In 1521, at the confluence of the Wakulla and St. Marks Rivers, Spanish settlers established the first forge in what is today the United States.
This first blacksmith site at San Marcos de Apalache was key for making and repairing the hardware the Spanish needed for extending their exploration of the American southeast.
The forge and shipyard from that initial settlement have long since vanished under waves of colonization and conquests, and five different nations have raised their flags over the site during the past 500 years. Visitors to the San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park, south of Tallahassee, can see the ruins of a later 18th-century Spanish fort, a vivid reminder of Florida’s complex, hidden histories.
To mark this 500th anniversary, América Magazine presents a sampling of popular aphorisms and proverbs regarding blacksmiths from Spanish lore, alongside translations into English.
Displaying a penchant for ironies and laconic wit, some of these sayings have been around for more than five centuries. While many have fallen out of fashion, some survive in current usage.
Perhaps the most recognizable among them is “En casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo” (alternatively, “cuchara” or “azadón de palo”), comparable to the English saying, “The shoemaker’s children go barefoot.”
Por no perder costumbre, cuando falta hierro martillas yunque.
Out of iron, out of habit, as they say, you hammer on the anvil anyway.
De herrero a herrero no pasa dinero.
From smith to smith, the old rule stands: money never changes hands.
Al herrero con barbas, y a las letras con babas.
Begin to learn the blacksmith’s art
when first your youthful whiskers start;
but you can start to learn for school
when scarcely you’ve begun to drool.
Sopla, herrero, ganarás dinero.
Blow, blacksmith, blow: your pockets will grow.
Invierno, buen tiempo para el herrero y el hornero.
The blacksmith and the baker bask in winter weather.
Tras días de yunque de herrero, duerme al son el perro.
The loudest forge, in ten days’ time, will be a new dog’s lullaby.
Como perro del herrero, que a los martillazos ronca y a los masquidos despierta.
Like a blacksmith’s dog, snoring to the beat of the hammer and waking at the slightest sound of dinner.
Es mejor ser martillo que yunque.
It’s better to be a hammer than an anvil.
Lo que en el corazón se fragua por la boca se desagua.
Our lips let slip the things we forge within our hearts.
El herrero de Arganda, que él se lo fuella y él se lo macha y él se lo saca a vender a la plaza.
The blacksmith of Arganda Town works the bellows up and down, pounds his work, and rambles round to sell his wares in town.
En casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo.
In the blacksmith’s home, they use a wooden knife.