Love-rhymes and Proverbs. 179 



Plenty, too, of old love superstitions remain about ash 

 boughs with an even number of leaves, and " four-leaved" clover, 

 concerning which runs a Forest rhyme : 



" Even ash and four-leaved clover, 

 You are sure your love to see 

 Before the day is over." 



Then, too, we must not forget the Forest proverbs. " Wood 

 Fidley rain," " Hampshire and Wiltshire moon-rakers," and 

 " Keystone under the hearth," have already been noticed. But 

 there are others such as "As yellow as a kite's claw," " An iron 

 windfall," for anything unfairly taken, " All in a copse," that is, 

 indistinct, " A good bark-year makes a good wheat-year," and 

 " Like a swarm of bees all in a charm," explained further on, 

 which show the nature of the country. Again, "A poor dry 

 thing, let it go," a sort of poacher's euphemism, like, " The 

 grapes are sour," is said of the Forest hares when the dogs 

 cannot catch them, and so applied to things which are coveted 

 but out of reach. " As bad as Jeffreys" preserves, as through- 

 out the West of England, the memory of one who, instead of 

 being the judge, should have been the hangman. Again, too, 

 "Eat your own side, speckle-back," is a common Forest expres- 

 sion, and is used in reference to greedy people. It is said 

 to have taken its origin from a girl who shared her breakfast with 

 a snake, and thus reproved her favourite when he took too much. 

 Again, " To rattle like a boar in a holme bush," is a thorough 

 proverb of the Forest district, where a " holme " bush means an 

 old holly. Passing, however, from particulars to generals, let 

 me add for the last, " There is but one good mother-in-law, and 

 she is dead." I have never heard it elsewhere in England, but 

 doubtless it is common enough. It exactly corresponds with the 

 German saying, " There is no good mother-in-law but she that 



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