Meaning & Analysis
A person who is so extremely fond of mutton that they will try to get a taste of it by dipping their bread in the sheep's raw, greasy wool, an unappetizing and futile act.
Insights
Excessive Desire
The proverb illustrates an all-consuming desire or obsession for something. The person's actions are so extreme that they are willing to engage with the most unpleasant or non-beneficial aspects of a thing just to feel closer to what they crave.
Desperation in Scarcity
The act of seeking flavor from the wool instead of the meat can symbolize a state of desperation or scarcity. It suggests someone who, unable to obtain what they truly want, settles for the faintest, most unappealing substitute.
Lack of Discretion
The proverb can serve as a commentary on a lack of judgment or refinement. The person's method of showing affection for mutton is crude and indiscriminate, implying they cannot distinguish between the valuable part of something and its worthless or inappropriate associations.
Unconditional Attachment
In a more positive light, the proverb can suggest a profound, unconditional attachment. It implies a love so complete that it embraces every part of the beloved object, including its flaws and less desirable elements.
Agrarian Origins
Rooted in a pre-industrial, agrarian world, the proverb uses imagery of animal husbandry and basic sustenance (mutton, bread). Its long history, dating to the 15th century, reflects a time when meat was a significant luxury, making an extreme craving for it a potent symbol of intense desire.
Proverbial Formula
This proverb belongs to a distinct structural family, alongside 'He loves bacon well that licks the swinesty door' and 'He loves roast meat well that licks the spit'. This formulaic use of hyperbolic, slightly grotesque actions to illustrate excessive desire highlights a common folk method for critiquing or mocking single-minded fixation.
Psychology of Fixation
The proverb offers a sharp insight into the psychology of fixation. It demonstrates how intense desire can warp rational behavior, leading a person to seek satisfaction from mere association rather than substance. The act of dipping bread in wool is a form of symbolic consumption, revealing how obsession can blur the line between the desired object and its worthless periphery.
Rhetorical Devices
Hyperbole
The central image of dipping bread in wool is a deliberate and humorous exaggeration. This hyperbole effectively underscores the irrational extremity of the person's craving, making the proverb's point both vivid and memorable.
Visceral Imagery
The proverb uses strong, tangible, and slightly grotesque imagery (wet bread, greasy wool). This visceral language makes the abstract concept of obsession feel immediate and physically real to the listener.
Irony
A situational irony exists in seeking the essence of the desirable (the meat) from its most inedible and unappealing part (the wool). This absurdity powerfully highlights the irrational nature of unchecked desire.
Transcription
Quotations
He wyll lowys scheppis flesche, That wettyth his bred in woll.
He loveth well moton, that weteth his bred in woll.
He loueth wel scheeps flesh, that wets his bred in wul.
Yet I may dip my bread in the wool, mistress Collaquintida.
(Sheepes flesh he loues well that).
He loveth wel sheepesflesch that weteth his bred in the woll.
[As in 1611 Grut.]
He loves sheepes flesh well, that wetts his bread in the wooll.
(that soketh his bread in the Wool).
He loves a Lamb well, that will eat the very wool on't.
(that can dine upon the Wool).
He lov'd Mutton well, that lick'd where the Ewe lay.
(that eats the Wool).
Cross References
Annotations
- Spoken to them, who will sip the bottom of a Glass where good Liquor was, or scrape a Plate, after good Meat.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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