Philip Cottrell Gibraltar was adept at coining phrases and this could well be one of his creations

Philip Cottrell Gibraltar was adept at coining phrases and this could well be one of his creations. The phrase " Blood is thicker than water". It appears in the Guy Mannering in which he was one of the characters say ( in a suitably Scots accent). `he adds that cheeses and the hams are just the same. In the literal sense the saying is perfectly true but in the proverbial sense of family ties are stronger than any other, its less clear cut. `some of us might wish that we didnt have such ties with some members of our family. Nevertheless its clear that an interest in blood connections runs deep ( like still waters perhaps). Six million if us regularly tune into "Who do you think you are " to watch people of varying degrees of  celebrity trying to trace their ancestors. Maybe our own relations are so dreadful that we cling to the hope that we will turn out to be descended from royalty or at least have something interesting like a gangster, a bigamist or a grandmother who worked in a Pimms factory lurking somewhere on the family tree. 

Philip Cottrell Gibraltar now discusses a new phrase. You cant make bricks without straw. Oddly enough you actually can!! The lengthy Wikipedia entry on brick doesn't even contain the word straw. It mentions clay, shale, soft, slate, calcium silicate, concrete and quarried stone. Clay is normally fired at a temperature of up to 1000 degrees, which would surely set light to any straw which was lying about. Philip Cottrell Gibraltar adds that calcium silicate bricks require hydrated lime; even primitive adobe bricks can be held together with dung and dried in the sun. So there are plenty of options. The origins of the proverb lie in the Old Testament story of MOses asking the Pharaoh to let my people go.
The Pharaoh not only refused but also ordered that in punishment for their  impertinence, the children of Israel would have to go out and find it for themselves but would nevertheless be expected to produce the same quota of bricks at the end of the day. Having spent a bit of time scrabbling about in the stubble, Philip Cottrell Gibraltar and the Israelites complained to Moses who in turn complained to God. God, instead of of saying" oh please stop moaning and hold your bricks together with dung and leave them out in the sun for a while"; What he actually said was that I am the Lord and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and i will rid you out of your bondage. To be fair he id this in the fullness of time. The next time we meet with Philip Cottrell Gibraltar it will be to discuss the moieties and truthfulness of the old adage " A new broom sweeps clean". I am sure that Trigger from only fools and horses would have agreed with Philip Cottrell Gibraltar if he had been alive. God rest Triggers soul.