"Trust in God and keep your powder dry" is a maxim attributed to Oliver Cromwell, but whose first appearance in print was in 1834 in the poem "Oliver's Advice" by William Blacker, with the words "Put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry!" The poem is a dramatic representation of Cromwell addressing his army during the invasion of Ireland. Edward Hayes, who edited the anthology in which the work first appeared, calls it a "well-authenticated anecdote of Cromwell".[1]
The phrase means to "always be prepared to take action yourself if necessary".[2] The allusion is to gunpowder which soldiers had to keep dry in order to be ready to fight when required. Bergen Evans suggested that the phrase combined piety and practicality.[3] The book of Proverbs offers up the same idea in Proverbs 21:31, "The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord."
The dictionary definition of keep one's powder dry at Wiktionary
February 20, 2024
trust, keep, your, powder, maxim, attributed, oliver, cromwell, whose, first, appearance, print, 1834, poem, oliver, advice, william, blacker, with, words, your, trust, boys, keep, your, powder, poem, dramatic, representation, cromwell, addressing, army, durin. Trust in God and keep your powder dry is a maxim attributed to Oliver Cromwell but whose first appearance in print was in 1834 in the poem Oliver s Advice by William Blacker with the words Put your trust in God my boys and keep your powder dry The poem is a dramatic representation of Cromwell addressing his army during the invasion of Ireland Edward Hayes who edited the anthology in which the work first appeared calls it a well authenticated anecdote of Cromwell 1 A 17th century powder horn Contents 1 Background 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksBackground editThe phrase means to always be prepared to take action yourself if necessary 2 The allusion is to gunpowder which soldiers had to keep dry in order to be ready to fight when required Bergen Evans suggested that the phrase combined piety and practicality 3 The book of Proverbs offers up the same idea in Proverbs 21 31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle but victory rests with the Lord The second half of the phrase is often used by itself and forms the title of the 1945 film Keep Your Powder Dry as well as Margaret Mead s 1942 book And Keep Your Powder Dry An Anthropologist Looks at America See also editPraise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition God helps those who help themselvesReferences edit Stewart Fitz 1834 Oliver s Advice The Dublin University Magazine Manser Martin H 2007 The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs Infobase Publishing p 229 ISBN 9780816066735 Retrieved 27 November 2015 Safire William 23 February 1997 Keeping Your Powder Dry New York Times Retrieved 27 November 2015 External links edit nbsp Works related to Oliver s Advice at Wikisource nbsp The dictionary definition of keep one s powder dry at Wiktionary Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Trust in God and keep your powder dry amp oldid 1146773275, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
