Age of Animals
Preserved but no longer current.
An old Celtic rhyme, put into modern English, says: — Thrice the age of a dog is that of a horse; Thrice the age of a horse is that of a man; Thrice the age of a man is that of a deer; Thrice the age of a deer is that of an eagle.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Age of Animals” mean?
An old Celtic rhyme, put into modern English, says: — Thrice the age of a dog is that of a horse; Thrice the age of a horse is that of a man; Thrice the age of a man is that of a deer; Thrice the age of a deer is that of an eagle.
Is “Age of Animals” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.