Chapter XXX: Part VI (1)

George being one night in company with some English noblemen in presence of the king, they began to demonstrate such a fine place as England was, both for beautiful buildings and fruitful fields: one gentleman said, he knew a place in England, though they should crop the grass even with the ground at night, and lay down a crown on it before a hundred witnesses, against to-morrow you would not know where to find it. That may seem very strange to some, says George, but it is no mystery to me, knowing, there would be enough of them who saw the crown-piece laid down, ready for to come and take it up before tomorrow. But, says George, I know a place in the west of Scotland, where, if you’ll tether a horse at night, against the next morning you will not see him. What a pox will take him away? says the Englishman. Only such people, says George, as will take away your crown-piece. O! says the English nobleman, you know what I mean. Then, says George, you talk much of towns you have in England, I know three towns in poor Scotland, for properties you have none such. Pray, says the gentleman, what are these properties? Why, says George, I know one town where there is a hundred bone bridges in it; another town where there are fifty draw-bridges in it; another town where, tho’ a man commits murder, treason, or owes never so much money, he runs to that town, and gets in below a stair, no laws nor justice can harm him. The nobleman offered immediately to stake a hundred pounds, that there was no such towns in Europe, besides in Scotland. They desired George to tell but the names of those towns, for they would find him out, and know whether lie was a liar or not. So he told their names, and two men were sent to Scotland to see them: the first was Duddingstone, near Edinburgh, where they came and asked for the bone bridges there; and the people shewed them steps almost between every door, of the sculls of sheeps-heads, which they used as stepping-stones. The second was a little country village between Stirling and Perth, called Auchterardoch,[206] where there is a large strand which runs through the middle of the town, and almost at every door there is a long stock or stone laid over the strand, whereupon they pass to their opposite neighbours, and when a flood came, they would lift their wooden bridges, in case they should be taken away, and these they called their draw-bridges. The third was a village called Cambusbarron, which they pass through from one end to the other, but there was not a stair in it all; so they returned to England, and told what manner of bone and draw-bridges they were: and how there was not a stair in all that place, therefore no man could run in below it.

As George was on the road travelling to London, the weather being very rainy and cold, he alighted at an inn to refresh and warm himself; but the fire-side was so surrounded with people, he could scarce see the fire: George finding this to be the case calls to the hostler, and orders to give his horse at the door half a peck of oysters: You mean oats, Sir: No, no, says George, it is oysters; and base is that horse, that will not eat oysters. The people at the fire hearing this, all started up and ran to the door to see the horse eating oysters: the moment they left their seats, George took an opportunity to plant himself before the fire, with a table and a cloth beside him. In a little they came back again, one by one, saying, This horse will eat no oysters: Well, well, says George, he is either too full, or too saucy; so you may bring them in, and I will eat them myself.[207]

* * * * *

Now George being old, and highly advanced in years; finding his natural strength and state of health daily decaying, he petitioned king James to let him return to Scotland, for to visit his friends, and land of his nativity; which he most willingly granted, (not knowing his design was never to return) for George had a great desire to resign his soul and breath in that place of the world, where he received them; and that his body and bones might be laid among his ancestors, which was counted a great honour in former ages.

So accordingly George came to the parish of Buchanan, in the west of Scotland, where he visited all his friends and relations before his death, during which time the king sent several messages to him to return in all the haste he could; but he absolutely refused, telling him, that he would never see him again: which grieved the king very much to hear him express himself in that manner. After this, the king sent him a letter, threatening him very sharply, if he did not appear in London in the space of twenty days, he would send his lyon heralds with a party, who would bring him to London, whether he would or not. Unto which, as an answer, George sent him a famous letter of admonition, both anent the government of his kingdoms, and the well being of his soul, which caused the king to weep very bitterly, when he read it over, with the following verse:

My honour’d liege, and sovereign king,
Of your boasting great, I dread nothing:
On your feud or favour I’ll fairly venture:
E’er that day I’ll be where few kings will enter.

FINIS.

GLOSSARY.

A

_Ae_, _ane_, _ain_, one.

_A-bizin_, making a hissing noise, such as hot iron does in water.

_Ables_, perhaps, mayhap.

_Amry_, a cupboard or press.

_Assoilzied_, acquitted.

_A-thort_, along, across, about.

_Auld Nick_, a familiar name for the Devil.

_Aught_, possession.

B

_Babee_, a copper coin of the value of a halfpenny sterling, also
applied to the English coin. The word is derived from the
French _bas-piece_, base money; though many believed it had
its original in the fact that during the minority of James VI.
coins with the effigy of the ‘baby’ king were issued.

_Badrons_, a cat.

_Baggity_, greedy.

_Baist_, great.

_Balk_, _bauk_, crossbeam in roof of a house; _hen-bauk_, the beam
where the fowls roosted, generally above the doorway.

_Bane-kame_, a dust-comb.

_Banning_, swearing.

_Bannock_, a thick oatmeal cake; sometimes a scone.

_Bannock-stane_, a stone used for supporting the girdle on the fire.

_Bap_, a kind of scone, baked with yeast, generally lozenge-shaped.

_Barronry_, barony.

_Bear_, barley.

_Beek’d_, warmed, heated by the sun.

_Be-go_, not an uncommon exclamation; probably a chewed oath.

_Begunk_, a cheat, a deception, properly a verb, but used as a noun
at p. 61, vol ii.

_Belling_, bubbling up like soapy water.

_Beltane_, the 1st of May, when, in the olden times, fires were
lighted in honour of the god Bel, or Baal. Many superstitious
observances lingered in this country until a century ago; and
in some districts they are still celebrated in a covert way.
(_Vide_ Shaw’s _Hist. Prov. Moray_.)

_Belyve_, by and bye, in a short time.

_Besom_, a brush or broom.

_Bicker_, a cup.

_Bide_, to stay, to endure.

_Bilchy_, strong, lusty.

_Bill_, a bull.

_Bittock_, a little bit, a short distance.

_Birr_, to make a whirring noise.

_Bizing_, v. _a-bizing_.

_Bladdering_, blethering, talking.

_Blate_, bashful.

_Blawirt_, the blue bottle plant, also known as witch-bells.

_Bleds_, blaids.

_Bletchers_, bleachers.

_Blewflum_, a sham.

_Bobet_, danced.

_Bock_, to vomit.

_Boggle_, a spectre or ghost.

_Bone-comb_, a dust-comb, so called from being made of bone instead
of horn.

_Boss_, empty; also, a vacancy.

_Bottle_, a sheaf.

_Bouk_, bulk.

_Bookie_, bulky.

_Boul-horn’d_, obstinate.

_Bow_, a boll.

_Bowed_, bent.

_Bow-kail_, kail or broth made with cabbage; also, a cabbage.

_Bowster_, a bolster.

_Brattle_, to make a clattering noise.

_Bray_, to grind.

_Brewket_, or _Brucket_, black and white streaked or spotted.

_Brizel’d_, bruised.

_Brochan_, thin oatmeal porridge.

_Brocket_, v. _Brewket_.

_Brogged_, pierced.

_Broe_, soup.

_Brogue_, a trick.

_Bublie-cock_, a turkey.

_Buckie_, a spiral shell.

_Bucking_, pushing, butting, fighting.

_Buckle_, to marry.

_Buckled_, married.

_Bun_, bound.

_Bute_, behoved.

_But and ben_, the outer and inner apartments of a house.

_Bystart_, bastard.

C

_Caddled_, upturned, disordered.

_Caff-cog_, chaff-dish.

_Callan_, _Callen_, a boy, a young man.

_Caller_, fresh.

_Can’as_, canvas.

_Cannilie_, easily, gently.

_Cankerd_, cross, ill-natured.

_Cantrips_, charms, spells.

_Cap_, a wooden bowl.

_Capstride_, to cheat; originally, to drink out of one’s place in
company when the loving-cup was going round.

_Carle_, an old man.

_Carlin_, _carline_, an old woman.

_Cat and Dog_, a boy’s game. It is also known as _cat and bat_.
Jamieson suggests it was an early form of cricket. It is still
common, and in the summer season boys may be seen playing at it
in any village in Scotland.

_Chafts_, cheeks, jaws.

_Chaft-blades_, cheek or jaw bones.

_Channering_, fretting.

_Chappen_, a quart measure.

_Cheek_, side.

_Cheek for chow_, side by side.

_Chiel_, _chield_, a servant, a young man.

_Chirten and chappen_, pressing and knocking.

_Chuckies_, hens.

_Claes_, clothes.

_Clarty_, dirty.

_Clash_, idle talk, gossip.

_Clatter_, talk.

_Clawing_, scratching, rubbing.

_Cleavings_, the lower part of the human body.

_Clipock_, a name given to a sharp-tongued woman, descriptive of her
failing.

_Clout_, a cloth; also, a knock.

_Clukny_, a hen.

_Clungest_, emptiest.

_Clutes_, hoofs, feet.

_Cobletehow_, probably hot-pressed in a fanciful way.

_Cod_, a pillow.

_Cogbonie_, _cogboin_, a little wooden trough for feeding sheep or
swine.

_Colly-shangy_, uproar, disturbance.

_Corse_, a cross, market place.

_Corse-claiths_, burial clothes.

_Couper_, a seller of horses or cattle. (v. _Introduction_, vol. 1.,
p. 70.)

_Coupt_, tumbled.

_Couties_, colts.

_Cow_, to poll the head.

_Cracks_, talk, conversation.

_Creim_, a booth or shop.

_Crish_, grease.

_Crocket_, croaked.

_Cronoch_, a dirge, or death lamentation.

_Crouse_, courageous, brisk, lively.

_Crowdie_, gruel made of meal stirred in cold water.

_Curpen_, the crupper, the rump.

_Curple_, the crupper.

_Culli’d_, coaxed, cajoled.

_Cumstrarie_, perverse.

_Cupple-balk_, a rafter, v. _balk_.

_Curch_, to bend or move.

_Curr’d_, crouched.

_Curroch_, a small basket carriage.

_Cusser_, a stallion.

_Cussen_, cast.

_Cutties_, spoons.

D

_Daddy_, father.

_Dadeling_, slovenly.

_Dadet_, struck, knocked.

_Daffing_, sporting, fun.

_Daft_, silly, stupid, giddy.

_Dale_, a long piece or deal of wood.

_Daly_, silly, dressed up like a doll.

_Dearth_, high price.

_Dighting_, cleaning, wiping, dressing.

_Ding_, to knock.

_Dinging_, knocking.

_Docus_, stupid, easily led.

_Dods_, ill-humour, sulks.

_Doil’d_, crazy, silly, in dotage.

_Doit_, an old Scotch coin, equal to a penny Scots, or the twelfth
part of an English penny; the word is used to signify
worthlessness or extreme poverty.

_Dorder-meat_, a bannock given to farm servants after stopping their
work, to stay their appetite until supper time; also a meal of
any kind.

_Douce_, sedate, modest, quiet.

_Douked_, ducked, as in water.

_Doup_, the bottom of anything.

_Dows_, pigeons, doves.

_Dradgey_, a funeral, also the feasting accompanying it.

_Dramack_, _Drummock_, oatmeal and cold water mixed.

_Drouket_, drenched, wet to the skin.

_Druggit_, a kind of coarse cloth.

_Drummel’d_, made muddy, troubled.

_Dubs_, pools, gutters.

_Duds_, rags.

_Duddy_, ragged.

_Dufe_, a simpleton.

_Duket_, a dovecot.

_Dunting and Dangling_, knocking and swinging.

_Dwallion_, a dwelling.

E

_Earding_, burying.

_Eerock_, a chicken.

_Elf-shot_, shot by fairies, or the disease produced by the injury,
bewitched.

_Ell_, a measure equal to three feet nine inches.

_Elshin_, a shoemaker’s awl.

_Elwand_, a wooden cloth measure, the length of an ell.

_Even_, to equal, or compare.

F

_Fair strae death_, a death in the common course of nature.

_Fairing_, a present given at a fair, a present generally.

_Fake_, a sight, vision.

_Farl_, an oatmeal cake.

_Fash_, trouble, bother.

_Fashious_, troublesome.

_Fashing_, troubling.

_Fastern’s-e’en_, the evening before the first day of Lent;
Shrove-Tuesday. Its annual return was made the occasion of many
superstitious observances.

_Fealins_, failings.

_Fecket_, an undershirt or waistcoat made of flannel or worsted.

_Feckless_, weak, poor-spirited.

_Feif-titty_, thief-sister.

_Feike_, screw, force.

_Fey_, try.

_Fied_, feed, engaged.

_Figs_, a petty oath.

_Fint_, _feint_, an interjection probably derived from the word
‘fiend.’

_Flighter_, an unsteady, high-flown person.

_Fitting_, scolding.

_Fluke_, a flounder, or flat fish of any kind.

_Flyte_, to scold.

_Forfoughen_, exhausted, fatigued.

_Forjesket_, jaded; also, disreputable.

_Fornent_, opposite, or concerning.

_Freit_, _frit_, a superstition; also, a charm against evil.

_Fule haet_, very little.

_Fundred_, foundered.

_Furich_, bustle, haste, hurry.

_Furlat_, _furlet_, four pecks, a quarter of a boll.

_Futer_, a silly, useless person.

_Fyking_, troublesome, restless.

G

_Gabbie_, dimin. of _Gab_, the mouth.

_Gaits_, goats.

_Gamon_, nonsense.

_Gate_, way, road.

_Gaun-gear_, live stock.

_Gaunting_, yawning.

_Gartan_, a garter.

_Gavel_, gable.

_Gear_, stock, possessions.

_Geid_, gave.

_Gemlet_, gimlet.

_Gigglet_, wanton.

_Gilly-gawkie_, _gilliegaukie_, a foolish woman.

_Gimmer_, a young woman.

_Girning_, fretful, petted.

_Girth_, saddle strap.

_Glaied_, _gly’d_, squint-eyed.

_Glam_, to snatch.

_Glaket_, foolish, light-headed.

_Goodman_, the master of a house.

_Goodum_, _guddame_, grandmother.

_Goodwife_, the mistress of a house.

_Gouls_, souls.

_Gourd_, gorged, swelled.

_Gowke_, the cuckoo; to _hunt the gowke_ is to go on a foolish and
fruitless errand.

_Groats_, oats with the husks taken off.

_Grunkie_, a name applied to a pig.

_Gruzling_, grunting and boring for food as a sow does with its
snout.

_Guidame_, v. _Goodum_.

_Gule-fitted_, yellow-footed.

_Gut_, the gout.

_Gutcher_, a grandfather; generally, forefathers.

_Gullie_, a large knife.

H

_Haf-gate_, half-way.

_Hag_, an old woman.

_Hagwife_, a midwife.

_Hail yerts_, whole years.

_Haining_, saving, sparing.

_Hallen_, the square space in the doorway of a country house.

_Hally-band_, the kirk session.

_Hamsheughs_, a disturbance; also, a misfortune.

_Hantle_, a considerable number.

_Harle_, a quantity; also, to draw or pull violently.

_Harn_, coarse pack-sheet.

_Harnes_, brains.

_Hate_, _haet_, a small quantity.

_Hatter_, a rash.

_Haverel_, a foolish talker.

_Heads and thraws_, lying alternately, heads and feet, like herring
in a barrel.

_Heckle_, a hook, a weaver’s comb.

_Herie_, a word used by married people towards each other,
equivalent to ‘my dear.’

_Herns_, v. _harns_.

_Heugh_, the shaft-head of a coal-pit.

_Hillocat_, _hillocket_, giddy, hair-brained.

_Hinderlets_, hind parts.

_Hirpling_, halting, walking slowly and painfully.

_Hizzy_, a girl, a huzzy.

_Hobble_, to dandle on the knee, an awkward style of walking, a
state of perplexity.

_Hodden-grey_, undyed woollen cloth.

_Hoddled_, waddled.

_Hoiting_, following, running.

_Hotchen_, swarming.

_Houdie_, _howdy_, a midwife.

_Houghed_, hamstrung.

_Hows_, hollows.

_Huggers_, stocking legs.

_Humeld_, without horns.

_Hurdies_, buttocks.

_Hurl_, noise, force.

I

_Ill-far’d_, ill-looking, ugly.

_Imock-powder_, powder made of the shells of ants’ eggs.

J

_Jamf_, _jamph_, to make sport of, to torment.

_Jimcrack_, a knock.

K

_Kail_, vegetable broth.

_Kankert_, ill-natured.

_Keb_, jump at, be glad of.

_Kebbock_, a large cheese.

_Keckle_, to cackle.

_Keek_, to look slyly, or pryingly.

_Kill-kebber_, a support for a kiln.

_Kil-logie_, an open space before a kiln fire.

_Kimmer_, a gossip, or neighbour.

_Kite_, the stomach.

_Kittle_, to tickle; also, difficult.

_Knocking-stane_, a stone mortar, on which the hulls were broken off
the barley with a mallet.

_Knoist_, a lump.

_Kuddle_, to fondle, caress.

_Kye_, cows.

L

_Laddock_, diminutive of lad.

_Lade_, a load.

_Lammas_, the 1st of August.

_Lang-gae_, the phrase, ‘before lang gae,’ signifies simply, before
long.

_Lang-lonen_, all alone.

_Laveruck_, a lark.

_Leepet_, thin, meagre.

_Lenno_, thread-gauze.

_Leuch_, laughed.

_Libby_, properly _lippie_, a quarter of a peck.

_Libbet_, castrated.

_Lift_, the sky.

_Lingle_, a shoemaker’s thread; also, a bandage.

_Lingle-tailed_, applied to a woman wearing misfitting clothes.

_Lint_, flax.

_Litster_, a dyer.

_Litted_, dyed.

_Logie_, v. _kil-logie_.

_Loup_, to jump.

_Louting_, bending.

_Lufe_, the palm of the hand.

_Lugs_, the ears.

_Lum_, a chimney.

M

_Maeslie-shanket_, probably a reference to bowed legs.

_Maggs_, a halfpenny; also a gratuity.

_Masket_, infused.

_Mauk_, a maggot.

_Mauky_, maggoty.

_Mauken_, a hare.

_Maumier_, mellower, sweeter, pleasanter.

_Mavis_, the thrush.

_Mawing_, mewing.

_Maw-turned_, sick, squeamish.

_Mense_, discretion, good manners.

_Mensefu’_, discreet, well-bred.

_Merk_, an old Scottish silver coin, equal to thirteenpence and
one-third of a penny, sterling.

_Mevis_, v. _Mavis_.

_Mill_, a snuff-box.

_Mim_, prim, demure, prudish.

_Minny_, mother.

_Mirk_, dark.

_Mow_, a heap.

_Mules_, the ‘mools,’ the grave.

N

_Neb_, a beak; in a ludicrous sense, the nose.

_Neist_, next, nearest.

_Neuk_, _nuik_, a corner.

_Nidity nod_, shaking, bobbing up and down.

_Nossack_, a good drop.

O

_O’ercome_, overplus.

_Ouk_, _oulk_, _uk_, a week.

_Oxter_, the armpit.

P

_Packshon_, bargain, agreement.

_Padock_, _puddock_, a frog.

_Paid_, _pait_, drubbed.

_Partan_, a crab.

_Peck_, a dry measure containing two gallons.

_Pickle_, a small quantity.

_Pig_, _pigg_, an earthenware vessel.

_Pillonian_, a kind of coarse blue cloth.

_Pinging_, whining, complaining.

_Piping het_, boiling hot.

_Pirn_, a reel for winding thread or yarn.

_Pisweip_, a lapwing.

_Plack_, a small copper coin, worth one-third of a penny, sterling.

_Plash_, to wet; ‘wet to plash,’ thoroughly drenched.

_Plotted_, scalded.

_Podle_, a tadpole.

_Port_, a gate, as of a town.

_Pow_, the head.

_Pownie_, a name given to a turkey-hen. See _note_ to p. 52,
vol. ii.

_Prat_, a trick.

_Prik’t_, fastened, pinned.

_Prin_, a pin.

_Prute-no_, an expression of contempt.

_Puddock_, v. _padock_.

_Pund_, a pound Scots, equivalent to one shilling and eightpence,
sterling.

_Purpey_, purple.

_Pyet_, piebald.

_Pyking_, poking.

Q

_Quean_, a young woman; sometimes used in a bad sense.

R

_Raird_, a noise, a roar.

_Raisins_, necessities.

_Rake_ (of water, or coals), as much as can be carried at one time.

_Rash-rape_, a rope made of rushes.

_Rattle-scul_, one who talks without thinking.

_Ratton_, a rat.

_Red_, _redd_, to put in order.

_Red-wood_, mad, in a violent rage.

_Reeking_, well ordered.

_Reinge_, to clear out, to rinse.

_Retour_, return, as the return journey of a coach.

_Rift_, an eructation.

_Rifting_, belching.

_Rigget_, striped.

_Rigging_, the roof of a house, the human head in a ludicrous sense.

_Ripples_, a weakness in the back and reins.

_Rippling-kame_, a flax-comb.

_Rive_, to tear.

_Rolloching_, outspoken.

_Rout_, to bellow; also, a blow.

_Rowt_, assembled.

_Royte_, a noisy animal.

_Ruddoch_, a contemptuous name for an old woman.

_Rugh_, rough.

_Runkly_, wrinkly.

_Runt_, the stalk of a vegetable, such as a cabbage.

S

_Saep_, soap.

_Sandle_, the sand-ell or sand-lance.

_Sannock Garner_, probably a familiar name for the devil.

_Saugh_, the willow.

_Scart_, to scratch or scrape.

_Scorn_, to torment, to rally.

_Scour_, to clean out.

_Scour’d_, ran quickly.

_Scride_, to scrape, as the bow on the strings of the violin.

_Sculdudery_, immorality.

_Sculls_, wicker baskets, such as are used by fishers.

_Scunnert_, disgusted.

_Scythed_, shot quickly.

_Sea-cat_, the sea-wolf or wolf-fish.

_Sea-dog_, the seal.

_Servet_, a table-napkin.

_Shap_, a cod, as a pea-cod.

_Sheavling_, distorting.

_Shern_, cattle ordure.

_Shevelin_, walking unsteadily.

_Shough_, _slough_, moss.

_Shule_, shovel.

_Shure_, sure.

_Sickerly_, firmly, surely.

_Sikes_, the phrase, ‘flay the sikes,’ means to give a good beating.

_Sinsyne_, since.

_Skail’d_, dispersed.

_Skaith_, harm.

_Skein_, a length of worsted or thread.

_Skellat_, a small bell used by town criers.

_Skelped_, struck.

_Skirl’d_, cried, screamed.

_Slag_, a small quantity.

_Slung_, a sling, a throw.

_Snishing_, snuff.

_Snoaking_, prying, smelling about like a dog.

_Soncy_, plump, well-conditioned.

_Soughing_, a rushing sound.

_Souse_, _sosse_, the fall of a soft body, to throw one’s self into
a seat.

_Soup_, a mouthful, a spoonful.

_Sowens_, flummery, made of the dust oatmeal remaining among the
seeds, steeped and soured.

_Spanged_, leaped, jumped.

_Spaul_, limb.

_Speir’d_, asked.

_Spence_, a larder, the parlour of a country house.

_Spence, to_, used to denote ‘the bedding.’

_Spout_, drink.

_Spout-fish_, the razor-fish.

_Sprittled_, speckled.

_Spruch_, spruce, smart.

_Spue_, to vomit.

_Spunkie_, Will-o’-the-Wisp.

_Squattle_, to drink greedily.

_Stark_, strong.

_Stay_, _stey_, steep, difficult.

_Steighling_, crowding, cramming.

_Sticket_, stopped; as, ‘a sticket minister,’ a man who has failed
or been stopped in his studies for the ministry.

_Stirk_, a young bull.

_Stirra_, a stout, romping boy.

_Stively_, stoutly, firmly.

_Stock_, a stalk.

_Stot_, to stagger.

_Stoup_, a deep and narrow wooden vessel for holding water.

_Sugh_, to breathe heavily.

_Sumf_, _sumph_, a stupid, silly fellow; a blockhead.

_Sunks_, a saddle.

_Supple_, the part of a flail that strikes the grain.

_Sutter_, _sutor_, a shoemaker.

_Swabing_, a beating.

_Swats_, small beer.

_Sweith_, an interjection signifying ‘be quick, make haste.’

_Syne_, after that, then.

T

_Tadder_, a tether, a hawser.

_Taupie_, _tawpie_, a foolish woman.

_Tent_, care.

_Theckit_, thatched.

_Thole_, to bear.

_Thraple_, throat.

_Tirlie-whirlie_, any ornament, a whirligig.

_Tirr’d_, unroofed.

_Tocher_, a dowry.

_Tod-lowrie_, a name given to the fox.

_Toom_, empty.

_Tost_, an application.

_Totum_, a very small person.

_Touting_, blowing, sounding.

_Toy_, a linen or woollen head-dress, which hangs down over the
shoulders.

_Trykle_, treacle.

_Tug_, a hawser.

_Tullie_, a quarrel.

_Tut_, an expression of contempt, equivalent to ‘pshaw’.

_Tyke_, a dog.

U

_Uk_, _uke_, v. _ouk_.

_Unco_, strange, unusual, very.

_Unfiery_, unsteady, infirm.

V

_Veals_, calves.

W

_Wale_, to choose.

_Wallop_, to leap; also, to beat.

_Wally_, large, fine, ample.

_Wame_, the belly, the stomach.

_Wammel_, to move awkwardly.

_Water-wag-tail_, the bird called the wag-tail, or motacilla.

_Waught_, a drink.

_Wauker_, a fuller.

_Webster_, _wabster_, a weaver.

_Whaken_, large, overflowing.

_Whalpie_, a puppy.

_Whalp_, to whelp.

_Wheen_, _whin_, a number.

_Whiltie-whaltie_, a state of palpitation; to play pit-a-pat.

_Whinge_, to whine, lament.

_Whit_, a jag or prick.

_Widdling_, waddling.

_Widdyfu’_, one who deserves to fill a _widdy_ or halter, a romp.

_Wierd_, fate.

_Winnle_, an instrument used by women for winding yarn.

_Win_, dwell, reside.

_Wirry_, to strangle, to worry.

_Wood_, _wud_, furious with rage, mad.

_Wyfe_, to whiff.

_Wyles_, caution.

_Wylie_, a kind of flannel used for vests and petticoats.

_Wyte_, blame.

Y

_Yeal_, old, barren.

_Yearning-bag_, a bag containing the stomach of a calf, used for
making milk curdle.

_Yeltow_, a chewed oath.

_Yence_, once.

_Yerdet_, buried.

_Yird_, the earth, the grave.

_Youdeth_, youth.

_Youket_, coupled, married.

_Yule_, latterly Christmas, but formerly the name given to an annual
feast in honour of Odin.

_Yule_, _youl_, to howl like a dog.

THE END.

_Printed by H. Nisbet & Co., 38 Stockwell Street, Glasgow._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] A custom not uncommon in Scotland at the present day among the working classes. Boys, when making a bargain, wet their thumbs and place them on each other as a token of good faith. Something of this kind may be found in the old song:--

‘Though kith and kin and a’ should revile thee,
There’s my thumb I’ll ne’er beguile thee.’

[2] In Scotland, in the olden time, forty days were allowed to elapse after the proclamation of the banns, during which time objectors to the marriage might come forward. The session clerk had placed in his hands a sum of money as security for the solemnisation of the marriage; and one had to be found to stand as surety that the parties would not cohabit before they obtained the sanction of the church.

[3] The ‘providing’ has always been regarded as an important item of the marriage arrangements. Perhaps the earliest account of the possessions of contracting parties is to be found in the song, ‘The Wowing of Jok and Jynny,’ supposed to have been written before the Reformation.

[4] In modern editions of this chap-book the first part ends with the sentence:--‘So this disturbed a’ the diversion at Jockey’s bedding, and the sky was beginning to break in the east before the hurly-burley was over.’

[5] The usual name for the village bellman throughout Scotland.

[6] Jockey had been guilty of an offence which, had he lived a century earlier, might have brought about imprisonment by the civil power, in addition to his seat on the ‘cock-stool.’ Even about the middle of last century the penalties were severe, and the disgrace was considered great. Feeling in the matter, however, seemed to be more prompted by a fear of consequences than by true morality. Dr. Rogers, in _Scotland Social and Domestic_, p. 311, thus explains the legal position of presbyteries and kirk-sessions in regard to such matters--‘At the Reformation, Presbyterian judicatories proceeded to occupy the position of Consistory Courts. They took cognisance of offences precisely similar, with the exception of such as “speaking evil of saints” and “the non-payment of offerings,” or those which bore direct reference to the Catholic faith. Under the Presbyterian system, the kirk-session exercised the functions of the Archdeacon’s Commissary, and Presbyterian Synods and the General Assembly formed an appellate jurisdiction similar to that which was exercised by the Archdeacons and Bishops and the Archbishops of St. Andrews.’

[7] The stool was placed in front of the pulpit, in full view of the congregation. In some parishes the culprits were allowed to sit, but in most cases they had to stand.

[8] The ‘sacken sark’ had a variety of names, such as ‘the harden gown,’ ‘the sack gown,’ ‘the harn gown,’ and ‘the linen.’ Each parish was supposed to have one of these habits: and in 1655 the sum of £4 4 6 Scots was expended by the kirk-session of Lesmahagow in the purchase of one. A specimen of the ‘sacken sark’ may be seen in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh.

[9] A fine paid to the Kirk-Session, who distributed it, with the other moneys in their possession, among the poor of the parish. See the second part of _The History of Buckhaven_, where the culprit is made to pay ‘four pound and a groat,’ probably Scots money, equal to about seven shillings sterling.

[10] The following paragraph concludes the second part in modern editions:--‘Now Jockey and his mither went into the little byre and held a private meeting, nane present but auld Bruckie and the twa Brutes, the bits of couties, that she might give him counsel how to behave when he appeared before Mess John, to answer for his bastard; which concludes the third and last part.’ The ‘third and last part’ in these editions, however, fails to carry the story to its proper issue, and only gives a very summary account of Jockey on the cutty-stool.

[11] Ante-nuptial fornication--‘on the terms of marriage’--was lamentably common, but in such cases the law of the church, while duly put in force, was considerably relaxed in its severity, if marriage followed.

[12] The civil authorities were frequently called upon to give effect to church censures. In the seventeenth century sentence of excommunication practically carried with it all the pains of civil outlawry; but in 1690 an Act of the Estates abrogated the civil consequences of the sentence.

[13] Milled oats, or oats with the husks taken off.

[14] This is rather an original account of the rise and progress of the black-stool: but it would be difficult to say how far history supports it. In a chap-book printed in 1776 under the title of ‘An Account of the General Assembly’s Invention for the final Extirpation of the Black-stool of Repentance and the Sackcloth Gown out of the Kirk of Scotland: proposing a new and easy method of punishing sporting ladies,’ a similar account is given of the stool.

[15] The Church rule on the point here brought out by Mess John may be illustrated by an enactment passed by the Kirk Session of Glasgow in 1591, which bore that those desirous of entering the conjugal state had to repeat the ten commandments, the articles of faith, and the Lord’s prayer. If the candidates could not pass the examination they were declared unworthy of being joined in marriage, and were liable to censure. A few days after this decree had been issued, the Session prohibited a marriage until the bridegroom had learned his task. The Presbytery of Glasgow, in 1594, prohibited a marriage because the bridegroom was ‘in greit debt.’

[16] Suspension from church privileges for a time, until they showed signs of repentance.

[17] The beginning of the New Year, or Yule, festivities.

[18] The ordinary mode of travelling long distances. Country women were then good horse-women.

[19] A superstition long prevalent, and scarcely yet eradicated in some parts of Scotland. The mother was not safe from the power of fairies until she had been ‘kirk’t,’ and the child, until baptised, was in danger of being carried away by them, a changeling being substituted in its stead. Jockey’s mother seems to have had a touch of the same superstition when she spoke of the difference between a child and a dog--‘A dog is a brute beast, an’ a wean is a christen’d creature.’

[20] The custom in Scotland was to have a number of the neighbours along with the members of the family.

[21] Young women, besides providing their bridal clothes before their marriage, frequently spun their winding sheet immediately after that event. Flora Macdonald carried about with her, throughout all her wanderings after her liberation in 1747, the sheet in which Prince Charles had lain at Kingsburgh’s house in Skye, with the intention that it should be her shroud. And so it was.

[22] These were not the days of hearses. The common people never thought of a carriage, and, indeed, it was only at the funerals of the nobility that hearses were to be seen. Usually the coffin was taken to the grave on wooden bars, called ‘spaiks,’ borne by the mourners, who, if the journey were long, relieved each other.

[23] The eating and drinking long prevalent at funerals was something marvellous, and on more than one occasion it is recorded that mourners separated in confusion and ill-feeling. At the funeral of Sir Hugh Campbell of Calder, in March, 1716, nearly £70 sterling were spent in meat and drink alone, and when the difference in the value of money is taken into consideration the sum must appear large. In 1704, Lord Whitelaw, a Senator of the College of Justice, was buried at the expense of £5189 Scots, or £432 8s. 4d. sterling, which meant more than two years’ salary as a judge.

[24] At births it was customary--and still is under a modified form--to hand round ‘blythe-meat’ to all visitors.

[25] Another name for the stool of repentance.

[26] A colloquialism. The meaning is--‘You must not kiss any woman _other than_ your own wife.’

[27] A witticism for whitings or haddocks. Dunbar has from an early period been one of the leading ports on the east coast fishing grounds.

[28] It would be difficult to say how the herring caught in Loch Fyne came to be called ‘Glasgow Magistrates.’ The name is still applied to them.

[29] One way of putting an old Scottish proverb. Henderson’s reading of it is:--‘There ne’er was a silly Jockey but what there was a silly Jenny.’

[30] In some modern editions the word ‘jaw’ is inserted instead of ‘jamf,’ or, as it is sometimes spelled ‘jamph.’

[31] Probably Prestonpans, famous for fishers and potters, and for its battle-field.

[32] In Morren’s edition of this chap-book, published in Edinburgh in the early years of the present century, the word here used is ‘keckling,’ meaning to laugh, or, more properly, to ‘smirk.’ ‘Keckling’ seems the more likely word.

[33] Another reading of the old saying--‘The deil catch the hindmost.’

[34] This can hardly be taken literally. Possibly what is meant is ‘powsee,’ a small fresh haddock.

[35] In some later editions the description of Sawny is made more complete by the insertion, in this place, of the following:--‘and an auld creeshy hat, mair like a fryingpan than any thing else.’

[36] Taverns and eating-houses were frequently, in east-coast towns, on the ‘sunk-flat,’ access to them being gained by a flight of steps down from the foot-pavement. Several such shops may still be seen in the old town of Edinburgh, in the vicinity of the High Street and Canongate.

[37] The women about fishing communities differed, and do still, from their sisters further inland, regarding house-work, or ‘husband-work.’ Matty’s opinion is a fair reflection of the ideas of her class. A further expression is given to this feeling in _The History of Buckhaven_, where Graham, describing the people about whom he was writing, says:--‘They kept but little communication with the country people, for a farmer, in those days, thought his daughter cast awa if she married one of the fishers in Bucky-harbour, and Witty Eppie the ale-wife wad a sworn, be go’ laddie, I wad rather see my boat and a’ my three sons upset against the Bass, or I saw are o’ them married on a muck-a-byre’s daughter, a wheen useles taupies that can do naething but rive at a tow rock [spin], and cut corn; they can neither bait a hook nor red a line, hook sandles nor gather periwinkles.’

[38] An old stocking leg, in which it was the custom of old women to sew up whatever savings they might have been able to make, and generally hidden away in some odd corner. Some of these ‘hoggers’ have been known to be very substantial. Even yet, now that banks are everywhere, the simile is kept up, though the stocking leg has fallen into disuse for banking purposes. Some persons speak about ‘laying by for a sair fit.’

[39] The beginning of the paragraph reads this way in Morren’s edition:--‘On this Sawny paid their spout and parted.’ That seems the more likely way of it, for later on Sawny speaks of courting being ‘a curst wark and _costly_.’

[40] Sawny’s mother, besides showing herself well acquainted with the wise saws of her native country, further exhibits her belief in witchcraft. In this she was not singular. After a long crusade against witches, the minds of the better educated classes became somewhat enlightened on the subject, and Parliament, in 1735, revoked the penal statutes against sorcery. Many of the ministers regarded this act as a national sin, and said it was contrary to the express law of God. John Wesley, it may be remembered, said that to give up belief in witchcraft was, in effect, giving up the Bible.

[41] Morren’s edition reads ‘milk cows’ here; while a later issue has ‘cow’s milks.’ The only satisfactory one is Morren’s.

[42] One of a set of Scottish proverbs showing the disregard of Scots in bygone days for all sanitary considerations. Two proverbs having a similar bearing are--‘The clartier the cosier,’ and ‘The mair dirt the less hurt.’

[43] In some editions the word ‘crust’ is substituted for ‘cufe.’ Certainly it is more likely.

[44] Penny weddings have been immortalised by Semple of Beltrees in his song _The Blythsome Bridal_. Originally, pennies were contributed by those present, and any overplus, after providing for the wedding feast, went towards assisting the young couple in their furnishing. Latterly, the neighbours sent in eatables of various kinds, the bride’s friends only preparing one dish, the ‘bride’s pie,’ the equivalent to the ‘bride’s-cake’ of modern days. As with the cake, so with the pie, every one present received a piece. The marriage ceremony was generally celebrated at the manse, and the wedding festivities took place in the bride’s house. These festivities some times lasted several days--see, for example, Ramsay’s addition to _Christ’s Kirk on the Green_, by James I.--and were productive of serious irregularities. Ultimately the Church made an effort to regulate them, but with little effect.

[45] That is, by failing to pay the Kirk dues. There was the money for the ‘cries,’ or banns, which was in itself a respectable sum, and a variety of other payments, which made marriage an expensive affair. The minister was given a small acknowledgment for his services; but now-a-days it is usual, instead, to make a present of a satin hat, a pair of gloves, a comforter, or such like.

[46] A ‘magg’ is a synonym for the cant term ‘maik,’ a halfpenny; but in the text it is used in the sense of ‘a gratuity,’ such as has been referred to in the previous note.

[47] Portion of an old song, long popular among the Scottish peasantry. It bore the name of ‘For the Sake of Somebody,’ and is believed to have suggested Burns’ song with the same title. The old song is to be found in _The Tea-Table Miscellany_; and there the last four lines of the first double stanza are:--

‘I am gawn to seek a wife,
I am gawn to buy a plaidy;
I have three stane of woo;
Carling, is thy daughter ready?’

[48] An indication of the derivation of the word ‘spinster.’ Kate, like most Scotch women, had the idea that her marriage could hardly take place until she had her ‘providing.’ There was something more than mere sentiment about this, for owing to the hard struggle married couples had to exist in a poor and undeveloped country, such as Scotland then was, it was probable that the bride would have little chance of getting such a complete set out after, as before, marriage.

[49] Sawny seems to have been guided in his wooing by the old Scotch proverb:--‘Happy is the wooing that’s no lang o’ doing.’

[50] In Edinburgh, during last century, there was occasionally to be found some worthy in the ministerial profession available for such purposes, and whose character would be fairly indicated by the coarse but forcible language of Matty. They were, however, outwith the pale of respectability, and were not recognised by their clerical brethren. Such individuals were not altogether peculiar to Scotland, but might also be found in London about the same period.

[51] In Morren’s, M‘Kenzie & Hutchison’s, and other editions, there is here this parenthesis:--‘Ta’en ane anithers word, a kiss, and a hoddle, at the hillock side.’

[52] The Scotsman’s grace has passed into a proverb, on account of its inordinate length and its theological tinge. The story is often told of the servant girl who, after leaving a family in which she had once served, returned to stay a night with them. At supper the grace was the same as she was wont to hear before she went away, and she complimented her late master and host upon his ‘guid memory.’

[53] A little wooden trough such as is used for the feeding of sheep or swine. In an edition of this chap-book printed in Stirling by C. Randall, in 1801, the reading is:--‘Into a little tub or trough.’ It is the same in several later issues, but in Morren’s edition it reads:--‘Into a little tub or cogboin.’

[54] The Scotch ‘girnel,’ to be found yet in most country houses, especially among ‘bein’ or well-to-do people, who purchase their meal in larger quantities than is usual in towns.

[55] The story of the chase after the ‘poor dominie’ is omitted in Morren’s edition, but the following new matter is inserted in its stead:--‘Tom came running home all besmear’d with blood, at the sight whereof his father cry’d, what’s the matter Tom? To which he made no answer: searching him, the trick was discovered and poor Tom received a severe chastisment. Tom, to be revenged on his father, rose in the night time and broke the fauld and let out the cattle amongst his father’s corn, and goes to bed again, this he did unperceived. Next morning, the neighbours observing the cattle lying amongst the corn, came running, and told his father how they had destroyed all his victual, for they had eat till they had like to burst. All the time Tom lay in his bed, and his father much vexed at his laziness, and told him that he would never have the benefit of more schooling as his master had so many grievious complaints against him; at which Tom rejoiced within himself as he did not value learning, nor put it in balance with his designed tricks; Tom then scampered away, and meeting with an egg cadger coming to Edinburgh, desired him to alight from his horse, and he would give him a dram at the Fallow kirk, at which, the poor man was glad, and went in with him. Tom called for two drams and bade the cadger drink hearty, in the mean time Tom slips out and mounts the cadger’s horse, and puts a foot in each creel, and made the eggs all caddle, and then he dismounted and ran; so that the poor cadger lost his eggs, and had the drams to pay for.’

[56] In Morren’s edition this story is told in a very different way. As has already been explained, the first and second parts in that edition are run into one, and the following paragraph immediately succeeds the story told in the preceding note:--‘Tom was always playing tricks to his grandmother, as he knew she was rich, and would part with nothing to him; he lays in wait one night, and conceals himself in a corner until all was at rest, Tom rises and takes the keys of a drawer, and slips out about forty shillings, and slips off to Dalkeith on a Thursday where his grandmother’s servant girl came that day. Tom was spending largely, and the girl who knew that Tom had no money, came home and told his grandmother that Tom had taken away her money, this so enraged him, that he lashed her buttocks with his wheep in so unmerciful a manner, that what with the smart and shame together she had not the least inclination to sleep the remaining part of the day.’ The narrative then proceeds:--‘Tom being grown up to the years and age of a man,’ etc.

[57] It was customary among country folks, and is so still in some districts of Scotland, to kill a fat animal at Martinmas of each year, and salt it for the winter’s provision. Even people in urban districts, though they had not a cow nor an ox, had a pig which they had been fattening for a year, and which was then considered ready for the sacrifice. Hence the term ‘winter mairt.’ The word ‘mairt,’ or ‘mart,’ ultimately came to denote a person who lived in ease and prosperity.

[58] In all other editions we have seen the reading is ‘three pounds.’

[59] This ends Number I. of the edition of _Lothian Tom_ from which the text is here taken. It finishes at the foot of the page. The next number has a title page similar to what is on the first, and the narrative continues on the back of the title as if there had been no break. The folios run right through the three numbers, the whole chap-book occupying twenty-four pages.

[60] The old jail in the Canongate of Edinburgh is still an object of interest. Jailers in the past occupied a very different position from what they do now. They acted more in the capacity of taverners than their brethren of the present day. In English plays and novels of last century their position is fully shown; and in the same period a similar state of matters existed in Scotland. In Glasgow, after the erection of the Tolbooth at the Cross, in 1627, the jailer was given a yearly salary of 40 merks (£2 4s. 5½ sterling), and he was to receive from every burgess or inhabitant of the city who should be committed to his care 2s. Scots (2d. sterling) for entry and booking fee, and the same sum for every twenty-four hours during which the person should be incarcerated. Outsiders, however, had double fees to pay their host. On account of ‘having only thiefes and lounes as prisoners,’ and getting no profit from them, the jailer of 1661 received from the Town Council of Glasgow a grant of £20 Scots (£1 13s. 4d. sterling). The Privy Council Records show that in 1696 the keeper of Canongate Tolbooth was allowed 2s. Scots per night, with one penny sterling for the servants--in all 3d. sterling--for every recruit he kept.

[61] This clause is added in some modern undated editions:--‘and so Tom gained his end.’

[62] In the Stirling (1801), and other editions the reading is:--‘So the butcher got but fun for his trouble.’

[63] ‘Madam,’ in some later editions.

[64] A fair indication of the opinion Englishmen had of their Scottish neighbours. Could any good come out of Scotland? It is only fair to admit, however, that the contempt was not all on the one side.

[65] The old woman, by her remark about witchcraft and her belief in Tom’s proposal, discovers the presence of superstitions in her mind. The belief in witchcraft was then in a transition stage. Many people firmly believed in it; others were doubtful; while not a few, like Tom, played the rogue on the strength of the superstition in others. It is more than probable that the tricks of such as Lothian Tom did more to enlighten the people than anything else. As for the clergy, they were a hindrance, and rather fostered the belief in witchcraft.

[66] This concludes the second number. The third number, like the others, had a title-page, and the narrative was continued on the back of it.

[67] The modern undated Glasgow editions end here with the words:--‘for it is fashious to lead and heavy to carry.’ All that goes before of this part is added to part five, so that in them there are only five parts. In the Stirling (1801) edition, however, the story is carried on to the end of the scene with the lawyer.

[68] It was quite a common conclusion of a law-suit for the lawyer and his client to ‘drink a bottle’ or even get ‘fou’ together, especially if they were on the winning side. Consultations were generally held in some tavern in the vicinity of the court, and the whole aspect of a case was discussed under the stimulating influence of a ‘tappit hen.’ Sir Walter Scott in the text and notes to _Guy Mannering_ gives a most interesting account of the convivial habits of the Scottish bar during last century.

[69] Nearly four pages are here inserted in the edition from which this text is taken, but they do not belong to _Lothian Tom_, but to _Pady from Cork_. They consist of ‘Pady’s New Catechism,’ ‘Pady’s Humble Petition,’ and ‘Pady’s Creed for Irish Believers,’ and they will be found in their proper place in a subsequent part of this volume.

[70] _Vide_ Introduction, vol. i. p. 45.

[71] Dogs and chapmen were proverbial enemies. The tradition regarding the feud will be found in the answer to the question--‘What is the reason that dogs are worse on chapmen, than on other strange people?’--in _The Scots Piper’s Queries_.

[72] Chapmen were looked upon by the common people as characters whose disinclination to work led them into a lazy life. Their services to the community were acknowledged, but only under a protest that had they not been ‘haters of hard work’ they could not have gone into the business. This feeling, however, arose chiefly from the popular idea, which still finds expression, that nothing can be called work except manual labour.

[73] A most effectual weapon of defence against the physical as well as the spiritual assaults of Satan. Sinclair, in his work entitled _Satan’s Invisible World Discovered_, tells a most extraordinary story of the means taken to ‘lay’ the ‘devil of Glenluce.’

[74] The words, ‘very sick,’ are here added in Morren’s edition.

[75] The common people had strange notions about foreigners, as this passage shows. A somewhat similar idea is given expression to in _The History of the Haverel Wives_, where Janet speaks of Italy as the country ‘where the auld Pape their [the priests’] father, the de’il, the witches, brownies and fairies dwal.’

[76] There are some unimportant verbal differences between the text here and what is to be found in Morren’s edition. At the asterisk there is inserted:--‘thrawing my face terrible at her.’

[77] Morren has here:--‘And thou, O monsieur Lucifer, Satan Diable,’ etc.

[78] A very fair indication of the unnecessary ceremonies gone through by wizards and witches. Lothian Tom used some ‘enchantment’ under equally interesting circumstances. See vol. ii. p. 81.

[79] Before the introduction of the present complex Poor Law system, each parish in Scotland, through its kirk session, gave relief to its own poor. The strictness of the authorities passed into a proverb. Many parishes had barrows on which the infirm poor not belonging to them were wheeled outside the boundaries and left to do for themselves as best they could. We have read of a case in which relief was refused to a sickly stranger, and the village joiner was employed to make a barrow for the person’s removal. Before the work was done the poor unfortunate had died.

[80] In Morren’s edition there is here added:--‘and give us a proper drubbing.’

[81] Possibly this practice--for the frequency with which it is mentioned in this and other chap-books indicates that it was so--may have given rise to the proverbial expression still common in Scotland:--‘I’ll tak a sup out your cog for that,’ used when a person wishes to convey a vague threat.

[82] The suggestion from this passage seems to be that the lads did not sleep in the house, but in a ‘bothy’ in the vicinity. The arrangement in many farm houses in some parts of Scotland is--and it was much more common a century ago--that the maid servants slept in the house, while the men were accommodated in an out-house. During harvesting operations, shearers from a distance lived in a wooden ‘bothy’ erected on the farm. The system was not quite satisfactory, and often gave rise to serious irregularities.

[83] Now-a-days it may seem strange that John Cheap, after his first night’s experience in the stye, should have cared to have had it a second time. Travelling on Sunday, however, was a thing not to be thought of a century ago. It was doubtful, even, if a hen did not break the commandment by laying an egg on the Sabbath. Dean Ramsay tells the story of a Highlander who gave the following instance in support of the ‘God-fearin’’ character of the people of the village in which he resided:--‘Last Sabbath, just as the kirk was skailin’, there was a drover chield frae Dumfries comin’ along the road whustlin’, an’ lookin’ as happy as if it was ta muddle o’ the week; well, sir, our laads is a God-fearin’ set o’ laads, an’ they were just comin’ out o’ the kirk--’od they yokit upon him, an’ a’most killed him.’ A similar fate might have befallen John Cheap had he travelled for a change of lodgings. Certainly he would have been taken before the Session and rebuked.

[84] The Covenanters had their great stronghold in the West of Scotland, especially down Ayrshire way, and the ‘Westland Whig’ was regarded as a man of extra strictness in religious ordinances.

[85] Our Lord’s miracle of the casting out the legion of the devils from the man amongst the tombs, and their subsequent entrance into a herd of swine, seems to have made a strong impression on the Scottish mind. John Cheap’s remarks on the subject are fairly representative of the ideas of many country people in Scotland even of the present day.

[86] A proverbial expression. Allan Ramsay’s version of it is:--‘Better belly burst than good meat spill.’

[87] This and other references in the course of the present narrative point to an extensive trade in human hair; and show that the country lasses were not averse to gaining a little money by parting with their flowing tresses.

[88] Disrespect for all sanitary considerations was for centuries an unfortunate feature in Scotland, and was the main cause of the frequent plagues--or ‘visitations’ as they were piously termed--which depopulated the country and crippled its resources. Refuse of all sorts was thrown into the ‘midden-dub’ in front of the door of each house. In the Trongate of Glasgow, in 1655, the gutters had become so blocked up that the inhabitants had to place stepping stones in them before they could obtain access to their houses. In Edinburgh, a century later, ashes, foul water, etc., were thrown over the windows at night, the only warning the belated pedestrian received being the melodious _Gardez l’eau_; and happy was he if he escaped.

[89] An official who went about to see that the orders of the ‘birley-court’ were obeyed. This court consisted of certain parties in the barony who looked after local affairs, and were, in fact, a sort of local authority or town council.

[90] The ‘evil eye’ was a most terrible thing, according to Scottish superstition; and a variety of ‘freits’ or charms were had recourse to as shields against it. In the _Justiciary Records_, of 1661, it is stated that Beatrix Leslie entered the house of one Agnes Young ‘in ane great fury and anger, and pluckt away a pock belonging to her, which the said Agnes had in keiping, without speaking ane word to her, bot gieving her ane _terrible look_; and that same verry night, the said William Young [her husband] awakened out of his sleep, in a great affrightment and sweat, crying out, that she with a number of catts wer devouring him.’ Many similar instances are on record. Of course they were simply due to perverted imagination.

[91] John Cheap seems here to have been credited with possession of the ‘evil eye,’ while he was really only guilty of a very questionable practical joke.

[92] That is, his mother gave him a good _thrashing_ for it.

[93] In the edition here followed, the heading is ‘Fun upon Fun,’ but the one given above is more distinctive, while its use is sanctioned by the precedent of 1820 edition. The edition of 1816 has--‘The Comical and Merry Tricks of Leper the Taylor.’

[94] The custom of the common people, when the ‘goodman’ required a suit, was to have a tailor working in the house for a day or two, during which time he had his board and lodging, with a small money payment. Sometimes a week’s work might be given the tailor in this way, when the ‘callans,’ as well as their father, were in need of new clothes. When the goodwife and her daughters were similarly situated, the dressmaker was brought in on the same principle. This custom is not yet dead; though it is fast disappearing.