"Better is a frende in courte than a peny in purse"--(I. 70.) "Whan the stede is stolyn to shyt the stable dore"--(I. 76.) "It goeth through as water through a syue."--(I. 245.) "And he that alway thretenyth for to fyght Oft at the prose is skantly worth a hen For greattest crakers ar nat ay boldest men."--(I. 198.) "I fynde foure thynges whiche by no meanes can Be kept close, in secrete, or longe in preuetee The firste is the counsell of a wytles man The seconde is a cyte whiche byldyd is a hye Upon a montayne the thyrde we often se That to hyde his dedes a louer hath no skyll The fourth is strawe or fethers on a wyndy hyll."--(I. 199.) "A crowe to pull."--(II. 8.) "For it is a prouerbe, and an olde sayd sawe That in euery place lyke to lyke wyll drawe."--(II. 35.) "Better haue one birde sure within thy wall Or fast in a cage than twenty score without"--(II. 74) "Gapynge as it were dogges for a bone."--(II. 93.) "Pryde sholde haue a fall."--(II. 161). "For wyse men sayth ... One myshap fortuneth neuer alone." "Clawe where it itchyth."--(II. 256.) [The use of this, it occurs again in the Eclogues, might be regarded by some of our Southern friends, as itself a sufficient proof of the author's Northern origin.] The following are selected from the Eclogues as the most remarkable: "Each man for himself, and the fende for us all." "They robbe Saint Peter therwith to clothe Saint Powle." "For might of water will not our leasure bide." "Once out of sight and shortly out of minde." "For children brent still after drede the fire." "Together they cleave more fast than do burres." "Tho' thy teeth water." "I aske of the foxe no farther than the skin." "To touche soft pitche and not his fingers file." "From post unto piller tost shall thou be." "Over head and eares." "Go to the ant." "A man may contende, God geueth victory." "Of two evils chose the least." These are but the more striking specimens. An examination of the "Ship," and especially of the "Eclogues," for the purpose of extracting their whole proverbial lore, would be well worth the while, if it be not the duty, of the next collector in this branch of popular literature. These writings introduce many of our common sayings for the first time to English literature, no writer prior to Barclay having thought it dignified or worth while to profit by the popular wisdom to any perceptible extent. The first collection of proverbs, Heywood's, did not appear until 1546, so that in Barclay we possess the earliest known English form of such proverbs as he introduces. It need scarcely be said that that form is, in the majority of instances, more full of meaning and point than its modern representatives.