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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
117
The
willow
has
long
been
a
proverbial
symbol
of
sadness,
and
on
this
account
it
was
customary
for
those
who
were
forsaken
in
love
to
wear
a
garland
made
of
willow.
Thus
in
"Othello,"
Desdemona
(Act
iv.
sc.
3)
anticipating
her
death,
says:--
"My
mother
had
a
maid
called
Barbara:
She
was
in
love;
and
he
she
loved
proved
mad,
And
did
forsake
her:
she
had
a
song
of
willow;
An
old
thing
'twas,
but
it
expressed
her
fortune,
And
she
died
singing
it:
that
song
to-night
Will
not
go
from
my
mind."
According
to
another
adage:--
"Willows
are
weak,
yet
they
bind
other
wood,"
The
significance
of
which
is
clear.
Then,
again,
there
is
the
not
very
complimentary
proverbial
saying,
of
which
there
are
several
versions:--
"A
spaniel,
a
woman,
and
a
walnut-tree,
The
more
they're
beaten,
the
better
they
be."
Another
variation,
given
by
Moor
in
his
"Suffolk
Words"
(p.
465),
is
this:--
"Three
things
by
beating
better
prove:
A
nut,
an
ass,
a
woman;
The
cudgel
from
their
back
remove,
And
they'll
be
good
for
no
man."
A
curious
phrase
current
in
Devonshire
for
a
young
lady
who
jilts
a
man
is,
"She
has
given
him
turnips;"
and
an
expressive
one
for
those
persons
who
in
spite
of
every
kindness
are
the
very
reverse
themselves
is
this:--
"Though
you
stroke
the
nettle
ever
so
kindly,
yet
it
will
sting
you;"
With
which
may
be
compared
a
similar
proverb
equally
suggestive:--
"He
that
handles
a
nettle
tenderly
is
soonest
stung."
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