The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (361 page)

Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs Online

Authors: John Andrew Simpson,

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
2.82Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
It is MERRY in hall when beards wag all
c
1300
King Alisaunder
(EETS) l. 1164
Swithe [so] mury hit is in halle, When the burdes wawen alle!
1546
Dialogue of Proverbs
II
. vii. 13
V
It is mery in halle, When berds wag all.
1598
Henry IV
,
Pt. 2
V
. iii. 35
Be merry, be merry, my wife has all … 'Tis merry in hall when beards wag all.
1738
Polite Conversation
II
. 170
Come; they say, 'Tis merry in Hall, when Beards wag all.
1857
Barchester Towers
III. iv.
‘'Twas merry in the hall when the beards wagged all;’ and the clerical beards wagged merrily .. that day.
1976
Treasury Alarm
i.
Presumably this is how the Treasury greybeards get their fun. Are they in fact grey-beared. One rather assumes a great wagging of beards:
'tis merry in hall when beards wag all
.
hospitality
;
merriment

Other books

Crown in the Stars by Kacy Barnett-Gramckow
Dream a Little Dream by Piers Anthony
Weirwolf by David Weir
Final Scream by Lisa Jackson
The Lighthouse: A Novel of Terror by Bill Pronzini, Marcia Muller
Dark Road by David C. Waldron
Lost Energy by Lynn Vroman
Blood Blade Sisters Series by Michelle McLean
An Unusual Courtship by Katherine Marlowe