Brewer's: Tune the Old Cow Died of

(The). Advice instead of relief; remonstrance instead of help. As St. James says (ii. 15, 16), “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say to them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?” Your words are the tune the old cow died of. The reference is to the well-known song -

There was an old man, and he had an old cow, But he had no fodder to give her, So he took up his fiddle and played her the tune - `Consider, good cow, consider, This isn't the time for the grass to grow. Consider, good cow, consider.'

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language