Hampshire man a hog was an outspoken way of identifying him with the porcine produce for which his county is still renowned. Things to set store by too were the Wool of Gloucestershire (9), the native land of Cotswold lions (sheep); the Calves (also called lions) of much enclosed Essex (15) needing and having many Stiles; the Milk of Suffolk (16); the perry of Worcester (23); the flannel-weaving trade of Hereford (31); the Wool and Lead of Derbyshire (29), the famous Ale and less distinguished Bread of Nottingham (30); the abundant Bread and Beef of rich Buckingham (12); the beans which, being grown and eaten in hearty Leicestershire (25) have brought upon it the epithet Beanbelly. It used to be said, "Shake a Leicestershire man by the collar, and you shall hear the beans rattle in his belly." Dr. [[Author:Sebastian Evans|Sebastian Evans][1] says the same experiment is still spoken of, but that "shoulders" is substituted for "collar"; but that is not a word to which modern taste need object. Malt-horse may be a trade-mark for Bedfordshire (27); but Nares[2] points out that the name was twice used as a term of reproach by Shakespeare with such garnish as "mome," "coxcomb," "idiot," "peasant swain." The proverb, "A Royston horse and a Cambridge M.A. will give way to no one," refers to the stolid way in which the malt-laden horses of the Hertfordshire town bore their burdens to the London market. Can malt-horse for Bedfordshire be a sly, no doubt unjust, insinuation that its people are sleepy and stupid?
The favourite amusements of Cornwall (6), Devon (7), Somerset (8), and Berkshire (10), are their distinguishing features; and the duty or pleasure of walking on stilts is mentioned as a characteristic feat of Huntingdon (19). A kind of basket called Dorser is credited with having provided a name for Dorset folk (5); and the Raddleman of Rutland (28) may be a vendor or carrier of red stone; but that I deeply doubt. The Club and clouted shoon,[3] the club being (as Ray
- ↑ Leicestershire Words, Phrases, and Proverbs (E.D.S.), p. 299.
- ↑ Glossary. Comedy of Errors, act iii. sc. 1; Taming the Shrew, act iv. sc. i.
- ↑ Clouted shoon were patched or "clod-hopping" affairs.—Joshua, ix. 5; 2nd part Henry VI. act iv. sc. 2. I do not see that the attribute club is necessarily an aspersion on the intellectual character of the men of Herts. Clubs were formerly much used as weapons of offence and defence.
