Meaning of 'Stood ther like chieves of the fourpence'

[clive]

Stood ther like chieves of the fourpence

[homer]

I have not heard the phrase myself, but: 'Chieves' (amongst other things) is the plural of Chief - and the spelling was much used in the 19th and early 20th Century... and a 'fourpence' could be either a stamp or a small silver coin worth four pennies, which was in circulation for many centuries. Thus it is possible that the phrase could be ridiculing people of great self-importance standing huddled in a very small area. Perhaps you might post a response and give an example of the phrase in context?

[clive]

The context is if you were stood about looking as you had nothing to do. I heard it as a child quite a lot. I always thought that it was cheese o't fourpence. I learned recently that the correct phrase was chief,chiefs or chieves. I was told that the big wooden Indians, which stood outside shops in America, used to advertise fourpenny cigars. I thought someone might just confirm this.

[geofbob]

Clive, I think you were correct the first time and the phrase is "standing (or stood) there like cheese at fourpence" It appears to be Lancashire dialect, and clearly refers to cheese standing around on a grocer's shelves and going mouldy - though whether this is because fourpence is too expensive or too cheap is a mystery. If you put "like cheese at fourpence" into the Google search engine, you will be directed to a website with the quote. Incidentally, the "chieves" or "chiefs" version of the saying produces no results on Google.