Meaning & Analysis
The total number of young women ('maids') in the world is greater than the number of women named Malkin, a specific individual.
Insights
Abundance of Romantic Opportunity
As a form of consolation after romantic rejection or loss, the proverb asserts that there are many other potential partners available, akin to the modern saying 'plenty of fish in the sea'.
Reassurance Against Scarcity
The proverb advises against despair over a single failure or loss by highlighting the multitude of other options and possibilities that still exist, encouraging a mindset of abundance over scarcity.
Warning Against Idealization
It functions as a caution against idealizing one person or opportunity, reminding the listener that no single option is irreplaceable and that fixating on one loss is irrational.
Historical Connotation of 'Malkin'
The name 'Malkin', a diminutive of Maud, was a common name for lower-class women and could also refer to a slattern or a scarecrow. This historical context adds a layer of condescension to the proverb, implying that the lost beloved was not only replaceable but also common or of little value.
Psychological Consolation
The proverb serves as a psychological coping mechanism for rejection or loss. By framing the lost individual as one of many, it encourages cognitive reframing, reducing the perceived uniqueness and value of the loss to alleviate emotional pain.
Gender and Social Dynamics
Reflecting a patriarchal viewpoint, the proverb treats women as a generic, interchangeable category ('maids') for the consolation of a presumably male audience. It highlights a social dynamic where individual female identity is subordinated to her function as a potential partner.
Rhetorical Devices
Synecdoche
The specific name 'Malkin' is used to represent any single, particular individual, while 'maids' represents the entire general class of potential partners.
Antithesis
The proverb's impact comes from the sharp contrast between the singular, specific 'Malkin' and the plural, generic 'maids', emphasizing the foolishness of despairing over one when so many others exist.
Folkloric Parallelism
The phrase follows a common proverbial template of 'more X's than Y', making it memorable and easily understood as a piece of folk wisdom.
Transcription
Quotations
[If there were no mo maydens but malkyn tho, Ye had been lost.
(There be mo).
There are more houses then Parishe Churches, more maydes then Maulkin, more ways to the woode then one.
Comfort thy selfe, there bee more maids then Maukin and though thou lose me, thou mayest finde some other.
Thair is mo findens nor Makine.
I pray let them go, there be mo maids than Mawkin, more men than Hodge, and more fooles than Firke.
Well there are more Maids than Maudlin, that's my comfort. —Yes, and more men than Michael.
There be more maids then Malkin, or, more maids then one be called Malkin.
(There’s more).
More mayds then Mawkin.
There are mae maidens, nor maukin.
(And more men then Michael, i.e. little Mal or Mary).
(than Malkins).
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.