Folklore: 'a heart of corn'

Subject: Folklore: 'a heart of corn'
From: keberoxu
Date: 10 Sep 26 - 02:54 PM

Just stumbled across this phrase while reading a book from Great Britain.
It's an expression I have never heard here in the United States.
What does it mean?

Subject: RE: Folklore: 'a heart of corn'
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Sep 26 - 07:41 PM

Hi, Keb, can you give us the context?

Subject: RE: Folklore: 'a heart of corn'
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Sep 26 - 11:16 AM

The quote, "So-and-so had the heart of corn," is attributed to a man who was brought up in Scotland, in a Catholic boys' home in Lanark. The book I read it in, is about the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul and their arrival, and establishment, in Great Britain.
The man is comparing the sisters who raised him in the boys' home. He says, "Sister Gertrude had the heart of corn. I can't talk about her," while Sister Patrick "was as soft as anybody would want for a granny ... useless at keeping order."
It doesn't tell me much: I can't tell if the phrase is a compliment or not.

Subject: RE: Folklore: 'a heart of corn'
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 12 Sep 26 - 04:50 PM

'He has a heart of corn' is simply another way of saying he is generous to
a fault, the salt of the earth, so big-hearted 'he would give you the sleeves
out of his waistcoat.'

See quote here: https://archive.org/details/whatthingtosay0000pepp/page/21/mode/1up?q=%22heart+of+corn%22



Other examples of the phrase are found in the Internet Archive here:

https://archive.org/details/whatthingtosay0000pepp/page/21/mode/1up?q=%22heart+of+corn%22

Subject: RE: Folklore: 'a heart of corn'
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 12 Sep 26 - 05:03 PM

heart of corn [n. phr.]. Said of kind,
generous person. 1943 George A. Little,
Malachi Horan Remembers: "'But Kitty and
Johnny (Gid will forgive them), they had
the heard of corn." 1990 Tom O'Kane,
quoted in Walter Love, The Times of our
Lives: 'I went to Orange Halls myself and
danced...and all the best of friends. The
one would do anything for the other.
They had a heart of corn all my early
years...'

Slanguage : a dictionary of slang and colloquial English in Ireland
by Share, Bernard. p.132

See here: https://archive.org/details/slanguagediction0000shar/page/132/mode/1up?q=%22heart+of+corn%22

Subject: RE: Folklore: 'a heart of corn'
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Sep 26 - 07:20 PM

Thank you!
I knew the Mudcat would come through.

Subject: RE: Folklore: 'a heart of corn'
From: keberoxu
Date: 17 Sep 26 - 09:57 AM

Refresh --
has anyone else come across this figure of speech?

Subject: RE: Folklore: 'a heart of corn'
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Sep 26 - 01:04 PM

No, and I grew up in corn country.