Meaning & Analysis
The term 'Paul’s pigeons' was a nickname for the scholars of St. Paul’s School in London, drawing on the abundance of pigeons at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Insights
Gentle Mockery and Identity
The phrase served as a playful label, with 'pigeons' signifying innocence or gentleness, possibly tinged with mild derision, distinguishing St. Paul’s scholars from their rivals, especially those of St. Anthony’s School.
Local Rivalry
Reflects the tradition of rival London schools assigning animal-based nicknames to one another as a form of communal bonding and competitive banter.
Animal Symbolism in Social Identity
Just as St. Anthony’s scholars were dubbed 'pigs' (due to the saint’s iconography), St. Paul’s scholars were called 'pigeons'—both referencing physical and cultural associations with their respective churches. This use of animal imagery in nickname culture is common in historical and school traditions.
Urban Life and Churchyards
The abundance of pigeons at St. Paul’s Cathedral made the nickname particularly apt and evocative for contemporaries, rooting the proverb in a vivid, everyday aspect of London life.
Playful Derision as Social Glue
Such exchanges of nicknames served as a mild, humorous means of expressing rivalry, reinforcing school identities and fostering camaraderie.
Rhetorical Devices
Metonymy
The scholars are referred to by the birds associated with their school’s churchyard, shifting the meaning from literal birds to groups of people.
Allusion
Alludes to both the physical environment (St. Paul’s and its pigeons) and to the local custom of animal nicknaming, making the proverb rich in contextual resonance.
Irony
There is a light irony in calling learned scholars by the name of humble city birds, blending affectionate teasing with community tradition.
Transcription
Quotations
The schollers of Paules, meeting with them of S. Anthonies, would call them Anthonie pigs, and they againe would call the other pigeons of Paules, because many pigions were bred in Paules Church, and Saint Anthonie was alwayes figured with a pigge following him.
Nicholas Heath was . . one of St. Anthonies Pigs therein (so were the Scholars of that School commonly called, as those of St. Paul's, Paul's Pigeons).
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.