'openings.' Menhaden swim in schools. Birds of a feather flock together. In pursuance of this universal law we should expect to find men drifting into groups as determined by natural affiliations and propensities. Nor are we disappointed in this. The three sons of Noah, going out from Ararat to populate the world, pursue their several ways and produce three distinct races of men. These races in turn are subdivided into nations, which assume their separate and distinct places in history."-DAVID J. BURRELL, A.D. 1844, ... An Experiment in Church Union. "Let the great seek out the great While we, the poor, accept our fate." MALAY FOLK RHYME. VARIANT PROVERBS A bird of the same feather. (English). A dove with a dove, a goose with a goose; for things of the same species always go together. (Persian). A jackdaw always sits near a jackdaw. (Greek). Birds of one feather are often together. (Irish-Ulster). Each bird draws to its flock. (Gaelic). Every bird goes with its own flock. (Irish-Ulster). Every sheep with its fellow. (Spanish). It is one of its own family that a bird roosts with. (Ashanti). Pigeon with pigeon, hawk with hawk. (Persian). Where geese are, will goslings be. (Gaelic). ALLIED PROVERBS A bully fights with his peers, not with the grandees. (Oji). A fly to a fly. (Telugu). All gems in one place, all the snails in another. (Telugu). A man is known by the company he keeps. (English). Blood is thicker than water. (English). Chicken hawk nebber buil' he nes' wid ground dove. (British Guiana). Common oysters are in one spot and pearl oysters in another. (Telugu). Go nine ridges and nine furrows to (assist) your own people than you would to the stranger. (Irish). He that walketh with the virtuous is one of them. (English). Like a black faced villain joining an oily legged sinner. (Telugu). Like packsaddle like quilt. (Telugu). Likeness is the mother of love. (Greek). Like to like. (English). Like to like the world over. (Hebrew). No worm-eaten bean remains without finding a half blind measure. (Arabian). One camel kneels in place of another. One saint knows another. (Arabian). (Hindustani). One with a shaved head should go to a village of shaved heads. (Marathi). Set a thief to catch a thief. (English). The degenerate palm goes among the unfruitful reeds. (Hebrew). The good seek the good and the evil the evil. (English). They are hornbills, we are sparrows, how can we possibly fly in the same flock? (Malayan). Those who resemble each other assemble with each other. (French). When the fiend goes to the Sabbat, he lodges with the sorcerer-i.e. When the devil goes to customs, he stays with wizards and witches. (Oji). CONTRADICTING PROVERBS A Babham, a dog and a bhat are always at variance with their own caste. (Behar). Babhams, dogs and bards are always at variance with their own caste. (Behar). Babhams, dogs and elephants can never agree with their own kind. (Behar). Two birds of prey do not keep company with each other. (Spanish). Two nightingales do not perch on one bow. (Osmanli). (Osmanli). BY HOOK OR BY CROOK This phrase is used both in the sense of "One way or another" and "By fair means or foul." Its origin like most folk sayings is hidden in obscurity. There are no less than six different sources from which it is said to have been derived. They are as follows: First-In olden times men were accustomed to see in the shepherd's crook an emblem of Christ's beneficent watchful care over His church, for did not the religious pictures represent the Good Shepherd as holding one in His hand? They also saw in the hook held by Satan, with which he was represented in many of the pictures, as dragging men down to the flames of hell, an emblem of the adversary's pitiless malignity and cruel purpose. It was natural therefore to speak of human destiny as settled "by hook or by crook." Second-After the great fire in London, 1666, which obliterated most landmarks and led to many lawsuits for the purpose of determining the boundaries of land holdings, two wise and experienced surveyors were appointed to assist in fixing the rights of claimants. One, it was said, was named Hook and the other Crook. Thus it came to pass that the matter of boundary was settled "by Hook or by Crook." Third-When Waterford harbor was invaded by the ships of Strongbow in 1172 the commander saw on one side of the town a tower that was known as "The Tower of Hook," Hook being the name given to the section where it stood. On the other side of the town he saw a church that was known as "The Church of Crook"Crook being the name of the other section; so he declared that the town must be taken either "by Hook or by Crook." Mr. Eliezer Edwards tells us that "In Marsh's Library, Dublin, is a manuscript entitled Annals Hibernia, written in the seventeenth century by Dudley Loftus, a descendant of Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Armagh. The following extract gives a feasible account of the origin of this popular saying: '1172 King Henry the 2nd landed in Ireland this year, on St. Luke's eve at a place in the bay of Waterford beyond the fort of Duncannon on Munster syde, at a place called Ye Crook over agt the Tower of Ye Hook; whence arose the proverbe to gayne a thing by Hook or by Crook; it being safe to gayne land in one of those places where the winde drives from the other.' Fourth-As thieves often used a hook to possess themselves of plunder and bishops held a crook in their hand as a crosier, it became the |