QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: Julius Caesar ACT/SCENE: 1.1 SPEAKER: Cobbler CONTEXT: COBBLER
Why, sir, cobble you.
FLAVIUS
Thou art a cobbler, art thou?
COBBLER
Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl. I
meddle with no tradesman’s matters nor women’s matters,
but withal I am indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes.
When they are in great danger, I recover them. As proper
men as ever trod upon neat’s leather have gone upon my
handiwork. DUTCH: Om de waarheid te zeggen, ja, mijn els is mijn alles .
Ik meng mij niet met koopmanszaken, noch met koopvrouwen, maar mijn els lapt mij alles. MORE: Proverb: As good a man as ever trod on shoe (beat’s) leather. (See also The Tempest 2.2: ‘he’s a present for any emperor that ever trod on neat’s leather’).
Proverb: Without awl (all) the cobbler’s nobody
Proverb: As good a man as ever trod on shoe leather, stressing the quality and reliability of the cobbler’s craft as well as character. Other relevant proverbs from the time are “Meddle not with another man’s matter” (1584) and “Let not the cobbler go beyond his last” (1539), “Cobbler, stick to thy last” (still in use today).
The origins of the proverb actually existed in Latin when Pliny the Elder composed ‘Naturalis Historia’. Pliny’s original text (ne supra crepidam sutor iudicaret) meant ‘the cobbler should not judge beyond his shoe’. (Erasmus omitted the verb ‘judicaret in ‘Adagia’).
The word ‘ultracrepidarian’ also originated from this proverb!

Cobbler=Punning on (1) shoemender and (2) bungler
Neat’s leather=Cowhide.
Awl=Punning on (1) punch for holes in leather and (2) all
Compleat:
To cobble=Flikken, lappen, brodden; schoenlappen
Cobbler=(Cobler) Een schoenlapper, schoenflikker, broddelaar
Last=Leest. Last-maker=een Leestemaaker
Awl=Een els
Neat=Een rund, varre (os of koe)

Burgersdijk notes:
Mijn els lapt mij alles. Het Engelsch heeft een woordspeling met awl en all. Topics: proverbs and idioms, status, order/society, work