide palace of the sun,
The tent of Hesperus, and all his train,
The bosomer of clouds, gold, grey, and dun.
Blue! 'tis the life of waters--Ocean
And all its vassal streams: pools numberless
May rage, and foam, and fret, but never can
Subside, if not to dark-blue nativeness.
Blue! gentle cousin of the forest-green,
Married to green in all the sweetest flowers,
Forget-me-not, the Bluebell, and that Queen
Of secrecy, the Violet: what strange powers
Hast thou, as a mere shadow! But how great,
When in an Eye thou art alive with fate!" There is in Spain a proverbial saying much in use which shows the high esteem in which this colour is held, and it runs thus: "Blue eyes say, 'Love me or I die'; black eyes say, 'I Love me or I kill thee';" and in Hindustani folk-lore a blue-eyed girl is supposed to be fortunate.

And there are numerous rhymes in this country to the same effect; one current in Warwickshire running thus:--

"Blue-eyed--beauty,
Do your mother's duty;
Black eye,
Brown eye,
Grey-eyed--greedy gut,
Eat all the world up." Another version in Lincolnshire is this

"Blue eye--beauty.
Black eye--steal pie.
Grey eye--greedy gut.
Brown eye--love pie." Apart from blue being a much admired colour of the eye, it would seem to have gained an additional popularity from having been the recognised symbol of eternity and human immortality. Similarly the ancient heathen poets were wont to sing the praises of their "blue-eyed goddesses." Petrarch's sonnets, again, are addressed to a blue-eyed Laura. Kriemhild, of the Nibelungen Lied, is blue-eyed, like Fricka, the Northern Juno, and Ingeborg of the Frithiof's Saga, and the Danish princess Iolanthe.

Blueness about the eyes, too, was considered a certain indication of love, and, to quote Lord Lytton's words, there is "a liquid melancholy of sweet eyes;" which reminds us of the simile of the Persian poet, who compares "a violet sparkling with dew" to "the blue eyes of a beautiful girl in tears;" and we may compare the remark of Rosalind to Orlando in "As You Like It " (act iii. sc. 2), who enumerates the marks of love, "a blue eye and sunken, which you have not."

Another favourite colour of the eye was grey, and Douce, in his "Illustrations of Shakespeare," quotes from the interlude of "Marie Magdalene" a song in praise of her, which says, "Your eyes as grey as glass and right amiable;" and, in the "Two Gentlemen of Verona" (act iv. sc. 4), Julia makes use of the same expression.
Black eyes have occasioned many curious fancies respecting them--some complimentary, and others just the reverse. Lord Byron, for instance, describing Leila's eyes, in the "Giacour," says:--

"Her eye's dark charm 'twere vain to tell,
But gaze on that of the gazelle,
It will assist thy fancy well:
As large, as languishingly dark,
But soul beam'd forth in every spark." And when addressing the maid of Athens in his tender and pathetic lines, he writes, "By those lids whose jetty fringe kiss thy soft cheeks' blooming tinge." He tells, also, how the beautiful Teresa had "the Asiatic eye" dark as the sky; and of the innocent Haidee he gives this picture:--

"Her hair, I said, was auburn, but her eyes
Were black as death, their lashes the same hue
Of downcast length, in whose silk shadows lies
Deepest attraction; for when to the view
Forth from its raven fringe the full glance flies,
Ne'er with such force the swiftest arrow flew." Apart from poetic imagery, the black-eyed sisterhood have rarely failed to get their share of praise, although, it is true, artists have seldom, if ever, painted the Madonna dark, for, it must be remembered:--

"In the old time black was not counted fair,
Or if it were it bore not beauty's name,
But now is black beauty's successive heir." It has been pointed out that Shakespeare only mentions black hair thrice throughout his plays. Although half, at least, of the heroines of novels are designated as having a fair complexion and the colour of the eyes that match it, we must not lose sight of the fact that the dark-eyed girl is generally supposed to be gifted with a power of force of expression which is denied to others. And as Mr. Finck remarks, "Inasmuch as black-eyed Southern nations are, on the whole, more impulsive than Northern races, it may be said in a vague, general way that a black eye indicates a passionate disposition." But there are countless exceptions to this rule--as in the case of apathetic dark-eyed persons, and, conversely, fiery, blue-eyed individuals. Nor is this at all strange, for "the black colour is not stored up in some mysterious way as a result of a fiery temperament, but is simply accumulated in the iris through natural selection as a protection against glaring sunlight."

Scottish history affords a good specimen of a dark woman in the famous "Black Agnes," the Countess of March, who was noted for her defence of Dunbar during the war with Edward III., maintained in Scotland from 1333 to the year 1338.

"She kept astir in tower and trench,
That brawling, boisterous, Scottish wench;
Came I early, came I late,
I found Black Agnes at the gate." According to Sir Walter Scott, the Countess was called Black Agnes from her complexion. She was the daughter of Thomas Randolph, Earl of Murray. But this statement has been disputed, and it is affirmed that the lady in question was so nicknamed from the terror of her deeds, and not from her dark complexion.

The Mahometan heaven is peopled with "virgins with chaste mien and large black eyes," and we may quote what the poet of woman's lore says:--

"The brilliant black eye
May in triumph let fly
All its darts without caring who feels 'em;
But the soft eye of blue,
Tho' it scatters wounds too,
Is much better pleased when it heals them.
The blue eye half hid
Says from under its lid,
I love, and am yours if you love me,
The black eye may say,
Come and worship my ray,
By adoring, perhaps you may win me." The black-eyed girl has long been credited with being deceitful, but there is little or no ground for this stigma, which, like so many other notions of a similar kind, has arisen from prejudice, or some such old adage as the following, which may be found in many parts of the country, but which, of course, is devoid of all truth:--

"Grey-eyed greedy,
Brown-eyed needy,
Black-eyed never likin',
Till it shame a' its kin." Similar folk-rhymes are to be found in different localities, to which much faith was formerly attached by the credulous.

From a very early period various devices were employed by women for improving the colour and appearance of the eye. The ladies of the East, for instance, tinged the edges of their eyelids with the powder of lead ore, their mode of procedure being to dip into the powder a small wooden bodkin, which they drew through the eyelids over the ball of the eye. But such artificial contrivances have always proved a poor substitute for Nature's charms; and, as Antoine Heroet, an early French poet, in his "Les Opuscules d'Amour," says of love, so it is equally true of such devices: "It is not so strange an enchanter that he can make black eyes become green, that he can turn a dark brown into clear whiteness." But, when it is remembered how enviable a prize beauty has always been, some allowance must be made for the fair sex if they have resorted to various little contrivances for enhancing the attractiveness of the most significant features of the human face.

Amongst other fancies associated with the eye we are told that " it's a good thing to have meeting eyebrows, as such a person will never know trouble but according to the generally considered idea such a peculiarity is far from being lucky, an illustration of which is given by Charles Kitigslev in his " Two Years Ago," who thus writes : " Tom began carefully scrutinising Mrs. Harvey's face. It had been very handsome. It was still very clever, but the eyebrows clashed together downwards above her nose and rising higher at the outward corners indicated, as surely as the restless, down-drop eye, a character self-conscious, furtive, capable of great inconsistencies. possibly of great deceit." On the other hand, the Greeks admired those eyebrows which almost met, and Anacreoti's mistress had this style of face :--

"Taking care her eyebrows be
Not apart, nor mingled neither,
But as hers are, stol'n together
Met by stealth, yet leaving too
O'er the eyes their darkest hue." Theocritus, in one of his Idylls, makes one of the speakers value himself upon the effect his beauty had on a girl with meeting eyebrows:--

"Passing a bower last evening with my cows,
A girl look'd out--a girl with meeting brows.
'Beautiful! beautiful!' cried she. I heard,
But went on, looking down, and gave her not a word." Chaucer apologises for Creseyde's meeting eyebrows, but Lord Tennyson's compliment of Paris to OEnone, ascribing to her "the charms of married brows," implies that they actually met. However repugnant to the modern idea of beauty meeting eyebrows may be in Europe, they are so far from being contrary to the Asiatic canon of beauty, that, where they do not exist, or where only imperfectly developed, young ladies are in the habit of prolonging the curves by means of black pigment until they are perfectly conjoined. In the same way, meeting eyebrows are much admired. In Turkey, where women encourage the juncture by artificial means.
Referring to the colour of the eyebrows it is agreed on all hands that a female eyebrow ought to be delicately and nicely pencilled. Thus Dante says of his mistress's that it looked as if it were painted--"The eyebrow, polished and dark, as though the brush had drawn it;" and Shakespeare, in his "Winter's Tale," (act ii. sc. i ) makes Mamillius speak much in the same strain:--

"Black brows, they say,
Become some women best, so that there be not
Too much hair there; but in a semicircle;
Or a half-moon made with a pen." There can be no doubt that eyebrows have been, from time immemorial, much in request, and we know how ladies of fashion have at different times resorted to sundry expedients to give prominence to this feature of beauty. Artists have introduced them with much effect into many of their famous works of art, and poets have loved to sing of maidens with their dark eyebrows. Some, it would seem, had admired a contrast between the hair and the eyebrows, and Burns tells of a certain lass how--

"Sae flaxen were her ringlets,
Her eyesbrows of a darker hue,
Bewitchingly o'erarching
Twa laughing e'en o' bonny blue." It is curious to find how the idea of beauty, as far as the colour of the eyebrow is concerned, has undergone numerous variations. In Central Africa women stain their hair and eyebrows with indigo, and Georgian damsels, following their own idea of aesthetic taste, blacken their eyebrows, which gives them a striking appearance.

Again, Japanese ladies when married, in order to prevent any likelihood of jealousy on the part of their husbands, have long been in the habit of removing their eyebrows; and, among some of the South American and African tribes, it has been customary to eradicate or destroy the hair, a practice which has been often extended to the eyebrows and eyelashes.

Much, too, has been written on the shape of the eyebrow, the arched one having been most generally admired. This is especially discernible in the works of the old masters, and is frequently mentioned in bygone chronicles of fashion as a distinguishing feature of many of the beautiful women of past years. But Leigh Hunt considers it doubtful whether "the eyebrows were always devised to form separate arches, or to give an arched character to the brow considered in unison." Perhaps, as he adds, a sort of double curve was recommended, "the particular one over the eye, and the general one in the look together." At any rate, a finely shaped eyebrow has rarely failed to attract attention, and as Herder has remarked, an arched eyebrow is the rainbow of peace, because when "straightened by a frown, it portends a storm."

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Woman's Dress -- The Folk-lore of Women -- by T.F. Thistelton-Dyer

"A woman of light, garmented in light."

SHELLEY, The Witch of Atlas

"THE true ornament of a woman," writes Justin, "is virtue, not dress;" but the love of finery, whether rightly or wrongly, has always been held to be one of the inherent weaknesses of womankind, and an old proverb says that "'tis as natural for women to pride themselves on fine clothes as 'tis for a peacock to spread his tall," with which may be compared an Eastern proverb, "A woman without ornament is like a field without water." But, perhaps, there is some excuse for this love of vanity, especially as dress pleases the opposite sex, it being popularly supposed in Spain that "A well-dressed woman draws her husband from another woman's door." It is said in Japan that "An ugly woman dreads the mirror," and some allowance must, therefore, be made for her desire to make up, in some measure, by dress what she lacks in good looks, although the proverb runs in Italy that "ugly women finely dressed are the uglier for it." This, however, must not be regarded as the popular verdict, a Tamil aphorism being not far wrong when it recommends us to "put jewellery on a woman and to look at her, and to plaster a wall and to look at it," implying that both will be improved by care. This advice, says Mr. Jensen, is generally given by a mother to one who confesses that her daughter is not exactly a beauty. Even Ovid was forced to complain that "dress is most deceptive, for, covered with jewels and gold ornaments everywhere, a girl is often the least part of herself;" with which may be compared the expression of Euripides, which is to this effect, "She who dresses for others beside her husband, makes herself a wanton."

It has long, however, been a familiar adage in most countries that "fine feathers make fine birds"; for, as the Spanish say, "No woman is ugly when she is dressed;" and, according to the Chinese proverb, "Three-tenths of a woman's good looks are due to nature, seven-tenths to dress;" a piece of proverbial lore which holds good in most countries.

It is not surprising that woman's dress has been much caricatured by wits and satirists, and been made the subject of many a piece of proverbial lore. As Plautus observed of a certain young lady, "it's no good her being well dressed if she's badly mannered; ill-breeding mars a fine dress more than dirt"--in other words, he meant to imply that dress is oftentimes deceptive and creates a false appearance, which is not in keeping with the woman who wears it. Many of our old proverbs are to the same effect, an oft-quoted one affirming that "fine clothes oftentimes hide a base descent," with which may be compared the following: "Fine dressing is a foul house swept before the doors," an illustration of which Ray thus gives, "Fair clothes, ornaments and dresses, set off persons and make them appear handsome, which, if stripped of them, would seem but plainly and homely. God makes and apparel shapes." Extravagant dress has been universally condemned as emblematic of bad taste, and, among Hindustani proverbs on the subject, a woman too showily dressed is described as "yellow with gold and white with pearls." A Tamil proverb, speaking of an elaborately-dressed woman, says, "It is true she is adorned with flowers and gold, but she is beaten with slippers wherever she goes;" in other words, such a woman, however well dressed, is a bad character, and must be treated with scorn; a variation of this maxim being thus: "If you dress in rags and go out, you will be an object for admiration, but, if you dress up nicely and go out, people will speak ill of you," thinking that you are an overdressed woman, and, therefore, inclined to be fast. Among German proverbs we are reminded that "A woman strong in flounces is weak in the head."

In Hindustani proverbial lore an old woman extravagantly dressed is contemptuously described "as an old mare with a red bridle," and "a gay old woman with a mat petticoat," and, according to another proverb, when a young girl not gifted with good looks is seen elaborately dressed, it is said, "On the strength of what beauty do you deck yourself thus?"

The inconsistency of dress when the home is poor and shabby has been much censured, an Eastern proverb running thus--"Nothing in the house and she sports a topaz ring," with which may be compared another saying, "Nothing to eat or drink in the house, and the lady of it very proud."

But the chief charm of a woman's dress is consistency, as it is thus expressed in a Sindhi proverb--

"As the wall so the painting,
As the face so the adornment." Similarly, it is commonly said that "fine words dress ill deeds," and hence we are told on the Continent, "the swarthy dame, dressed fine, deceives the fair one." It may be remembered, also, that the same idea occurs in "The Taming of the Shrew" (act iv. sc. 3):--

"What, is the jay more precious than the lark,
Because his feathers are more beautiful?
Or is the adder better than the eel,
Because his painted skin contents the eye?" Accordingly proverbial lore in most parts of the world warns men against selecting a wife by her outward appearance, which is often deceptive; and a common Spanish adage says, "If you want a wife choose her on Saturday, not on Sunday;" in other words, choose her when she is not decked out in her finery, otherwise a man may regret his mistake in the words of one of Heywood's proverbs:--

"I took her for a rose, but she breedeth a burr,
She cometh to stick to me now in hir lacke." On the other hand, true beauty needs no adornment, or outward display, to enhance its charms, for, as it is said in Scotland, "A bonny bride is sune buskit," that is, soon dressed, or, as the Portuguese say, "a well-formed figure needs no cloak," an adage which coincides with Thomson's poetic words:--

"Her polished limbs
Veiled in a simple robe, their best attire,
Beyond the pomp of dress; for loveliness
Needs not the foreign aid of ornament,
But is, when unadorn'd, adorn'd the most." However well dressed a woman may be, her nature remains the same, for, as the French say:--

"An ape's an ape, a varlet's a varlet,
Though she be drest in silks and scarlet." And, among the many German proverbs to the same effect, it is said, "The maid is such as she was bred, and tow as it was spun," and "Once a housemaid never a lady," which remind us of the popular adage, "There's no making a silk purse out of a sow's ear," and there is a Sindhi maxim which has the same moral, "Beads about the neck and the devil in heart."

Another proverb, which, under a variety of forms, is found in our own and other countries, runs thus--"Let no woman's painting breed thy heart's fainting," because women who thus adorn themselves have always been subject to reproach; for, as the old adage says, "A good face needs no paint," or, as another version has it, "Fair faces need no paint."

Such a practice as that of rouging, too, has been generaIly discountenanced, since it has, from a very early period, been the recognised emblem of a fast woman, for it has long been said that "A harlot's face is a painted sepulchre," and as the Italian adage runs--"Women rouge that they may not blush." Hence we are told that "A woman who paints puts up a bill to let," with which we may compare the popular adage--"A woman and a cherry are painted for their own harm." The same idea exists in most countries, and there is a Chinese proverb to this effect--"I guess that a good-looking woman needs no rouge to make her pretty;" and it is further said that, "although the rouged beauty repudiates age, she cannot come up to the bloom of youth."
As "blemishes are unseen by night," according to an old Latin proverb, when dress, artfully arranged, presents most women in their most attractive form, their admirers were warned against falling into their meshes at such a time; for, as it is still commonly said by our French neighbours, "By candlelight a goat looks a lady," and on this account we are recommended by the Italians not to choose "A jewel, or a woman, or linen, by candlelight." It may be added that this idea has given rise to a host of proverbs much to the same effect, such as, "When candles be out all cats be grey," and "Joan is as good as my lady in the dark."

It has long been proverbial that the "smith's mare and the cobbler's wife are always the worst shod," a truism which, under one form or another, is found in most countries, a Sindhi adage running thus--"Her lover, an oilman, and yet her hair dirty;" and there is the Hindu proverb, "A shoemaker's wife with bursted shoes," with which we may compare the German proverb, "Anxious about her dress, but disregarding her appearance," in connection with which we may quote Heywood's couplet:--

"But who is worse shod than the shoemaker's wife,
With shops full of new shoes all her life?" and the old English proverb, "The tailor's wife is worst clad."

Woman's dress, again, has from time immemorial been strongly censured in our proverbial lore as productive of extravagance, and Ovid's words have long ago passed into a popular adage, "What madness it is to carry all one's income on one's back." Among modern poets Cowper, too, wrote in the same strain:--

"We sacrifice to dress, till household joys
And comforts cease. Dress drains our cellars dry,
And keeps our larder clean; puts out our fires,
And introduces hunger, frost, and woe,
Where peace and hospitality might reign." And Chinese proverbial lore says, "Do not marry wives or concubines who are gorgeously fine." There are other disadvantages, for, whereas it is said, "Silks and satins put out the fire in the kitchen," household duties are neglected, for one of Heywood's proverbs reminds us that "the more women look into the glass the less they look to the house," a German version running thus--"a woman who looks much in the glass spins but little;" and we may compare the French saying, "A handsome landlady is bad for the purse;" but, on the other hand, we are told "that's the best gown that goes up and down the house." Whatever the opinion of the fair sex may be on this point, we would quote the wisdom of Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew," (act iv. sc. 3):--

"Our purses shall be proud, our garments poor,
For 'tis the mind that makes the body rich;
And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds
So honour peereth in the meanest habit." But, whatever censures may be passed on a woman's love of dress, she generally has some answer in defence. A puritan preacher once rebuked a young girl who had just been making her hair into ringlets, "Ah," said he, "had God intended your locks to be curled, He would have curled them for you." "When I was an infant," replied the damsel, "He did, but now I am grown up He thinks I am able to do it myself."

At the same time, slovenly dress has been equally condemned, and, according to a popular adage, "A pretty girl and a tattered garment are sure to find some hook in the way," which is similar to the Italian expression, "A handsome woman and a slashed gown;" which coincide with the old English maxim--

"A maid oft seen, a gown oft worn,
Are disesteemed and held in scorn." A piece of Suffolk folk-lore tells us that "If you have your clothes mended on your back, you will be ill-spoken of," or, as they add in Sussex, "you will come to want;" and in the Isle of Man one may often hear the couplet:--

"Snotty boy, clean man,
Snotty girl, slut of a woman"-- the idea apparently being that a dirty, untidy girl will never improve, as she is wanting in proper pride in her appearance; but that a dirty boy will probably improve, as a lad who is too much concerned with his looks is not likely to do much good in after life! It was formerly, too, a common belief in most parts of the country that clothes were, more or less, indicative of a woman's prosperity, a notion which is found in the Hindustani lore, "when the clothes are torn poverty has arrived."

There is a very prevalent belief among women that, if they would secure luck with any article of dress, they must wear it for the first time at church. Equal attention is also paid by many of the fair sex to the way they put on each article of dress, as, in case of its being accidentally inside out, it is considered an omen of success. In our northern counties, again, if a young woman accidentally puts a wrong hook, or button, into the hole when dressing in the morning, it is considered to be a warning that a misfortune of some kind will befall her in the course of the day, and any mishap, however trivial, is regarded as a proof of her fears having been well founded.

Most of these childish fancies retain their hold on the fair sex, and where is the young lady to be found who is not mindflil of the admonition--

"At Easter let your clothes be new,
Or else be sure you will it rue." A similar belief also prevails in connection with Whitsuntide, and many a girl would consider she had forfeited her claim to good luck for the ensuing twelve months if she did not appear in "new things on Whit Sunday."
Many, also, are the strange fancies relative to colour in dress, and the time-honoured rhyme is as much in force to-day as in years long ago which tell us that--

"Green is forsaken,
And yellow is forsworn,
But blue is the prettiest colour that's worn"-- a piece of folk-lore which specially appertains to weddings.
According to a folk-rhyme current in the southern counties:--

"Those dressed in blue
Have lovers true,
In green and white,
Forsaken quite." And another old proverbial rhyme says:--

"Blue is true, Yellow's jealous,
Green's forsaken, Red's brazen,
White is love, and Black is death." From its popularity blue has held a prominent place in love philactery, and one of many rhymes says:--

"If you love me, love me true,
Send me a ribbon, and let it be blue;
If you hate me, let it be seen,
Send me a ribbon, a ribbon of green." Mr. Morris, in his "Yorkshire Folk-Talk" (1892, pp. 227-28), writes that in some of the North Riding dales the antipathy to green as a colour for any part of the bridal costume is still very strong. "I was once at a farmhouse in a remote district near Whitby," he says, "and when discussing olden times and customs with an elderly dame was informed there were many she knew in her younger days who would rather have gone to the church to be married in their common everyday costume than in a green dress. My informant, however, was evidently one of those who held the same faith on this point as her lady companions, for she instanced a case that had come under her own observation where the bride was rash enough to be married in green, but it was added that she afterwards contracted a severe illness."

Blue, again, would appear to be in ill-favour for the wedding dress, as the bride--

"If dressed in blue,
She's sure to rue." And yet in Leicestershire it is said that a bride on her wedding day should wear--

"Something new,
Something blue,
Something borrowed;" or, as a Lancashire version puts it--

"Something old and something now,
Something borrowed and something blue." The various articles of a woman's clothing, too, have their separate fancies attached to them, which, in some instances, have not only been incorporated by our peasantry in local jingles and rhymes, but occasionally have been made the subject of childish similes. Thus the poppy is commonly said to have a red petticoat and a green gown, the daffodil a yellow petticoat and green gown, and so on, fanciful ideas of this kind being expressed in many of our nursery couplets, as in the following

"Daffadown-dilly is come up to town,
In a yellow petticoat and a green gown"; with which may be compared a Hindustani doggerel, the accuracy of which is only too true--

"Says the hemp, I am of gorgeous hue;
Says the poppy, I am king of the world;
But says the opium, I am a lady-love,
Who takes me once takes me for ever." A well-known saying in Leicestershire of another class says "Shake a Leicestershire woman by the petticoat, and the beans will rattle in her throat," an expression which originated in the large quantity of that grain grown in this county, which caused it to be nicknamed "Bean Belly Leicestershire." There is another version applied to the opposite sex, which runs thus "Shake a Leicestershire man by the collar, and you shall hear the beans rattle in his belly."

If a young woman's petticoats are longer than her dress this is an indication that her mother does not love her so much as her father; and, according to a Yorkshire belief, when a married woman's apron falls off it is a sign that something is coming to vex her; but should the apron of an unmarried girl drop down she is frequently the object of laughter, as there is no surer sign that she is thinking about her sweetheart. In Suffolk the big blue apron usually worn by cottage women is known by them as a "mantle," and it is considered an omen of ill-luck if their mantle strings some untied.

Odd beliefs of this kind might easily be enumerated, for even a pin is an object of superstition with most women, who invariably, on seeing one, pick it up for the sake of good luck, as, by omitting to do so, they run into imminent danger of incurring misfortune, a notion embodied in the subjoined familiar rhyme:--

"See a pin and pick it up,
All the day you'll have good luck;
See a pin and let it lie,
All the day you'll have to cry." But why North-country women should be so persistent in their refusal to give one another a pin it is not easy to discover, for when asked for a pin they invariably reply, "You may take one, but, mind, I do not give it." This prejudice may, perhaps, have some connection with the vulgar superstition against giving a knife or any sharp instrument, as mentioned by Gay in his Shepherd's Week:--
"But woe is me! such presents luckless prove,
For knives, they tell me, always sever love."

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Woman's Beauty -- The Folk-lore of Women -- by T.F. Thistelton-Dyer

"She's beautiful and therefore to be wooed;
She is a woman, therefore to be won."
1st Henry VI. act v. sc. 3. "A BEAUTIFUL woman," remarked Napoleon, "pleases the eye, a good woman pleases the heart; one is a jewel, the other a treasure." It is not surprising that the beauty of woman--in praise of which both literature and art have from the earliest period lavished some of their grandest works--should have given rise in most countries to a host of strange and romantic fancies. Many of these survive in our midst to-day, and, although experience has long proved how unreliable such beliefs are, they still retain their hold on the popular mind, often causing unnecessary prejudice and fear.

It is a very old notion, for instance, that beauty is unfortunate; and, according to an old Italian proverb, "Over the greatest beauty hangs the greatest ruin." Allusions to this piece of folk-lore are not only found in the poetry and romance of bygone centuries, but are of frequent occurrence in the literature of modern times. Thus Goethe makes Helena affirm that beauty and happiness remain not long united and Byron, in his "Childe Harold" (iv. 42), speaks of "the fatal gift of beauty." We may recall, too, Lord Tennyson's charming and pathetic language in "A Dream of Fair Women," where he relates how--

"In every land
  I saw, wherever light illumineth,
Beauty and anguish walking hand in hand
  The downward slope to death.
Those far-renowned brides of ancient song
  Peopled the hollow dark, like burning stars,
And I heard sounds of insult, shame, and wrong,
  And trumpets blown for wars." And there is a well-known passage where Fielding, in his "Journey from this World to the Next," (chap. vi.), thus writes: "She--Fortune--was one of the most deformed females I ever beheld, nor could I help observing the frowns she expressed when any beautiful spirit of her own sex passed her, nor the affability that smiled on her countenance on the approach of any handsome male spirits. Hence I accounted for the truth of an observation I had often made on earth, that nothing is more fortunate than handsome men, nor more unfortunate than handsome women;" such, too, was the opinion of the host of the "Canterbury Tales" who bewailed the sad fate of Virginia related by the Doctor of Physic:--

"Allas! too deare boughte sshe her beauté,
Wherefore I say, that alle men may se,
That giftes of fortune, or of nature,
Ben cause of deth of many a creature.
Her beaute was hir deth, I dar well sayn,
Allas! so piteously as she was slayn." And there is the old mythical tale which tells how Medusa was a maiden of such beauty as to provoke the jealousy of Minerva, wherefore she was transformed into a frightful monster. Her much-admired ringlets became hissing serpents, and no living thing could look upon her without being turned into stone. Legendary lore provides us with many stories of this kind, which illustrates Patterson's well-known lines:--

"O fatal beauty! why art thou bestowed
On hapless woman still to make her wretched?
Betrayed by thee, how many are undone!" Chinese folk-lore maintains that beautiful women are unlucky, one of their many proverbs on the subject declaring that "fair maidens are very unlucky, and clever young men have little beauty." It was also supposed that feminine beauty of unusual merit was fatal to long life, and no subject has been more popular with the novelist, or poet, than the gradual fading away of some young girl gifted in a high degree with good looks.
Lord Tennyson, in his "May Queen," has interwoven this idea, and it is found scattered here and there in the literature of most countries. Hence, another reason why beauty has been regarded as unfortunate is owing to its being thought prejudicial to health, a variation of which belief occurs in "Richard III." (act iii. sc. i), where the Duke of Gloucester says:--

"So wise, so young, they say do never live long." Another misfortune connected with beauty is its evanescence, and, as the German proverbs run, "Woman's beauty, the forest echo and rainbows, soon pass away," and "Maidens and roses soon lose their bloom." And the same truth is conveyed in the Hindustani proverb, "The spring in which he saw the blossoms is gone, now, O bee, only the thorns remain on the rose;" another version of which is, "My fair one don't be proud of your complexion, it is the guest of but a few days." Poets have largely dwelt on beauty's transient character, and Shakespeare, in "The Passionate Pilgrim," says:--

"Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good;
A shining gloss that vadeth suddenly;
A flower that dies when first it 'gins to bud,
A brittle glass that's broken presently,
A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower,
Lost, vaded, broken, dead within an hour." And the oft-quoted adage that "Beauty is like an almanac; if it last a year it is well," reminds us of Moliér's lines in his "Les Feminies Savantes":--

"La beauté du visage est un frele ornement,
Une fleur passagére, un éclat d'un moment,
Et qui n'est attache qu' a la simple epiderne." The snares of beauty have been made from early times the subject of much proverbial wisdom, a Servian adage affirming that, "Better sometimes a woman blind than one too beautiful;" for, as the Italian proverb adds, "Tell a woman that she is beautiful, and the devil will repeat it to her ten times;" with which may be compared an old Welsh proverb, which has been translated thus:--

"Three things may make a woman nought
A giddy brain,
A heart that's vain,
A face in beauty's fashion wrought;" and the German proverb adds, "An impudent face never marries." There is, too, the old English adage, "The fairest silk is soon stained;" for, as Ray has said, "The handsomest women are soonest corrupted, because they are most tempted."

Although we cannot endorse the old German proverb which says that, "Every woman would be rather pretty than pious," yet most women are mightily proud of their beauty, for, as an early English maxim reminds us, "She that is born a beauty is born married;" another version of which we find in an old work entitled, "New Help to Discourse" (1721, P. 134), "Beauty draws more than five yoke of oxen;" with which we may
compare Pope's lines in "The Rape of the Lock" (Canto ii.):--

"Fair tresses man's imperial race insnare,
And beauty draws us with a single hair." The same idea occurs in French proverbial lore, but it is thus qualified:--

"Amour fait beaucoup
Mais argent fait tout;" and according to German proverbial lore, "Beauty is a good letter of introduction," and, "Good looks are an inheritance," and again, "A pretty face is a good drummer;" but, on the other hand, it is said, "A poor beauty finds more lovers than husbands."

It is not surprising that in all ages women have striven to preserve their beauty, however transient it may be, for, as it has been remarked, "it is valueless to a woman to be young unless pretty, or to be pretty unless young;" and an amusing story is told of an old queen who, day after day, sighed with longing regret that her beauty had vanished, and that her young days were gone. In this sad dilemma she was advised to try some magic restorative to bring back the rosy blush of youth, and accordingly--

"Of rosmayr she took six pounde,
And grounde it well into a stownde," and then she mixed with it water, in which she bathed three times a day, taking care to anoint her head with "gode balme afterwards." In a few days her old withered face fell away, and she became so young and pretty that she began to look out for a husband.

But, unfortunately, stories of this class belong to the domain of fairyland, or, otherwise, old age would have a bad time of it, for every woman would remain young if not beautiful. At any rate, there is no disguising the fact that the human brain has done its very best to accommodate the fair sex with the charm of juvenescence, judging from the rules laid down for this purpose; a popular folk-rhyme advising us thus:--

"Those who wish to be fair and stout,
Must wash their faces with the disclout;
Those who wish to be wrinkled and grey,
Must keep the disclout far away." The common wayside flower, the lady's mantle, was once in great repute with ladies; for, according to Hoffman, it had the power of "restoring feminine beauty, however faded, to its early freshness;" and the wild tansy, laid to soak in buttermilk for nine days, had the reputation of "making the complexion very fair." The hawthorn, again, was in high repute among the fair sex, for according to an old piece of proverbial lore:--

"The fair maid who, the first of May,
Goes to the fields at break of day,
And washes in dew from the hawthorn-tree,
Will ever after handsome be"; and the common fumitory "was used when gathered in wedding hours and boiled in water, milk, and whey, as a wash for the complexion of rustic maids."

Various allusions to these old recipes occur in the literature of the past, and we find the Earl of Shrewsbury--who had charge of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots--making an application for an increased allowance on account of her expensive habit of bathing in wine. Those who could not afford such an extravagant luxury contented themselves with milk-baths, which were all the fashion in the reign of Charles II.
Great importance, too, has long been attached to what is popularly nicknamed "Beauty Sleep," it being supposed that the two hours' sleep before midnight are worth all that comes after it, and are far more instrumental in keeping off wrinkles than all the cosmetics and expedients to which we have just referred, the faintest indication of which is a killing blow to womankind. Hence it is not surprising that, in the words of a Portuguese proverb, the marriageable young lady cries in despair, "marry me, mother, for my face is growing wrinkled." The explanation given by Ray of the value of the so-called beauty-sleep is amusing: "For the sun being the light of this sublunary world, whose heat causes the motion of all terrestrial animals, when he is farthest off, that is about midnight, the spirits of themselves are aptest to rest and compose, so that the middle of the night must needs be the most proper time to sleep in, especially if we consider the greater expense of spirits in the daytime, partly by the heat of the afternoon, and partly by labour, and the constant exercise of all the senses; whereof then to wake is put the spirits in motion, when there are fewest of them, and they naturally most sluggish and unfit for it."

But it is generally acknowledged that the attempt to cheat time of his wrinkles has nearly always proved fruitless, and only too frequently "the would-be fair ones have been driven in despair to conceal what they found it impossible to remove, and hence the feminine fashion of bedaubing the complexion with artificial tints, a custom which it may be remembered was almost universal among Grecian women."

On the other hand, however much fortune may be reputed to be hostile to beauty, good looks have been termed "a woman's glory," and Galen perhaps was not far wrong in maintaining that one reason why misfortune is so often connected with beauty is that "many who have been distinguished for their loveliness have neglected the education of their mind," for, as the German proverbs say, "Beauty and understanding go rarely together;" "Beauty is but dross if honesty be lost," and there is the Tamil adage, "Beauty in the unworthy is poison in a casket of gold." Some, like Ralph Nickleby, may disparage a woman's beauty, but, as it has been remarked, one reason why beauty has been coveted by most women is partly owing to the early belief that a lovely face was the outward indication that a person so adorned was gifted with an equally beautiful soul within. It was long and extensively believed that a lofty soul could not dwell in an ugly casket, and hence a beautiful woman was commonly credited with having a fine and noble character, a notion which in only too many instances history alone has refuted, for, as an old proverb says, "Beauty may have fair leaves, but little fruit." This once popular belief, however, was a favourite one with the poets, and is referred to in the "Tempest," (act i. sc. 2):--

"There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple:
If the ill Spirit have so fair a house,
Good things strive to dwell with't." And Young alludes to the same idea in these well-known lines:--

"What's female beauty, but an air divine,
Through which the mind's all gentle graces shine?
They, like the sun, irradiate all between,
The body charms, because the soul is seen,
Hence men are often captives of a face
They know not why, of no peculiar grace.
Some forms, though bright, no mortal man can bear,
Some, none resist, though not exceeding fair." Moralists and others have largely dwelt on this familiar idea, and, in one form or another, it has prevailed in most countries, and has been incorporated in many a legendary romance; an item of folk-lore which Sir A. de Vere Hunt has thus prettily expressed:--

"What is beauty? not the show
Of shapely limbs and features--no!
These are but flowers
That have their dated hours
To breathe their momentary sweets, then go.
'Tis the stainless soul within,
That outshines the fairest skin." There would appear, however, to be an exception to this rule, for German folk-wisdom tells us that "A fair skin often covers a crooked mind," and "A fair face may hide a foul heart," which reminds us of the whited sepulchres of the New Testament; and it is further said in Germany that "Falseness often lurks beneath fair hair," and there is the Spanish proverb, "A handsome woman is either silly or vain."

But notions of beauty fortunately differ, and, according to a popular adage, "What is one man's meat is another man's poison;" and, whatever truth there may be in the proverb which reminds us that "Beauty is but skin deep," there is no denying that personal appearance has made all the difference in the estimation formed by one person of another. According to an old folk-rhyme we are told that:--

A fair face is half a portion,
A fair face may be a foul bargain,
A fair face may hide a foul heart,
A fair field and no favour." The power of woman's beauty over man, however, has always been proverbial all over the world, and, from the earliest period, it has formed one of the leading subjects of the wise-saws current in most countries. Thus a popular German maxim tells us that "one hair of a woman draws more than a bell-rope," or, as another version has it, "Beauty draws us with a single hair;" and there is a common saying in the East, "A good-looking woman in a house is the foe of all the plain ones." At the same time there have never been wanting moralists to warn us that, however powerful the fascinatory influence of woman's beauty may be, it is far from being always supreme. Accordingly there are a number of proverbs which affirm that, whereas "beauty is potent, money is omnipotent," with which may be compared the oft-quoted saying to the effect that, "Beauties without fortunes have sweethearts plenty; but husbands none at all;" or, as it is sometimes said, "Beauty without bounty avails nought." Oftentimes those proverbs, which admit the fascinatory charms of a woman's beauty, qualify their statements with a warning, as in the German proverb, "Beauty is the eye's food, and the soul's sorrow;" an old English maxim is to the same effect: "A beautiful woman is the paradox of the eves, the hell of the soul, and the purgatory of the purse;" and again, "Wickedness with beauty is the devil's hook baited;" the same idea being found in Hindustani proverbial wisdom, in which we find this maxim: "All pretty maids are poisonous pests; an enemy kills by hiding these by smiles and jests." It is said in Italy that "a beautiful woman smiling bespeaks a purse-weeping," with which may be compared the German adage:--

"Hares are caught with hounds,
Fools with praises,
Women with gold." Indeed, in most countries there are numerous proverbs to the same effect, demonstrating how one of the penalties--one which oftentimes is man's ruin--paid for woman's beauty is an empty purse. Similarly, we are told that "a handsome hostess is bad for the purse;" and hence there is some truth in the following: "A rich man is never ugly in the eyes of a girl."

Proverb-making cynics, again, have not always been very chivalrous and complimentary in their allusions to the charms of the fair sex. Thus, as beautiful women had the reputation of being less handy and serviceable than plain ones, the adage arose which says--"A fair woman and a slashed gown will always find some nail in the way;" in other words, as women value themselves on their personal attractions, they are in the same degree generally apt to be negligent in other things. According to another version of the same proverb, it is very commonly said that "the more women look in their glasses the less they look to their houses." Cynical savings, happily, of this kind, as far as beauty is concerned, are in the minority; for, in most legendary and historical lore, good features have been made characteristic of nearly all superior and exalted beings. Hence, at the present day, beauty is often said to be "fairylike," it having been a popular belief that beauty, united with power, was one of the most attractive forms of the fairy tribe. Such was that of Spenser's Fairy Queen, and of Shakespeare's Titania; and it may be remembered how, in "Antony and Cleopatra" (act iv. sc. 8), Antony, on seeing Cleopatra enter, says to Scarus:--

"To this great fairy I'll commend thy acts,
Make her thanks bless thee." And in "Cymbeline" (act iii. sc. 6), when the two brothers find Imogen in their cave, Belarius exclaims:--

"But that it eats our victuals, I should think
Here were a fairy," and he then adds :--

"By Jupiter, an angel! or, if not,
An earthly paragon! Behold divineness,
No elder than a boy." Beauty, too, which Plato described as "a privilege of Nature;" Homer, "a glorious gift of Nature;" Ovid, "a favour bestowed by the Gods;" and Shakespeare, "that miracle and queen of gems," has formed the theme of most of those traditionary tales of love and romance which, embodied in the folk-tales of different countries, portray the many beliefs and fancies which, in the course of centuries, have grouped round this acknowledged charm of womanhood.

The absence of beauty, on the other hand, was, in days of old, considered almost a disgrace, it having been a common idea that the ugliness of the wicked was in proportion to their evil nature. Hence, an unprepossessing appearance subjected the unfortunate woman to the most uncomplimentary stigma, and oftentimes even made her an object of contempt; for, according to an old proverb, "An ugly woman is a disease of the stomach, a handsome woman a disease of the head." And there is the Hebrew adage, "Ugliness is the guardian of women," for the chance is remote of those who are not gifted with beauty yielding to the snares of temptation. But even ugliness occasionally outweighs the advantages of beauty, for the German mother reminds her daughter that "a virtuous woman, though ugly, is the ornament of her house;" and there is the Spanish adage, which says, "the ugliest is the best housewife;" and our own proverb runs: "She's better than she's bonnie;" although a Tamil proverb, referring ironically to an ugly woman, speaks of her as "killed with beauty;" and a Welsh adage tells us that if an ugly woman fall, breaking her hip, the pity she gets is, "how clumsy to trip." It has, however, been generally acknowledged that there is no woman who is not, more or less, fond of flattery, and there is a common saying in Spain, "Tell a woman she is pretty and you will turn her head," a piece of proverbial lore which is found in France and Germany, and also in our own country. But, after all, there is one point to be remembered, for a popular German adage says that "handsome women generally fall to the lot of ugly men." There is truth, also, in the Sindhi adage which says, "Better a blind eye than a blind fate," which means, better be ugly than unfortunate, as many favoured with beauty are supposed to be; for, after all, as the proverb truly remarks, "a good fame is better than a good face." It is recorded that Madame de Bourignon was so ugly when born that the proposal was actually made of smothering her, so as to spare her a life of ridicule and humiliation; and, to quote a further illustration, a story is told of the Emperor Henry IV., of Germany, who, on entering a church, where an ugly priest happened to be officiating, wondered in his mind whether it was possible for God to accept services rendered by so ill-favoured a ministrant. But the imperial ministrations were interrupted by the priest's boy mumbling, almost unititelligibly the versicle: "It is He that hath made us, not we ourselves," whereupon the priest removed him for his indistinct enunciation, and he repeated the Psalmist's words, which the Emperor took as an undesigned rebuke to his own thoughts.

Queen Elizabeth, similarly, was careful to admit into her household none but those of "stature and birth;" and one day, it is recorded, she went so far as to refuse the services of a certain individual for no other reason than that one of his jaws was deficient of a tooth. But there was Tamerlane's wife, who, although she had no nose, was considered a belle by her contemporaries; and even hunchbacks have had their admirers on the ground that the "dorsal curvature is the true line of beauty."

It has, after all, however, been generally admitted that beauty is, more or less, deceptive, and especially where love is concerned, for, as the popular adage says: "If Jack is in love, he is no judge of Jill's beauty," which corresponds with the Italian saying, "Handsome is not what is handsome, but what pleases." Similarly, the French have a familiar proverb, "Never seemed a prison fair, nor a mistress foul," which has its counterpart in Germany, where it is said, "he whose fair one squints says she ogles;" and "Everybody thinks his own cuckoo sings better than another's nightingale;" with which we may compare what the African negro says, "The beetle is a beauty in the eyes of its mother"--love transforming all imperfections into beauty. But, as an Eastern piece of proverbial wisdom reminds us--

"For virtue a woman our our wife we make;
For her beauty we a concubine take," with which may be compared another Eastern adage:--

"Long not for the Goddess's beauty divine,
Long that the star of your husband may shine." The fact that love has a large mantle to hide faults is further shown in an Arab proverb: "Love is the companion of blindness;" and the Talmud emphasises the same truth: "To love a thing makes the eye blind, the ear deaf;" and a Hindustani proverb runs thus: "Fall in love with an ogress, and even she is a fairy," with which may be compared another not very complimentary one, "Her name is Beauty, and a dog's her face." It is interesting to find the same idea in Assamese folk-lore, wherein occurs the following: "What shall I say of my step-mother's character--in one hand she has chutney and in the other salt; she has no hair in the middle of her head, but her husband calls her the beautiful one?" And much the same idea is conveyed in the Hindustani piece of proverbial wisdom: "She cries over her own idiot, but laugh's at another's;" and the Dutch have a saying, "No ape but swears he has the handsomest children."

Indeed, that in a lover's eyes, plainness oftentimes becomes actual beauty, is exemplified over and over again in the literature of past and modern days, for, in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (act v. sc. i)--

"The lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt." Lord Lytton, in "Kenelm Chillingly," has introduced the charming song, "The Beauty of the Mistress is in the Lover's Eye," which runs thus:--

"Is she not pretty, my Mabel May?
Nobody ever yet called her so.
Are not her lineaments faultless, say?
If I must answer you plainly--No.
Joy to believe that the maid I love
None but myself as she is can see;
Joy that she steals from her heaven above,
And is only revealed on this earth to me." The same idea is introduced in Mrs. Browning's "My Kate;" and Balzac, too, was of the same opinion, for he says, "When women love, they forgive us everything, even our crimes; when they do not love us, they give us credit for nothing, not even for our virtues." But, on the other hand, there is equal truth in the Welsh proverb, which is only too frequently proved in the romance of daily life, "Faults are thick when love is thin."
Some, again, have tried to disparage beauty by maintaining that it is only "skin-deep," a notion which has found its way into proverbial lore. The literature of the past contains sundry allusions to this idea, and in the Rev. Rob. Fleming's poems (1691) we are reminded that--

"Beauty is but skin-thick, and so doth fall
Short of those statues made of wood or stone." And in Ralph Venning's "Orthodoxe Paradoxe" (1650) it is said that--

"All the beauty of the world 'tis but skin-deep, a sunne-blast defaceth;" which is not unlike Sir Thomas Overbury's lines in his poem, "A Wife"--

"And all the carnall beauty of my wife
Is but skin-deep." And yet there is much truth in the Hindu adage, "The eyes love beauty, the heart loves wisdom," for, as it has been observed elsewhere, there is no denying the truth of the old French proverb, "It is not the greatest beauties that inspire the most profound passion;" and to the same purport is the German adage, "One cannot live on beauty."

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Woman's Characteristics -- Folk-lore of Women -- by T.F. Thistelton-Dyer

It is only a woman that can make a man become the parody of himself.--French Proverb.

PROVERBIAL philosophy has long agreed that woman is a complex creature, little understood, and, according to Michelet, "she is a miracle of Divine contradictions;" an opinion endorsed by Pope, who in his "Moral Essays," writes, "Woman's at best a contradiction still;" and, further, by Richter, who says, "A woman is the most inconsistent compound of obstinacy and self-sacrifice that I am acquainted with." The wisest sages from the earliest period have been forced to admit that he would be a truly clever man who could understand, and account for, the many and varied characteristics of womankind, for, as Lord Byron wrote:--

"What a strange thing is man! And what a stranger
Is woman! What a whirlwind is her head!
And what a whirlpool, full of depth and danger,
Is all the rest about her! Whether wed
Or widow, maid or mother, she can change her
Mind like the wind; whatever she has said
Or done, is light to what she shall say or do--
The oldest thing on record, and yet new." And yet it is universally acknowledged that woman is indispensable to man's happiness and well-being, for, as it is said in Germany, "Man without woman is head without body, woman without man is body without head," which corresponds with the French adage, "Without woman the two extremes of life would be without help, and the middle of it without pleasure;" and, long ago, the Egyptians were wont to represent a man without a woman by a single millstone, which cannot grind alone. The Burmese, too, of to-day maintain that "of all beings woman is most excellent; she is the chief of supporters;" and, according to another of their proverbial maxims, "her intelligence is four times that of man, her assiduity six times, and her desires eight times." Eastern proverbs are highly complimentary to women; for whereas, says a Sanskrit adage, "they are instructed by nature, the learning of men is taught by books;" or, as another piece of Oriental wisdom reminds us, "Nature is woman's teacher, and she learns more sense than

man, the pedant, gleams from books." And, in short, the power and influence of woman have been admirably described by Thomas Otway in his "Venice Preserved" (act i. sc. I):--

"O woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee
To temper man; we had been brutes without you.
Angels are painted fair to look like you"-- which is somewhat at variance with a popular Russian proverb to the effect that "the man is head of the woman, but she rules him by her temper;" and with the Spanish maxim, "A woman's counsel is not much, but he that despises it is a fool;" and again, with the Hindustani proverb, "Woman is wise when too late." But it would appear that, in summing up the characteristics of woman, proverbial lore, taken as a whole, is far more favourably disposed to her good points than the reverse, as is clearly the case with that of our French neighbours, who, long ago, have freely admitted the power of her influence in the world. Thus we are told that "women can do everything, because they rule those who command everything;" and "Women are the extreme, they are either better or worse than men;" and, again, it is said, "The world is the book of women"--Kashmiri proverb truly maintaining that "One woman is wealth to you, another ruination."

Woman has often been said to be equal to any emergency, a German saying expressing this idea thus: "Though an elephant and a tiger come she will leap over them;" and Hindustani lore waxes eloquent on this point--"What cannot a woman do? What cannot the ocean contain? What cannot the fire burn? What cannot death destroy?"

Most Oriental proverbs are much to the same effect, and it is said that "None know the wily tricks of a woman; they will kill their husbands, and then burn themselves," in order to prove their innocence; and again we are told, "Women's wills and thieves' tricks cannot be fathomed." And an old Welsh proverb warns us against the artifices of womankind, for--

"Nothing earthly hath a way
Like a woman to betray;" and Hindustani lore tells us that "Womankind is perfidious;" and much to the same purport is the Assamese saying--

Of women, Miris, the parrot, and the crow,
The minds of these four you cannot know;" for the Assamese never trust women; and not very complimentary is the Hindu saying, "My lady drops a spark in the chaff, and stands off to see the fun." Another common notion, underlying the proverbial lore relating to women, is their meanness--an amusing illustration of which may be quoted from Hindustani maxims, one of which runs thus: "Three cakes of a pennyweight each, and all her friends to eat them." But the reason for this frequent trait of character has been assigned to a woman's proverbial love of money, for--

"Nothing agreeth worse
Than a lady's heart and a beggar's purse." But, it must be remembered, another proverb tells us that--

"Weal and women cannot pan
But woe and women can"-- "pan" being equivalent to harmonise.

Proverbial philosophy is full of warning against forming hastily an estimate of women's character, for, as the German adage runs, "He must have keen eyes that would know a maid at sight." We are further told that a woman should be seen at home, when engaged in her household duties, to form a clear estimate of her character; and the Danish proverb inculcates this rule: "You must judge a maiden at the kneading trough, and not at the dance."

That two women seldom keep friends for long without quarrelling has long been proverbial, and a Tamil adage remarks that "A thousand men may live together in harmony, whereas two women are unable to do so though they be sisters." And the many ailments to which, under one form or another, women are supposed to be susceptible, have been incorporated into many a proverb like the following: "A mill, a clock, and a woman, always want mending."

It has long been said that there is no accounting for a woman's tastes, and, according to an old English proverb, "A black man is a jewel in a fair woman's eyes;" and, vice versa, we are told that "A black woman hath turpentine in her," a belief which has been told in various ways, an old proverbial phrase quoted by Hazlitt giving this advice--

"To a red man read thy read;
With a brown man break thy bread;
At a pale man draw thy knife,
From a black man keep thy wife"-- in illustration of which he gives the subjoined note from Tofte's translation of Varchi's "Blazon of Jealousie" (1615, P. 21):--"The Persians were wont to be so jealous of their wives, as they never suffered them to go abroad but in waggons close shut, but at this day the Italian is counted the man that is most subject to this vice, the sallow-complexioned fellow with a black beard, being he that is most prone, as well to suspect, as to be suspected about women's matters, according to the old saying."

It would seem that, in early times, the fair sex were supposed to have the greater charms, and accordingly they were styled, "Children of the Gods" by the Greeks. In "As You Like it" (act iii. sc. 5), the Shepherdess Phoebe complains of being scorned on account of her being dark--

"I have more cause to hate him than to love him:
For what had he to do to chide at me?
He said mine eyes were black and my hair black:
And, now I am remember'd, scorned at me." Indeed, as a writer has observed in the Saturday Review, the time was when the black-haired, black-eyed girl of fiction was as dark of soul as of tresses, while the blue-eyed maiden's character was of "Heaven's own colour." But Thackeray changed this tradition by invariably making his dark heroines nice, his fair heroines "treacherous sirens." Another item of folk-lore tells us that--

"A brown wench in face
Shows that nature gives her grace," and many of our country peasantry still affirm that "a too brown lass is gay and cleanly;" whilst, in accordance with an old proverbial rhyme--

"The red is wise, the brown trusty,
The pale envious, the dark lusty." Dr. Paul Topinard, in his "Anthropology," has made an interesting summary of the variation of the colour of the skin, from the fairest Englishwoman to the darkest African, furnishing us with numerous examples of the many hues which form the distinguishing marks of different nationalities. These are interesting if only as showing how widely one country differs from another in its notion as to what constitutes beauty in the complexion. And, turning to uncultured tribes, Dr. Letourneau has given some curious illustrations in his "Sociology" on this point, which show how vastly different are their conceptions of beauty of complexion, some races even disfiguring themselves with pigments of the most glaring colours.

French proverbial wisdom in further enumerating the main features of a woman's character, says that her heart is a real mirror, which "reflects every object without attaching itself to any;" and in Germany, whilst due praise is bestowed on the fair sex, women's varied traits of character have not escaped criticism--one very common maxim affirming that "she is at the mercy of circumstances just as the sand is at the mercy of the wind;" whilst we are further told that, although "woman reads and studies endlessly, her thought is always an afterthought." The Russian is of the same opinion, for, according to him, "a woman's hair is long, but her sense short," and "a dog is wiser than a woman, he does not bark at his master." Tamil proverbial wisdom declares that "the skill of a woman only goes so far as the fireplace"--in other words, cleverness is no use to a woman outside domestic affairs; and the not very complimentary old English adage says, "When an ass climbs a ladder, we may find wisdom in a woman;" whilst another old saying runs, "She hath less beauty than her picture, and truly not much more wit."

In some instances, we find the essential requirements needed to make a good woman laid down, as in an excellent Chinese proverb, which runs thus: "We ask four things for a woman--that virtue dwell in her heart, modesty in her forehead, sweetness in her mouth, and labour in her hands;" with which may be compared a well-known Sanskrit maxim, "The beauty of the cuckoo is the voice, of women chastity; of the deformed learning, and of ascetics patience." On the other hand, under a variety of forms, proverbial literature inculcates the necessity of our remembrance of these four evils thus summed up in the Italian warning: "From four things God preserve us--painted woman, a conceited valet, salt beef without mustard, and a little late dinner." A similar idea is conveyed in the Assamese proverb: "To be the husband of a worthless woman, a cart covering with a hole in the middle of it, a hired weaver--these three are the agony of death." To understand this proverb it must be remembered that "in Assam the bullock cart is covered with a hood made of matting, with bamboo hoops to support it. Any one who has travelled in a bullock cart with a hole in the hood will appreciate its truth."

A trait of character, however, which women are proverbially said to their disadvantage to possess, is a lack of truth and reliability; and, according to an old proverb, "He who takes an eel by the tail, or a woman at her word, soon finds he holds nothing." The popular adage which warns a man not to trust a woman further than he can see her has been variously expressed, one version in Germany being "Arms, women, and books should be looked at daily;" and, according to another, it is said, "Beware of a bad woman, and put no trust in a good one;" which are similar to the Hindustani adage, "A hare and a woman are yours while in your power." The Italians have a maxim to the same effect, "Woman always speak the truth, but not the whole truth," and hence there are the frequent admonitions against trusting womankind, for the French affirm that "he who trusts a woman and leads an ass will never be free from plague;" and, similarly, it is said, "The ruses of women multiply with their years;" and where truth is deficient in a woman there can be no reliance in her word, for, as the Chinese affirm, "An untruthful woman is rotten grass and tangled hemp." But, unreliable as a woman at times may be, we cannot endorse the Turkish maxim, "The dog is faithful, woman never;" which is not unlike the Kashmiri proverb: "A horse, a wife, and a sword, these three are unfaithful;" and Hindu proverbial literature, speaking of woman's insincerity, says that "while the wife is eating her husband's food, she is inwardly singing the praises of her mother."

On the other hand, in defence of woman, it has been urged that good-nature and simplicity of character are liable to imposition, for, as it is commonly said, "All lay load on the winning horse," a version of which is to be found among Sindhi proverbs "A mild-faced woman has her cheeks pulled." We may further compare our own proverbs: "She is as quiet as a wasp in one's nose," and "She looks as if butter would not melt in her mouth;" and, again, "A gentle housewife mars the household"--in other words, through her leniency there is "a want of discipline."

An amusing phrase to denote a proud woman is this, "She holds up her head like a hen drinking water;" and when Herefordshire folk speak of a strong, robust girl, the remark may still occasionally be heard, "She hath one point of a good hawk, she is hardy." When a girl simpers and puts on an affected appearance, in such a way as to excite ridicule and amusement, she is still, in old proverbial phraseology, said to "simper as a mare when she eats thistles," or to "simper like a furmity kettle." An indolent girl is described as "having broken her elbow," and the phrase applied to a woman who grows inactive after marriage is, "She hath broken her elbow at the church-door." The same idea, again, is conveyed in the adage, "She had rather kiss than spin," implying that many a young girl, instead of being industrious at home, would much sooner gad about and play with love; and, if this be not in her power, to use a Somersetshire phrase, "She is as crusty as that is hard-baked."
Chastity, to which references will be found in ensuing chapters, has been universally regarded as an essential necessity for a good woman, for as a popular proverb, current under a variety of forms in most countries, enjoins, "An immodest woman is food without salt;" and a Chinese maxim tells its that "modesty is a woman's courage;" whereas Tacitus wrote in his day, "When a woman has lost her character, she will shrink from no crime." And, where this trait of character is wanting, the consensus of opinion seems to be that no amount of care, or foresight, will prevent a woman going astray; for a Kural saying, too, teaches much the same lesson

"Of what avail are prisons barred,
Their chastity is women's guard." And a Malay proverb emphasises the tenacity of a woman's purpose, whether that be good or bad--

"A whole herd of buffaloes might be shut up in a pen,
There is one thing not to be guarded--a woman." Much to the same effect is the Eastern proverb, "Women, if confined at home by faithful guardians, are not really guarded; but those women who guard themselves by their own will, are well guarded," to which may be added the German adages: "A sackful of fleas is easier to watch than a woman," and "A woman and a glass are always in danger;" whilst the old English proverbial phrase, "She will stay at home, perhaps, if her leg be broken," implies that nothing but what happens through compulsion will keep many a woman at home. Indeed, it has always been held that there is no compensation for the lack of chastity in a woman, an old Tamil maxim declaring that "beauty without chastity is a flower without fragrance."

On the other hand, an Arabic proverb says that "The modest woman's walk lasts from morning till evening," which has been thus explained, "The modest woman rarely goes out, or meets any one, and, when she does get the opportunity to go out, she is as delighted with the various sights as if she were a stranger, and she spends a long time in looking at them, and in chatting with those of her intimate friends whom she meets, so that the length of her absence from the house has become proverbial."

Lastly, due consideration for the frailty of woman is extensively enjoined in proverbial lore, a Tamil adage telling us that "though you see a woman sin with your own eyes, cover it over with earth," for, it adds, "if she says, I am a woman, even the devil will have compassion on her;" and hence a person is sternly warned "not to dare to stand on the earth when passing unjust remarks on a woman." A German proverb says, "Frailty, thy name is woman," which is to the same effect as the Eastern aphorism, "Women, like flowers, are of tender fabric, and should be softly handled;" which coincides with the Indian maxim, "Do not strike, even with a flower, a woman guilty of a hundred crimes," and with the Hindustani proverb, "It is not right to lift one's hand to a woman."

At the same time, our forefathers were strongly of opinion that a certain amount of correction was good for women, an opinion to which we have referred in our chapter on "Woman's Goodness," where we have given some of the proverbial wisdom on the subject. Among Oriental proverbs too much leniency is deprecated, it being said that "the petted boy becomes a gambler, and the petted girl a wanton," which is similar to the Marathi maxim, "By the mother's petting the child becomes an idiot;" and to our own proverbs "A child may have too much of his mother's blessing," and "Mothers' darlings make but milk-sop heroes;" for, says Ray, "Mothers are oftentimes too tender and fond of their children, who are ruined and spoiled by their indulgence." In Hindustani lore we find the same idea expressed, a familiar adage maintaining that, "Melons require the sun, and mangoes want the sun; women need a strong hand, and children want love." The reason for this would seem to be that a woman does not always know what is best for
her, hence the Welsh adage:--

"A woman mostly will prefer
The thing that is the worst for her." And hence, as the Italians say, "Women, apes, and nuts require strong hands." There is an African proverb which says that "a man is not obeyed by his wife in his own house," which, we are told, implies that she does not consider him her husband "unless he beat her, thwack"--a mode of treatment which, it is needless to say, would not be endured by the wives of the West

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