He is the appointer of his owne circumstance, and his house is his castle.
[1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xl.]
It was wont to be said A mans house is his Castle but if this Castle of late hath proved unable to secure any, let them make their conscience their castle.
[1642 T. Fuller Fast Sermon 28]
In London‥a man's own house is truly his castle, in which he can be in perfect safety from intrusion.
[1791 Boswell Life of Johnson II. 284]
Some people maintains that an Englishman's house is his castle. That's gammon [nonsense].
[1837 Dickens Pickwick Papers xxiv.]
An Englishman's house may be his castle, but does it follow that his garden is his forest?
[1998 Garden (Royal Horticultural Society) May 313]
An Englishman's home is no longer his castle. Thanks to gun control zealots, England has become the land of choice for criminals.
[2002 Washington Times 1 Aug. A14]
Related to: home; national characteristics
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
