Tansley Village

Proverb Cottage

Proverb Cottage

The house is covered with proverbs carved in the stone by William E.Cook, schoolmaster and sculptor, 1776. Pictured outside are Miss Wragg and Mrs Hannah Bower, circa 1914. The cottages have since been pulled down but many of the carved stones have been saved and built into a wall at Jackhill Farm and two pieces are in Holy Trinity church. Click here to see an extract from the Derbyshire Times (late 1930's) about the cottage.

Quarrels, strife and law, wisely shun
By peace and silence no more is undone.
Certanti Dabitus
Exnihilo Nilulfit
This world is the best we live in
To lend, to spend, to give in
But to borrow or beg, or get a man's own
It is the worst world that ever was known
Nothing comes from idleness
Yes - Poverty and rags
W.E.C
1778
A man that's envy in his mind
Is always sure faults to find