As you will see, come of the proverbs are basically the English version of others we already have. A couple of them are also in the post about Scotland, so, probably, they were just considered proverbs in English language, redardless of the country.
- Faire and foolish, little and loud, long and lazie, blacke and proud, fat and merry, leane and sad, pale and peevish, red and bad
(In some versions we have lusty for lazie and pettish for peevish)
- A red-headed man will make a good stallion
- If thou meete a red man, and a bearded woman, greet them three myle off
- A red-haired man and bearded woman, salute them a hundred paces off
- Beware of red men, of women that are bearded, and of such as God hath marked
- To a red man reade thy read. With a browne man breake thy bread
- With (To) a red man reede (reade) thy reed,
With a brown man break thy breade
At a pale man draw thy knife,
From a black man keep thy wife
- The red is wise, the broun trusty, the pale envious, and the blacke lusty
- At a pale man draw thy knife. From a blacke man keep thy wife
- From a black man keep your wife. With the red man beware your knife
- In all places keepe thee well from redhaired men, from barded women, and from them that are marcked in the face
- A red beard and a black head. Catch him with a good trick, and take him dead
- He is false by nature that has a black head and a red beard
- I'll neuer trust a redhair'd man againe,
If I should liue a hundred yeares, that's flat;
His tume cannot be serued with one or twain.
And how can any woman suffer that ?
Sources: English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, English Folk-Rhymes
Tons of Italian proverbs about red hair (in dialect too!)
Russian proverbs about redheads and a decree from Peter the Great
More ancient proverbs about red hair
European proverbs about red hair
Galician proverbs about red hair
Hungarian proverbs about red hair
German proverbs about red hair
