The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (466 page)
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All ROADS lead to Rome
Cf. medieval L.
mille vie ducunt hominem per secula Romam
, a thousand roads lead man for ever towards Rome.
c
1391
CHAUCER
Astrolabe
Prologue 1. 40 Right as diverse pathes leden diverse folk the righte way to Rome.
1806
tr.
La Fontaine's Fables
IV.
XII
. xxiv.
All roads alike conduct to Rome.
1872
Strange Adventures of Phaeton
vi.
You know all roads lead to Rome, and they say that Oxford is half-way to Rome.
1912
Individual in Animal Kingdom
vi.
All roads lead to Rome: and even animal individuality throws a ray on human problems.
1936
South Riding
I
.
V
.
Her official ‘subjects’ were History and Civics, but all roads led her to Rome—an inexhaustible curiosity about the contemporary world and its inhabitants.
1980
Godric
(1981) 60
All roads lead to Rome, they say, and ours leads us a crooked way.
beginnings and endings
;
ways and means
mille vie ducunt hominem per secula Romam
, a thousand roads lead man for ever towards Rome.
c
1391
CHAUCER
Astrolabe
Prologue 1. 40 Right as diverse pathes leden diverse folk the righte way to Rome.
1806tr.
La Fontaine's Fables
IV.
XII
. xxiv.
All roads alike conduct to Rome.
1872
Strange Adventures of Phaeton
vi.
You know all roads lead to Rome, and they say that Oxford is half-way to Rome.
1912
Individual in Animal Kingdom
vi.
All roads lead to Rome: and even animal individuality throws a ray on human problems.
1936
South Riding
I
.
V
.
Her official ‘subjects’ were History and Civics, but all roads led her to Rome—an inexhaustible curiosity about the contemporary world and its inhabitants.
1980
Godric
(1981) 60
All roads lead to Rome, they say, and ours leads us a crooked way.
beginnings and endings;
ways and means
The ROBIN and the wren are God's cock and hen; the martin and the swallow are God's mate and marrow
Marrow
is an obsolete word (except in dialect), meaning ‘something that makes a pair with another’. The rhyme is found in a variety of forms, as in
a
1508
J. SKELTON
Poems
(1969) 45 The prety wren .. is our Ladyes hen.
1787
Provincial Glossary
(Popular Superstitions) 64
There is a particular distich in favour of the robin and wren: A robin and wren Are God Almighty's cock and hen. Persons killing [them] .. or destroying their nests, will infallibly, within the course of a year, break a bone, or meet with some other dreadful misfortune. On the contrary, it is deemed lucky to have martins and swallows build their nests in the eaves of a house.
1826
Cheshire Glossary
(ed. 2) 105
The following metrical adage is common in Cheshire: The Robin and the Wren Are God's cock and hen, The Martin and the Swallow are God's mate and marrow.
1945
Lark Rise
ix.
No boy would rob a robin's or a wren's nest .. for they believe that: The robin and the wrens Be God Almighty's friends. And the martin and the swallow Be God Almighty's birds to follow.
bird lore
is an obsolete word (except in dialect), meaning ‘something that makes a pair with another’. The rhyme is found in a variety of forms, as in
a
1508
J. SKELTON
Poems
(1969) 45 The prety wren .. is our Ladyes hen.
1787Provincial Glossary
(Popular Superstitions) 64
There is a particular distich in favour of the robin and wren: A robin and wren Are God Almighty's cock and hen. Persons killing [them] .. or destroying their nests, will infallibly, within the course of a year, break a bone, or meet with some other dreadful misfortune. On the contrary, it is deemed lucky to have martins and swallows build their nests in the eaves of a house.
1826
Cheshire Glossary
(ed. 2) 105
The following metrical adage is common in Cheshire: The Robin and the Wren Are God's cock and hen, The Martin and the Swallow are God's mate and marrow.
1945
Lark Rise
ix.
No boy would rob a robin's or a wren's nest .. for they believe that: The robin and the wrens Be God Almighty's friends. And the martin and the swallow Be God Almighty's birds to follow.
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