The fairy stitching gleams
On the sides and in the seams,
And it shows
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The fairy stitching gleams
On the sides and in the seams,
And it shows
That Pixies were the wags
Who tipped these funny tags
And these toes.

When we see a man with bad shoes, we say it is no wonder, if he
is a shoemaker.
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When we see a man with bad shoes, we say it is no wonder, if he
is a shoemaker.
[Fr., Quand nous veoyons un homme mal chausse, nous disons que ce
n'est pas merveille, s'il est chausstier.]

Shoemaker, stick to your last.
[Lat., Ne supra crepidam judicaret.]

Shoemaker, stick to your last.
[Lat., Ne supra crepidam judicaret.]

As he cobbled and hammered from morning till dark,
With the footgear to mend on his knees,
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As he cobbled and hammered from morning till dark,
With the footgear to mend on his knees,
Stitching patches, or pegging on soles as he sang,
Out of tune, ancient catches and glees.

If you had taken off the shoe then, at length you would feel in
what part it pinched you.
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If you had taken off the shoe then, at length you would feel in
what part it pinched you.
[Lat., Si calceum induisses, tum demum sentires qua parte te
urgeret.]

I can tell where my own shoe pinches me.

I can tell where my own shoe pinches me.

. . . And holding out his shoe, asked them whether it was not new and
well made. "Yet," read more

. . . And holding out his shoe, asked them whether it was not new and
well made. "Yet," added he, "none of you can tell where it
pinches me."

The wearer knowes, where the shoe wrings.
[The wearer knows best where the shoe pinches.]

The wearer knowes, where the shoe wrings.
[The wearer knows best where the shoe pinches.]

But from the hoop's bewitching round,
He very shoe has power to wound.

But from the hoop's bewitching round,
He very shoe has power to wound.