If wishes were horses,

[Bbbananas]

beggars would ride.

This was a crossword answer at the weekend. A proverb. Not one I've ever heard of I have to say. Anyone know its origin?

You may as well say if wishes were cows, beggars would have milk shakes.

[emmie]

i have but this is wiki
"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride" is an English language proverb and nursery rhyme, originating in the 16th century, which is usually used to suggest that it is useless to wish and that better results will be achieved through action.

[Bbbananas]

Thanks em. I do vaguely recall another proverb which begins "If wishes were......." but can't recall that. My memory recall is not good on a Monday morning!

[emmie]

there's a Perry Como song if wishes were kisses, something like that.

[Bbbananas]

That's probably what I'm struggling to remember. My mum used to love Perry Como.

[mike11111]

Another one on the same theme that I remember from my childhood is:
"If ifs and ands were pots and pans there'd be no work for the tinker."

[jno]

mike, that's "ifs and ans", "an" being an old word meaning the same as "if" (still does in German, I think)

salla, they didn't have milkshakes in the 16th century. You could say it now but you'd have to hang around a few centuries before it acquired the status of a proverb.

[mike11111]

I stand corrected. I don't think I had begun to read at the time.

[dotty.]

I had an andy williams album with this song on back in the early 1970s, can't find it on you tube but there's a good link here:
http://www.blipfoto.com/view.php?id=82723

[Dee Sa]

I struggled with this in Sun xwrd,but once I got "wishes" I remembered the rest but looked it up in a reference book to make sure, have never heard it used though.

[woofgang]

My dad used to say that.

[Bbbananas]

Thanks guys for your input (love Andy Williams - thanks dotty).
BTW jno - I was kidding about the milkshake bit !