A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

It is a POOR dog that’s not worth whistling for

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  1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs I. xi. It is, as I haue learned in lystnyng, A poore dogge, that is not worth the whistlyng. 1614 W. CAMDEN Remains concerning Britain (ed. 2) 303 A poore dog that is not worth the whystling. 1738 SWIFT Polite Conversation i. 41 Because, Miss, you never ask’d me; and ‘tis an ill Dog that’s not worth whistling for. 1952 W. S. HOOLE Alias Simon Suggs i. It was a poor dog indeed that wasn’t worth whistling for. rvalue
  

It is a POOR heart that never rejoices

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  1834 MARRYAT Peter Simple I. v. ‘Well,’ continued he, ‘it’s a poor heart that never rejoiceth.’ He then poured out half a tumbler of rum. 1841 DICKENS Barnaby Rudge iv. What happened when I reached home you may guess. .. Ah! Well, it’s a poor heart that never rejoices. 1935 E. F. BENSON Lucia’s Progress viii. They were all men together, he said, and it was a sad heart that never rejoiced. 1979 J. SCOTT Clutch of Vipers iv. ‘It’s a poor heart’, Frankie told him, ‘that never rejoices.’ "happiness
  

poor see also one LAW for the rich and another for the poor; the RICH man has his ice in the summer and the poor man gets his in the winter.
Pope see it is ill SITTING at Rome and striving with the Pope.
port see ANY port in a storm.
POSSESSION is nine points of the law
There is no specific legal ruling which supports this proverb—though the concept is widely acknowledged—but in early use the satisfaction often (sometimes twelve) points was commonly asserted to attest full entitlement or ownership. Possession, represented by nine (or eleven) points, is therefore the closest substitute for this. Cf. 1595 Edward III E3 Tis you are in possession of the Crowne, And thats the surest poynt of all the Law.

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