> as lemmas

c1475 Mankind (1969) l. 47 Yowr wytt ys lytyll, yowr hede ys mekyll.

a1598 D. Fergusson Sc. Prov. (1641) sig. D4^v Meikle head, little wit.

1610 A. Cooke Pope Joane 124 Should the Church haue her wit, when she is bereaued of her head? The saying is, Great head, litle wit. But without question: no head, no wit.

1670 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. 101 A great head and a little wit. This is only for the clinch sake become a Proverb, for certainly the greater, the more brains; and the more brains, the more wit.

1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 253 Mickle Head, little Wit. A groundless Reflection; an eminent Instance to the contrary was John Duke of Lauderdale.

1845 Graham's Mag. Dec. 270/1 ‘A man with such a head can hardly be a fool.’ ‘There's nothing in heads, child,’ said the old lady..; ‘that's just a romantic notion... I know it's a common saying,..“Little head, little wit, Big head, less yet”.’

1885 Westville (Indiana) Indicator 10 Dec. The great difficulty with the Mug-wump party is that its mug is so much bigger than its wump—a clear case of big head and little sense.

1991 W. Mieder et al. Dict. Amer. Prov. 469 Big head, little sense. Vars.: (a) Big head and little wit. (b) Big head, little wit; little head, not a bit.