Jeddart justice--first hang a man, syne try him.
"According to Crawford, in his Memoirs, the phrase Jedburgh justice took its rise in 1574, on the occasion of the Regent Morton there and then trying and condemning, with cruel precipitation, a vast number of people who had offended against the laws, or against the supreme cause of his lordship's faction. A different origin is assigned by the people. Upon the occasion, say they, of nearly twenty criminals being tried for one offence, the jury were equally divided in opinion as to a verdict, when one who had been asleep during the whole trial suddenly awoke, and, being interrogated for his vote, vociferated, 'Hang them a'!'
"The English phrase 'Lidford Law,' commemorated by Grose, bears the same signification."--Robert Chambers.
Jock's a mislear'd imp, but ye're a run deil.
That is, "Jock," although very mischievous, is a quiet and well-behaved person compared to you.
Joke at leisure; ye kenna wha may jibe yoursel.
Jouk, and let the jaw gang by.
Literally, stoop, and let the rush of water go over your head; meaning, yield to adverse circumstances, and their effects will pass away.
"Just as it fa's," quo' the wooer to the maid.
"A courtier went to woo a maid: she was dressing supper with a drop at her nose. She asked him if he would stay all night; he answered, 'Just as it falls:' meaning, if the drop fell among the meat, he would be off; if it fell by, he would stay."--Kelly.
Just enough and nae mair, like Janet Howie's shearer's meat.
Just, father, just; three half-crowns mak five shillings; gie me the money and I'll pay the man.
[Illustration]
Kail hains bread.
Kame sindle, kame sair.
If the hair is seldom combed it soon becomes a difficult and painful operation to perform. Proverbially applied when simple but necessary matters of business are neglected to such an extent that they become troublesome.
Kamesters are aye creeshy.
"Kamesters," or wool-combers, are always greasy. People are always like their work.
Katie Sweerock, frae where she sat, cried, "Reik me this, and reik me that."
"Applied to lazy people, who ask others to do this or that for them which they ought to do for themselves."--Kelly.
Keek in the stoup was ne'er a gude fellow.
"Spoken when one peeps into the pot to see if the liquor be out; whereas a jolly good fellow should drink about, and when the pot's empty call for more."--Kelly.
Keep a calm sough.
That is, keep your own counsel on matters of danger or delicacy.
"'Thir kittle times will drive the wisest o' us daft,' said Neil Blane, the prudent host of the Howff; 'but I'se aye keep a calm sough.'"--Old Mortality.
Keep aff and gie fair words.
Or promise much, but perform little.
"The assets he carried off are of nae mair use to him than if he were to light his pipe wi' them. He tried if MacVittie & Co. wad gie him siller on them--that I ken by Andro Wylie; but they were ower auld cats to draw that strae afore them--they keepit aff and gae fair words."--Rob Roy.
Keep a thing seven years, and ye'll find a use for't.
Keep gude company, and ye'll be counted ane o' them.
Keep hame, and hame will keep you.
Keep out o' his company that cracks o' his cheatery.
Shun the company of him who boasts of his cunning.
Keep something for a sair fit.
"Keep something for a rainy day."--English.
Keep the feast till the feast day.
Keep the head and feet warm, and the rest will tak nae harm.
Keep the staff in your ain hand.
Keep woo, and it will be dirt; keep lint, and it will be silk.
"Lint mellows and improves by keeping, but wool rots."--Kelly.
Keep your ain fish-guts to your ain sea-maws.
"'Why, Mrs Heukbane,' said the woman of letters, pursing up her mouth, 'ye ken my gudeman likes to ride the expresses himsel--we maun gie our ain fish-guts to our ain sea-maws--it's a red half-guinea to him every time he munts his mear.'"--The Antiquary.
Keep your ain cart-grease for your ain cart-wheels.
Of similar meaning to the preceding proverb.
Keep your breath to cool your parritch.
Applied to people who are angry without cause, or exercising undue authority.
"The only wiselike thing I heard ony body say, was decent Mr John Kirk of Kirk-knowe, and he wussed them just to get the king's mercy, and nae mair about it. But he spak to unreasonable folk--he might just hae keepit his breath to hae blawn on his porridge."--Heart of Midlothian.
Keep your gab steekit when ye kenna your company.
Be silent or cautious in speaking when in the company of strangers.
Keep your kiln-dried taunts for your mouldy hair'd maidens.
"A disdainful return to those who are too liberal with their taunts."--Kelly.
Keep your mocks till ye're married.
Keep your mouth shut and your een open.
Keep your tongue a prisoner, and your body will gang free.
Keep your tongue within your teeth.
Kenn'd folk's nae company.
Ken when to spend and when to spare, and ye needna be busy, and ye'll ne'er be bare.
Ken yoursel, and your neighbour winna misken you.
Kindle a candle at baith ends, and it'll soon be done.
Kindness comes o' will; it canna be coft.
Kindness is like cress-seed, it grows fast.
Kindness will creep where it canna gang.
Kings and bears aft worry their keepers.
"Witness the tragical end of many courtiers."--Kelly.
Kings are kittle cattle to shoe behint.
"'Kittill to scho behind,' not to be depended on; not worthy of trust."--Jamieson.
King's cheese gaes half away in parings.
For a greater part of the income is absorbed in the expenses of collecting it.
King's cauff's worth ither folk's corn.
"'I am sure,' said Ritchie, composedly, 'I wish Laurie a higher office, for your lordship's sake and for mine, and specially for his ain sake, being a friendly lad; yet your lordship must consider that a scullion--if a yeoman of the king's most royal kitchen may be called a scullion--may weel rank with a master-cook elsewhere; being that king's cauff, as I said before, is better than ----.'"--Fortunes of Nigel.
Kings hae lang hands.
Kiss and be kind, the fiddler is blind.
Kiss a sklate stane, and that winna slaver you.
"'Ah! bonny lass,' says he, 'ye'll gies a kiss, An' I sall set ye richt on, hit or miss.' 'A hit or miss I'll get, but help o' you, Kiss ye sklate-stanes, they winna weet your mou'.' An' aff she gaes, the fallow loot a rin, As gin he ween'd wi' speed to tak her in, But as luck was, a knibblich took his tae, An' o'er fa's he, an' tumbled doun the brae."--Ross's Helenore.
Kissing gaes by favour.
Kissing is cried down since the shaking o' hands.
Kelly says (1721), "There is a proclamation that nobody should kiss hereafter, but only shake hands." Spoken by a woman who is asked for a kiss, but who is unwilling to allow it.
Kiss my foot, there's mair flesh on't.
A sharp reply to those who obsequiously ask permission to kiss the hand.
Kiss ye me till I be white, an' that will be an ill web to bleach.
Knock a carle, and ding a carle, and that's the way to win a carle; kiss a carle, and clap a carle, and that's the way to tine a carle.
"Both these are joined together, and signify that people of mean breeding are rather to be won by harsh treatment than civil."--Kelly.
Kythe in your ain colours, that folk may ken ye.
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Lacking breeds laziness, but praise breeds pith.
"Discommend a boy, and you discourage him; but commend him, and it will spur him on."--Kelly.
Lads will be men.
Laith to bed, laith oot o't.
Laith to drink, laith frae't.
Meaning that although some people are slow or "laith" to begin a thing, still, when they do commence, it is difficult to get them to leave off.
Lang and sma', gude for naething ava.
Jocularly applied to those who are tall and of "genteel" build.
Langest at the fire soonest finds cauld.
Lang fasting gathers wind.
Lang fasting hains nae meat.
Lang leal, lang poor.
Lang lean maks hamald cattle.
That is, poorly kept cattle makes homely, domestic, or common meat.
Lang look'd for come at last.
Lang mint, little dint.
"Much ado about nothing."
Lang noses are aye taking till them.
Lang or ye saddle a foal.
Lang or you cut Falkland wood wi' a pen-knife.
Spoken when people enter into extensive undertakings without sufficient preparations or means.
Lang sick, soon weel.
Lang sport turns aft to earnest.
Lang standing and little offering maks a poor priest.
"Lang straes are nae motes," quo' the wife when she haul'd the cat out o' the kirn.
Lang tarrowing taks a' the thanks awa.
"He loses his thanks that promises, but delays."--English.
Lang-tongued wives gang lang wi' bairn.
"Applied to those who discover their projects, designs, and intentions long before they are put in execution."--Kelly.
Lasses and glasses are bruckle ware.
Lassies are like lamb-legs: they'll neither saut nor keep.
Lassies now-a-days ort nae God's creatures.
"The proverbial reflection of an old woman, as signifying that in our times young women are by no means nice in their choice of husbands."--Jamieson.
Last to bed, best heard.
Laugh and lay't down again.
Laugh at leisure, ye may greet ere night.
Laugh at your ain toom pouches.
"'The japanned tea-caddie, Hannah--the best bohea--bid Tib kindle a spark of fire--the morning's damp--draw in the giggling faces of ye, ye d--d idle scoundrels, or laugh at your ain toom pouches--it will be lang or your weel-doing fill them.' This was spoken, as the honest lawyer himself might have said, in transitu."--St Ronan's Well.
Law licks up a'.
"The Laird has been a true friend on our unhappy occasions, and I have paid him back the siller for Effie's misfortune, whereof Mr Nichil Novit returned him no balance, as the Laird and I did expect he wad hae done. But law licks up a', as the common folk say. I have had the siller to borrow out o' sax purses."--Heart of Midlothian.
Law-makers shouldna be law-breakers.
Law's a deadly distemper amang friends.
Law's costly: tak a pint and gree.
"How easy can the barley bree Cement the quarrel! It's aye the cheapest lawyer's fee, To taste the barrel."--Burns.
Lay a thing by and it'll come o' use.
Lay the head o' the sow to the tail o' the grice.
Or place the profit against the loss.
"An' I am to lose by ye, I'se ne'er deny I hae won by ye mony a fair pund sterling--sae, an' it come to the warst, I'se e'en lay the head o' the sow to the tail o' the grice."--Rob Roy.
Lay the sweet side o' your tongue till't.
"An answer to them that ask what they will get to their hasty pudding."--Kelly.
Lay up like a laird, and seek like a lad.
Lay your wame to your winning.
That is, let your housekeeping expenses be in unison with your income.
Laziness is muckle worth, when it's weel guided.
Lazy youth maks lousy age.
Leal folk ne'er wanted gear.
Leal heart leed never.
"A' was toom, a' heartless-like, an' bare; Her dowie pain she culdna mair conceal-- The heart, they'll say, will never lie that's leal." --Ross's Helenore.
Lean on the brose ye got in the morning.
Spoken facetiously to a person who leans heavily on another.
Leap year was never a gude sheep year.
Learn the cat the road to the kirn, and she'll aye be lickin'.
Learn young, learn fair; learn auld, learn mair.
Learn your gudewife to mak milk kail.
That is, "Teach your grandmother to suck eggs."
Learn you an ill habit and ye'll ca't a custom.
Least said soonest mended.
Leave aff while the play's gude.
Leave a jest when it pleases you best.
Leave the court ere the court leave you.
Leave welcome aye behint you.
Prolong your stay only so long as you find your company approved of, so that you may not be considered tedious.
Lee for him and he'll swear for you.
Leein' rides on debt's back.
Lend your money and lose your friend.
"It is not the lending of our money that loses our friend; but the demanding of it again, and that will lose a friend to my certain knowledge. They have a proverbial rhyme to this purpose:--
"'I had a } {and a } {as many of this land, I lent my } {to my } {when he did it demand, I sought my } penny {from my} friend {when he had kept it long, I lost my } {and my } {and was not that a wrong? Had I a } {and a } {as I have had before, I wo'd keep my} {and my } {and play the fool no more.'" --Kelly.
Let-a-be for let-a-be.
"Mutual forbearance."--Jamieson.
Let ae deil dang anither.
An expression of indifference at two bad persons quarrelling.
Let a horse drink what he will, but no when he will.
Let alane maks mony a loon.
"Let a' trades live," quo' the wife when she burnt her besom.
Let aye the bell'd wether break the snaw.
A "bell'd wether" is a ram with a bell round its neck; and the proverb means that a difficult or dangerous undertaking should be led by a person of experience.
Let folk bode weel, and do their best.
Let him cool in the skin he het in.
Let him drink as he has brewen.
Let by-ganes be by-ganes.
"'Hout, ay,' said Elliot, 'just let by-ganes be by-ganes, and a' friends again; deil ane I bear malice at but Westburnflat, and I hae gi'en him baith a het skin and a cauld ane.'"--The Black Dwarf.
Let him haud the bairn that's aught the bairn.
Let him ride his ain horse wi' his ain hauding.
Let him tak a spring on his ain fiddle.
Let him tak his fling, and he'll find oot his ain weight.
Let him that's cauld blaw the ingle.
Let him that pays the lawin' choose the lodging.
"'I dinna ken, sir,' she replied in a dry revĂȘche tone, which carried me back twenty years, 'I am nane of thae heartsome landleddies that can tell country cracks, and make themsells agreeable; and I was ganging to pit on a fire for you in the red room; but if it is your will to stay here, he that pays the lawing maun choose the lodging.'"--The Highland Widow.
Let his ain wand ding him.
Let ilka ane roose the ford as they find it.
That is, let every one speak of a thing as he finds it.
Let ilka ane soop before their ain door.
Let ilka cock fight his ain battle.
Let ilka herring hing by its ain head.
Let ilka man soop the ice wi' his ain besom.
Let ilka sheep hang by its ain shank.
Let ilka tub stand on its ain bottom.
Let na the plough stand to kill a mouse.
Do not quit or neglect an important matter to look after trifles.
Let ne'er your gear owergang ye.
Never let your wealth make you give way to pride, or forget your old friends.
Let never sorrow come sae near your heart.
Let sleeping dogs lie.
Let that flee stick to the wa'.
"'Hout tout, man! let that flee stick in the wa',' answered his kinsman; 'when the dirt's dry it will rub out.'"--Rob Roy.
Let the eird bear the dike.
"Eird and dike" are earth and stone wall. The proverb means that heavy or important undertakings should have a solid basis.
Let the horns gang wi' the hide.
The horns bearing but insignificant value in comparison with the hide, they should be thrown into the purchase of the latter free of charge.
Let the kirk stand i' the kirkyaird.
That is, let everything be in its proper place.
Let them care that come behint.
Let the morn come and the meat wi't.
Let the muckle horse get the muckle windlin.
Let the tail follow the skin.
Let the tow gang wi' the bucket.
Let your meat dit your mouth.
Liars should hae gude memories.
Lick and lay down.
A proverbial form of expression of a man's being able to pay his way.
"And what for suld I no have a corpus delicti, or a habeas corpus, or ony other corpus that I like, sae lang as I am willing to lick and lay down the ready siller?"--St Ronan's Well.
Lick your loof and lay't in mine, dry leather jigs aye.
"This signifies no more but kiss your hand and give it. Spoken facetiously upon some good fortune unexpected."--Kelly.
Lie in your bed and lippen to that.
Life's life ony gate.
"'And now we're settled ance mair,' said Cuddie to his mother, 'and if we're no sae bein and comfortable as we were up yonder, yet life's life ony gate, and we're wi' decent kirk-ganging folk o' your ain persuasion, mither; there will be nae quarrelling about that.'"--Old Mortality.
Light burdens break nae banes.
Light lades mak willing horses.
Lightly come, lightly gang.
Light maidens mak langing lads.
"Light's heartsome," quo' the thief to the Lammas mune.
Lightsome sangs mak merry gate.
"Ratcliffe, speaking apart to Madge, asked her 'whether she did not remember ony o' her auld sangs?' 'Mony a dainty ane,' said Madge; 'and blithely can I sing them, for lightsome sangs make merry gate.'"--Heart of Midlothian.
Light suppers mak lang days.
Like a sow playing on a trump.
"Trump," a Jew's harp. Typical of extreme awkwardness.
Like Bauldy's wedding, there's nae meat but muckle mirth.
Like blood, like gude, like age, mak the happy marriage.
Like butter in the black dog's hause.
That is, a dangerous position, as butter in the embrace of a dog certainly is.
Like Cranshaws kirk--there's as mony dogs as folk, and neither room for reel nor rock.
"In a remote pastoral region, like that of Cranshaws, lying in the midst of the Lammermoor hills, it is or was usual for shepherds' dogs to accompany their masters to the church; and in times of severe stormy weather, few people except the shepherds, who are accustomed to be out in all weathers, could attend divine service; and in such circumstances, it may have occurred that the dogs may have equalled in number the rational hearers of the Word. We have heard the saying applied by bustling servant girls to a scene where three or four dogs were lounging about a kitchen hearth, and impeding the work."--G. Henderson.
Liked gear is half-bought.
"When wares please, a bargain is soon made."--English.
Like draws aye to like, like an auld horse to a fell dike.
Persons of similar tastes draw towards and sympathize with each other. "Like will to like--a scabbed horse and a sandy dike."--Danish. "Like will to like, as the devil said to the coal-burner."--German.
Like hens, ye rin aye to the heap.
Spoken jocularly to those who help themselves to what there is most of on the table.
Like Hilton kirk, baith narrow and mirk, and can only haud its ain parish folk.
"Hilton kirk was a very small edifice in Berwickshire, and it would seem from the saying not very well lighted. When any number of strangers came as hearers, the accommodation was deficient; the saying is used when many persons assemble in a small house, and there is little room to stir about."--G. Henderson.
Like Lamington's mare, ye break brawly aff, but sune set up.
Likely lies i' the mire, and unlikely gets ower.
Meaning that many undertakings which promise favourably at first often fail; while those of which no great hopes are entertained are successfully carried through.
Like maister, like man; like priest, like offering.
Like Moses' breeks, neither shape, form, nor fashion.
Like Orkney butter, neither gude to eat nor creesh woo.
"A minister having in these words compared the covenant, made it a proverb. Applied to a thing that is useful no way."--Kelly.
Like paddy's ghost, twa steps ahint.
Like's an ill mark amang ither folk's sheep.
Like the bairns o' Falkirk, they'll end ere they mend.
"This is a proverbial saying of ill-doing persons, as expressive of there being no hope of them. How the children of Falkirk came to be so characterized, it would be difficult now to ascertain. The adage has had the effect of causing the men of Falkirk jocularly to style themselves 'the bairns;' and when one of them speaks of another as 'a bairn,' he only means that that other person is a native of Falkirk."--Robert Chambers.
Like the cat, fain fish wad ye eat, but ye are laith to weet your feet.
"The cat is fain the fish to eat, but hath no will to wet her feet."--English.
"Letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would,' like the poor cat i' the adage."--Macbeth.
Like the cowts o' Bearbughty, ye're cowts till ye're best's by.
Like the cur in the crub, he'll neither do nor let do.
A Scottish version of the dog in the manger.
Like the dam o' Devon, lang gathered and soon gane.
Like the fiddler o' Chirnside's breakfast, it's a' pennyworth's thegither.
"This is said of people who buy very small quantities of any article. Fiddlers are proverbially poor, and the one of Chirnside was no exception to the rule. One morning he sent his boy for materials for breakfast, and the order was delivered to the shopkeeper in the following measured terms:--
"'A pennyworth o' tea, A pennyworth o' sugar, Three penny loaves, And a pennyworth o' butter; And a pennyworth o' he herring, For my faither likes melts!'"--G. Henderson.
Like the gudeman o' Kilpalet, ye're ower simple for this warld, and hae nae broo o' the next.
Like the laird o' Castlemilk's foals--born beauties.
Like the lassies o' Bayordie, ye learn by the lug.
Like the man o' Amperly's coo, she's come hame routin', but no very fu', wi' the tow about her horns.
"The cow came home unsold; and the rhyme is applied to a young woman who comes home from a fair or market without a 'jo' or sweetheart."--G. Henderson.
Like the man wi' the sair guts--nae getting quat o't.
Like the smith's dog, sleep at the sound o' the hammer, and wauk at the crunching o' teeth.
Like the tod's whalps, aye the aulder the waur.
Like the wabster, stealing through the warld.
Another insult to the weaving profession. The reply of a person who is asked how he is getting on.
Like the wife that ne'er cries for the ladle till the pat rins o'er.
That is, never asks for an article until it is too late.
Like the wife wi' the mony dochters, the best's aye hindmost.
Or, at least, she would have the lover of the last believe so.
Like the wife's tongue, aften better meant than timed.
Like the witches o' Auchencrow, ye get mair for your ill than your gude.
"That is, people sometimes grant an individual a favour through fear of malevolence, or to get rid of his importunity."--G. Henderson.
Like to like.
"I'll tell ye, Ratton, blithe will Nicol Muschat be to see ye, for he says he kens weel there isna sic a villain out o' hell as ye are, and he wad be ravished to hae a crack wi' ye--like to like, ye ken--it's a proverb never fails; and ye are baith a pair o' the deevil's peats, I trow--hard to ken whilk deserves the hettest corner o' his ingleside."--Heart of Midlothian.
Like water to leather--the langer the tougher.
"Although my mither has been, past the memory o' man, in a complaining condition, I ken nae odds o' her this many a year; her ail's like water to leather, it makes her life the tougher."--The Entail.
Lippen to me, but look to yoursel.
Lips gae, laps gae, drink and pay.
"If you put your lips to the cup to drink, put your hand to your lap to take out your purse."--Kelly.
Listen at a hole, and ye'll hear news o' yoursel.
List to meat's gude kitchen.
Little and aften fills the purse.
Little can a lang tongue layne.
Little does the puir gude, and as little get they.
Little dogs hae lang tails.
Little folk are soon angry.
A frequent addition gives the reason--for their heart gets soon to their mouth.
Little gear, little care.
Little Jock gets the little dish, and that hauds him lang little.
"Poor people are poorly served, which prolongs their poverty."--Kelly.
Little kens the auld wife, as she sits by the fire, what the wind is doing on Hurley-Burley-Swire.
"Hurle-Burle-Swire is a passage through a ridge of mountains that separate Nithsdale from Twadale and Clydsdale: where the mountains are so indented one with another that there is a perpetual blowing. The meaning is that they who are at ease know little of the trouble that others are exposed to."--Kelly.
Little kent, the less cared for.
Little may an auld horse do if he maunna nicher.
Little meddling maks fair pairting.
Little mense o' the cheeks to bite aff the nose.
It is bad policy for a person to injure another with whom he is intimately connected, or upon whom he is depending.
Little odds between a feast and a fu' wame.
Little said is soon mended, little gear is soon spended.
Little's the light will be seen far in a mirk night.
"'But the flame!' demanded Ravenswood; 'the broad blaze which might have been seen ten miles off--what occasioned that?' 'Hout, awa! it's an auld saying and a true, "Little's the light will be seen far in a mirk night"--a wheen fern and horse litter that I fired in the courtyard, after sending back the loon of a footman.'"--Bride of Lammermoor.
Little to fear when traitors are true.
Little troubles the ee, but less the soul.
Little wats the ill-willy wife what a dinner may haud in.
Although a wife be very angry and "ill-willy" with her husband in private, still in public she should be cautious for obvious reasons, one of which is, Kelly says, "That a handsome treat may secure good friends and great interest."
Little winning maks a light purse.
Little wit in the head maks muckle travel to the feet.
People of few resources, or poor imagination, are apt to be put about by trifles.
Little wit in the pow that lights the candle at the lowe.
Live in measure, and laugh at the mediciners.
Live upon love, as laverocks do on leeks.
Living at heck and manger.
To live at "heck and manger" is to fare sumptuously every day, even beyond our income.
Lock your door, that you may keep your neighbours honest.
Lo'e me little an' lo'e me lang.
Look before ye loup, ye'll ken better how to light.
"Luke quhair thou licht befoir thou lowp, And slip na certainty for howp, Quha gyds thee but begess."--Cherrie and the Slae.
Loud coos the doo when the hawk's no whistling; loud cheeps the mouse when the cat's no rustling.
That is, subordinates take advantage when superiors are out of the way. "When the cat's away, the mice will play."--English.
Loud i' the loan was ne'er a gude milk cow.
Noisy people, or those who are always boasting of what they can do, are seldom so clever even as their neighbours. Kelly says this is "a reprimand to noisy girls."
Love and jealousy are sindle sindry.
Love and lairdship's like nae marrows.
"Marrow," that is, an equal, match, or antagonist.
Love and light winna hide.
Love has nae lack, be the dame e'er sae black.
Love has nae law.
Love is as warm amang cottars as courtiers.
"The rose blooms gay on shairney brae, As weel's in birken shaw; And love will lowe in cottage low, As weel's in lofty ha'."--Tannahill.
Love ower het soon cools.
Love your friend and look to yoursel.
[Illustration]
Maidens should be mild and meek, quick to hear, and slow to speak.
Maidens should be mim till they're married, and then they may burn kirks.
"Spoken often, by way of reflection, when we say that such a one is a good-humoured girl, as if you would say, 'Observe how she'll prove when she is married.'"--Kelly.
Maidens' tochers and ministers' stipends are aye less than ca'd.
Maidens want naething but a man, and then they want a'thing.
Mair by luck than gude guiding.
That is, a person has been successful by mere force of circumstances, and by no particular merit of his own.
Mair hamely than welcome.
"Mair haste the waur speed," quo' the tailor to the lang thread.
Mair nice than wise.
Mair pride than pith.
Mair than enough is ower muckle.
Mair than the deil wear a black manteel.
"Mair whistle than woo," quo' the souter when he sheared the sow.
The saying, "Great cry and little wool," is common to all nations; the Scottish version, however, is the most expressive and humorous we have met with.
Maister's will is gude wark.
For the master himself is sure to be pleased with it.
Maistry maws the meadows doun.
"The captain's a queer hand ... he keeps a high hand ower the country, and we couldna deal with the Hielandmen without his protection, sin' a' the keys o' the kintray hings at his belt; and he's no an ill body in the main; and maistry, ye ken, maws the meadows doun."--Heart of Midlothian.
Mak ae wrang step and down ye gae.
Mak ae pair o' legs worth twa pair o' hands.
"He freed Rashleigh from my hold, and securing me, notwithstanding my struggles, in his own Herculean gripe, he called out, 'Take the bent, Mr Rashleigh--make ae pair o' legs worth twa pair o' hands; ye hae done that before now.'"--Rob Roy.
Mak a kiln o't, and creep in at the logie.
We surmise that this is intended as an advice to a person who has become possessed of an article, and does not know what to do with it, like the old lady who won the principal prize in the lottery, said prize consisting of a live elephant! A "killogie" is, says Jamieson, "a vacuity before the fireplace in a kiln for drawing air."
Mak a kirk or a mill o't.
Similar to the preceding proverb. Equivalent to saying such a thing is entirely in your own control; you may do what you please with it.
Mak friends o' fremit folk.
Mak hay while the sun shines.
Mak nae bauks in gude bear-land.
To "bauk" is to leave small strips of land unturned in ploughing. Kelly says of this proverb that it is "spoken when it is proposed to marry the youngest daughter before the eldest."
Mak nae orts o' gude hay.
Literally, do not throw aside good hay.
Mak nae toom ruse.
"Toom ruse" means empty praise, and the proverb signifies that we should not praise indiscriminately, or without knowledge of the subject.
Mak the best o' a bad bargain.
Mak your wife a gowdspink, and she'll turn a water-wagtail.
That is, if you indulge a person freely to a certain extent, the probability is he will exceed the limits.
Malice is aye mindfu'.
Man proposes, God disposes.
Man's twal is no sae gude as the deil's dizzen.
No, because "man's twal" is twelve, while the "deil's dizzen" is thirteen.
March comes like a lion and gangs like a lamb.
March comes wi' adders' heads and gangs wi' peacocks' tails.
March dust and March win', bleaches as weel as simmer's sun.
March dust and May sun mak corn white and maidens dun.
March water and May sun makes claes clear and maidens dun.
The explanation of this saying, which belongs to the Mearns, is, that water in the month of March is supposed to be of a more cleansing quality than in any other month. The same idea is also expressed in the following saying:
March water's worth May soap.
March whisquer was ne'er a gude fisher.
Marriage and hanging gae by destiny.
Married folk are like rats in a trap--fain to get ithers in, but fain to be out themsels.
Marriage wad tame the sea, if a match could be got for her.
"Of all comforts I miscarried, When I played the sot and married: 'Tis a trap, there's none need doubt on't; Those that are in would fain get out on't."--Tea-Table Miscellany.
Marry abune your match, and get a maister.
Marry for love, and work for siller.
Marry in haste, and repent at leisure.
Marry your son when you will, but your dochter when you can.
Maun-do is a fell fallow.
"Necessity is a hard master."--German.
May-be's are no aye honey bees.
"An answer to them that say, 'Maybe it will fall out so or so.'"--Kelly.
May-be's flee na at this time o' the year.
Maybe's a big book.
Maybe your pat may need my clips.
Perhaps some day you will be glad of my assistance, although you despise it just now.
May birds are aye cheeping.
This refers to the popular superstition against marrying in the month of May, the children of which marriages are said to "die of decay."
May he that turns the clod ne'er want a bannock.
Mealy mou'd maidens stand lang at the mill.
Measure twice, cut but ance.
Meat and mass ne'er hindered wark.
"'Happy will I be to serve you, my gude auld acquaintance,' said the clerk; 'but sit you down--sit you down--sit you down, Mrs Dods,--meat and mass never hindered wark. Ye are something overcome wi' your travel--the spirit canna aye bear through the flesh, Mrs Dods.'"--St Ronan's Well.
Meat and measure mak a' men wise.
Meat feeds, claith cleeds, but breeding maks the man.
Meat is gude, but mense is better.
Men are no to be mete by inches.
Men speak o' the fair as things went there.
Mettle's kittle in a blind mare.
Michaelmas mune rises nine nights alike sune.
Mills and wives are aye wanting.
Mind me to a' that ask for me, but blad me in naebody's teeth.
Mind thysel, the warld will mind the lave.
Mint before you strike.
Minting gets nae bairns.
Mischief's mother's but like midge's wing.
Mister makes a man o' craft.
Misterfu' folk maunna be mensefu'.
"Beggars should not be choosers."--English.
Mist in May and heat in June mak the harvest right soon.
Mistress before folk, gudewife behint backs; whaur lies the dishclout?
A jocular manner of addressing those who are very particular in their manner of speaking.
Mocking's catching.
Money's aye welcome, were it even in a dirty clout.
Money's better than my lord's letter.
Money's like the muck midden, it does nae gude till it be spread.
Money makes and money mars.
"He who hath gold hath fear, and he who hath none has sorrow."
Money maks a man free ilka where.
Money maks the mare to go whether she has legs or no.
Mony a dog has dee'd sin' ye were whelped.
Mony a dog will dee ere you fa' heir.
Mony a frost and mony a thowe, sune makes mony a rotten yowe.
Mony a gude tale is spoilt in the telling.
"Applied often when a good sermon is ill delivered, to my certain knowledge."--Kelly.
Mony ane for land taks a fool by the hand.
That is, many marry only for the sake of money and possessions.
Mony ane kens the gude fellow that disna ken the gude fellow's wife.
The reason being that he is a "gude fellow" only when abroad or in the taproom, and not when he is at home.
Mony ane kisses the bairn for love o' the nurse.
"That is, show their kindness to the companions, friends, or relations of those upon whom they have a design, which they hope by their influence to effect."--Kelly.
Mony ane lacks what they would fain hae in their pack.
Mony ane maks an errand to the ha' to bid my leddy good day.
Or, many occupy themselves with trifles.
Mony ane opens his pack and sells nae wares.
Mony ane's coat saves their doublet.
"Spoken when clergymen use you saucily, whom, in deference to their profession, you will not beat."--Kelly.
Mony ane ser's a thankless maister.
Mony ane's gear is mony ane's death.
Mony ane speaks o' Robin Hood that ne'er shot wi' his bow.
"Doctor Luther's shoes do not fit every parish priest."--German.
Mony ane tines the half-merk whinger for the ha'-penny whang.
This nearly obsolete saying means, literally, loses a sixpenny dagger for the sake of a halfpenny thong. "Spoken," says Kelly, "when people lose a considerable thing for not being at an inconsiderable expense."
Mony ane wad blush to hear what he wadna blush to dae.
Mony ane wad hae been waur had their estates been better.
Mony an honest man needs help that hasna the face to seek it.
"Mony a thing's made for the penny," as the wifie said when she saw the black man.
Mony a true tale's tauld in jest.
Mony aunts, mony emes, mony kin, but few friends.
The word "eme" signifies uncle, and the saying--its claims as a proverb are small enough--means that a person may have many relations but very few friends among them.
Mony care for meal that hae baked bread enough.
"Spoken against whining, complaining people, who have enough, and yet are always making a moan."--Kelly.
Mony cooks ne'er made gude kail.
Mony fair promises at the marriage-making, but few at the tocher-paying.
A man may "promise like a merchant and pay like a man-of-war's-man;" that is, promise anything that may be asked, for the sake of concluding a bargain, but which, once made, he is in no haste to perform.
Mony gude-nights is laith away.
"He shakes hands often who is loath to go."--French.
Mony hands maks light work.
Mony hawes, mony snawes.
"When there is a great exhibition of blossoms on the hedgerows, the ensuing winter will be a remarkable one for snow storms."--Robert Chambers.
Mony hounds may soon worry ae hare.
Mony kinsfolk but few friends.
Mony 'll sup wi' little din, that wadna gree at moolin in.
Mony littles mak a muckle.
Mony purses haud friends lang thegither.
Mony rains, mony rowans; mony rowans, mony yewns.
"Yewns being light grain. The rowans are the fruit of the mountain ash, which never are ripe till harvest. It is a common observation, that an abundance of them generally follows a wet season."--Robert Chambers.
Mony sae "weel" when it ne'er was waur.
"Spoken to them that say 'well' by way of resentment."--Kelly.
Mony time I hae got a wipe wi' a towel, but ne'er a daub wi' a dishclout before.
Or reprimanded by a person who had authority to do so, but never roughly handled by one who had no right to interfere. Kelly says this is "spoken by saucy girls when one jeers them with an unworthy sweetheart."
Mony ways to kill a dog though ye dinna hang him.
Mony words dinna fill the firlot.
A "firlot" is a fourth part of a boll, dry measure. Equivalent to the proverb, "Many words go to a sackful."--Dutch.
Mony words, muckle drouth.
Mony wyte their wife for their ain thriftless life.
That is, many persons blame others for what are the consequences of their own faults. Kelly says, "I never saw a Scottish woman who had not this at her finger's end."
Mouths are nae measure.
The Irish are not of this opinion, for it is recorded that one of them said his mouth held exactly a glass of whisky--that is, if he could have retained it; but there was a hole in the bottom of it which continually prevented him from proving the fact.
Mows may come to earnest.
"To 'mow,' to speak in mockery."--Jamieson.
Moyen does muckle, but money does mair.
Influence or interest does much, but money will do more.
Muck and money gae thegither.
Muckle corn, muckle care.
"Muckle din about ane," as the deil said when he stole the collier.
Muckledom is nae virtue.
Muckle fails that fools think.
Muckle gifts mak beggars bauld.
Muckle gude may it do you, and merry go doun, every lump as big as my thoom.
A bad wish--that every bite may choke you.
Muckle head, little wit.
Muckle maun a gude heart thole.
Muckle meat, mony maladies.
Muckle mou'd folk are happy at their meat.
Muckle musing mars the memory.
Muckleness has nae mair, or else a cow could catch a hare.
Muckleness is no manliness.
Muckle pleasure, some pain.
Muckle power maks mony faes.
Muckle skaith comes to the shae before the heat comes to the tae.
Muckle spoken, part spilt.
So much was said on a subject that a great deal was lost.
Muckle wad aye hae mair.
The more a person has the more he would have.
Muckle water rins by that the miller watsna o'.
Muckle wi' thrift may aye be mair.
"Must" is for the King to say.
My market's made, ye may lick a whup-shaft.
The saucy reply of a maid already betrothed, to a would-be wooer.
My neighbour's skaith's my ain peril.
My son's my son till he's got him a wife; my dochter's my dochter a' the days o' her life.
My tongue's no under your belt.
[Illustration]
Naebody daur say Straa to him.
Naebody is riving your claes to get you.
Or going out of their wits for your sake.
Nae butter will stick to my bread.
That is, good fortune follows nothing I do.
Nae carrion will kill a craw.
Nae cows, nae care.
Nae curb will tame love.
Nae equal to you but our dog Sorkie, and he's dead, so ye're marrowless.
Applied to boasters, meaning sarcastically that in their own peculiar faculty they are unequalled.
Nae faut; but she sets her bannet ower weel.
The only fault is, she is too good-looking.
Nae fleeing frae fate.
Nae fleeing without wings.
Nae fools like auld anes.
Nae faut that the cat has a clean band, she sets a bannet sae weel.
"Ironically spoken to them who pretend to do, have, or wear what does not become them."--Kelly.
Nae friend like the penny.
Nae gain without pain.
Nae great loss but there's some sma' 'vantage.
Nae man can baith sup and blaw at ance.
That is, sup his soup and cool it together; or, plainly, do two things at once.
Nae man can live langer in peace than his neighbours like.
"For an ill neighbour, with his scolding noise, complaints, lawsuits, and indictments, may be very troublesome."--Kelly.
Nae man can mak his ain hap.
Or plan his own destiny.
Nae man can seek his marrow i' the kirn sae weel as him that has been in't himsel.
"Spoken to those who suspect us guilty of a thing in which they take measure of us by their practices and inclinations."--Kelly.
Nae man can thrive unless his wife will let him.
Nae man has a tack o' his life.
Nae man is wise at a' times, nor on a' things.
Nae mills, nae meal.
Nae penny, nae paternoster.
Nae plea is the best plea.
Nae rule sae gude as rule o' thoom--if it hit.
Nae service, nae siller.
Nae sooner up than her head's in the aumrie.
Applied to lazy or greedy servants; implying that the first thing they do in the morning is to go to the "aumrie" or cupboard for something to eat.
Nae swat, nae sweet.
Naething but fill and fetch mair.
A philosophic way of meeting troubles. If a thing be wrong done, do it over again; or if it be lost, procure another.
Naething comes fairer to light than what has been lang hidden.
Naething comes out o' a close hand.
Naething freer than a gift.
Naething is got without pains but an ill name and lang nails.
Naething is ill said if it's no ill ta'en.
Naething is ill to be done when will's at hame.
Naething like being stark dead.
Meaning there is nothing like doing a thing thoroughly. "A vile, malicious proverb," says Kelly, "first used by Captain James Stewart against the noble Earl of Morton, and afterwards applied to the Earl of Strafford and Archbishop Laud."
Naething's a bare man.
"A jocose answer to children when they say they have gotten nothing."--Kelly.
Naething's a man's truly but what he comes by duly.
Naething sae bauld as a blind mear.
"Who so bold as blind Bayard?"--English.
"Ignorance breeds confidence; consideration, slowness and wariness."--Ray.
Naething sae crouse as a new wash'd louse.
"Spoken of them who have been ragged and dirty, and are proud and fond of new or clean clothes."--Kelly.
Naething sooner maks a man auld-like than sitting ill to his meat.
"To sit ill to one's meat, to be ill fed."--Jamieson.
Naething to be done in haste but gripping fleas.
In his introduction to Henderson's Proverbs, Motherwell relates a humorous anecdote in connection with this proverb. An indefatigable collector of "rusty sayed saws," a friend of his, was in the habit of jotting down any saying new to him on the back of cards, letters, &c., and thrusting them into his pocket. On one occasion he had an altercation with a stranger at a friend's house. The quarrel becoming warm, ended by Motherwell's friend excitedly handing the other (as he thought) his card. On the gentleman's preparing to vindicate his honour next morning, it occurred to him to learn the name of his antagonist. On looking at the card he found no name, but, in place of it, traced in good legible characters, "Naething should be done in a hurry but catching fleas." The effect of this was irresistible, and the result an immediate reconciliation.
Naething to do but draw in your stool and sit down.
Everything is so far advanced that the finishing stroke only is wanting. Applied to a man who is courting a widow or spinster already in possession of a well-furnished house.
Naething venture, naething win.
Nae weather's ill an the wind be still.
Nae wonder ye're auld like, ilka thing fashes you.
That is, because you allow every little trifling occurrence to vex you.
Nane are sae weel but they hope to be better.
Nane but fools and knaves lay wagers.
Henderson, in his Proverbs, reads "poets" for "fools," possibly as a hit upon some of his friends, several of whom were poets of local celebrity.
Nane can mak a bore but ye'll find a pin for't.
Meaning that none can find fault with you but you will be able to give an excuse for it. "As soon find hare without a mense as you without excuse."--English.
Nane can play the fool sae weel as a wise man.
Nane can tell what's i' the shaup till it's shelt.
That is, in the husk until it is shelled.
Nane kens whaur a blister may light.
Narrow gathered, widely spent.
Nature passes nurture.
Nearer e'en the mair beggars.
Nearer God's blessing than Carlisle fair.
"You need but go to your closet for the one, but you must go out of the kingdom for the other."--Kelly.
Nearer the bane, sweeter the flesh.
"And for eating--what signifies telling a lee? there's just the hinder end of the mutton-ham that has been but three times on the table, and the nearer the bane the sweeter, as your honours weel ken; and--there's the heel of the ewe-milk kebbuck, wi' a bit o' nice butter, and--and--that's a' that's to trust to."--Bride of Lammermoor.
Nearer the rock, the sweeter the grass.
Nearest the heart, nearest the mou.
"Spoken to them who, designing to name one person, by mistake names another, perhaps a sweetheart."--Kelly.
Nearest the king, nearest the widdy.
"Widdy," rope or gallows. Meaning that those who occupy political or subservient positions do so only during the pleasure of their superiors.
Near's my kirtle, but nearer's my sark.
Near's my sark, but nearer's my skin.
The two last sayings are common to many nations. "Some friends are nearer to me than others--my parents and children than my other relations, those than my neighbours, my neighbours than strangers; but, above all, I am next to myself."--Ray.
Near the kirk, but far frae grace.
This fact is so well ascertained that there is another to the same effect. "Farthest frae the kirk aye soonest at it;" and the English are of a similar opinion, for Spenser writes:
"At kirke the narre from God more farre, Has been an old sayed sawe."
Necessity has nae law.
Necessity's the mither o' invention.
Neck or naething, the king lo'es nae cripples.
"A prophane jest upon those who are like to fall, wishing that they may either break their neck or come off safe; for breaking a limb will make them useless subjects."--Kelly.
Need gars naked men run, and sorrow gars wabsters spin.
"Hunger drives the wolf out of the wood."--Italian. In the second clause we have another discreditable imputation on the weaving fraternity, implying that they only work when compelled by hunger, and are not naturally industrious.
Need gars the auld wife trot.
"'This is your mother, is it not?' (Cuddie nodded.) 'What can have brought your mother and you down the water so late?' 'Troth, stir, just what gars the auld wives trot--neshessity, stir. I'm seeking for service, stir.'"--Old Mortality.
Need maks a man o' craft.
Need maks greed.
Need maks the naked quean spin.
Ne'er break out o' kind to gar your friends ferlie at you.
Do not do strange acts merely for the sake of astonishing your friends.
Ne'er count the lawin' wi' a toom quaich.
"Quaich," a small and shallow drinking-cup with two ears. The proverb has a similar meaning to "Fair fa' the wife," &c., q. v.
Ne'er do ill that gude may come o't.
Ne'er draw your dirk when a dunt will do.
That is, do not resort to extreme measures when mild means will suffice.
Ne'er fash your beard.
"'Tell them all this, and hear what they say till't.'
"'Indeed, mistress, I can tell ye that already, without stirring my shanks for the matter,' answered Nelly Trotter; 'they will e'en say that ye are ae auld fule, and me anither, that may hae some judgment in cock-bree or in scate-rumples, but maunna fash our beards about onything else.'"--St Ronan's Well.
Ne'er fash your thoom.
"Ne'er mind her flytes, but set your heart at ease: Sit down and blaw your pipe, nor fash your thoom, An' there's my hand, she'll tire, and soon sing dumb."--Fergusson.
Ne'er find faut wi' my shoon, unless you pay my souter.
Addressed to impertinent persons who find fault with the personal appearance or dress of others.
Ne'er gang to the deil wi' the dishclout on your head.
"If you will be a knave, be not in a trifle, but in something of value. A Presbyterian minister had a son who was made Archdeacon of Ossery; when this was told to his father, he said, 'If my son will be a knave, I am glad that he will be an archknave.' This has the same sense, 'As good be hanged for an old sheep as a young lamb.'"--Kelly.
Ne'er gie me my death in a toom dish.
This means, jocularly, if you wish to kill me, do it not by starvation; in other words, give me something to eat.
Ne'er gude, egg nor bird.
Ne'er kiss a man's wife, or dight his knife, for he'll do baith after you.
Ne'er let on, but laugh in your sleeve.
Ne'er let the nose blush for the sins o' the mouth.
Ne'er let your feet rin faster than your shoon.
"'But you must recollect, that before taking such a step you ought to be pretty well provided with means.'
"'Ou', fegs! I hae nae trick o' letting my feet rin faster than my shoon. I'll no forget the means, ye may be sure; and as for Jean hersel, I hae nae skill o' women folk, if she's no just as willing as me.'"--The Disruption.
Ne'er lippen ower muckle to a new friend or an auld enemy.
Ne'er marry a penniless maiden that's proud o' her pedigree.
Ne'er marry a widow unless her first man was hanged.
Ne'er misca' a Gordon in the raws o' Stra'bogie.
The Gordons were the ruling clan in Strathbogie; and the proverb means that we should never speak ill of a man on his own property.
Ne'er put your arm out farther than you can draw it easily back again.
"The deacon used to say to me, 'Nick--young Nick' (his name was Nicol as well as mine, sae folk ca'd us, in their daffin, young Nick and auld Nick)--'Nick,' said he, 'never put out your arm farther than ye can draw it easily back again.'"--Rob Roy.
Ne'er ower auld to learn.
Ne'er put a sword in a wudman's hand.
Ne'er put the plough before the owsen.
Ne'er quit certainty for hope.
Ne'er rax abune your reach.
That is, do not exert yourself beyond your strength.
Ne'er say gae, but gang.
Ne'er say "Ill fallow" to him you deal wi'.
Ne'er shaw me the meat, but the man.
"If a man be fat, plump, and in good liking, I shall not ask what keeping he has had."--Kelly.
Ne'er shaw your teeth unless ye can bite.
Ne'er speak ill o' the deil.
Ne'er speak ill o' them whase bread ye eat.
Ne'er spend gude siller looking for bad.
"John had never before taken any debtor to law, his motto being, 'Never spend gude siller looking for bad;' but in this case, he said, he was determined to roup them to the door, although it shouldna put a penny in his pouch."--Roy's "Generalship."
Ne'er strive against the stream.
Ne'er tak a forehammer to break an egg.
Ne'er tell your fae when your fit sleeps.
Ne'er throw the bridle o' your horse ower a fool's arm.
Ne'er use the taws when a gloom will do.
Of similar import to "Ne'er draw your dirk," q. v.
Ne'er was a wife weel pleased coming frae the mill but ane, and she brak her neck bane.
Kelly says this is "commonly said to wives when they come from the mill, but the occasion, sense, or meaning I know not." Is it not because they are always dissatisfied with the "mouter" which the miller takes?
Ne'er waur happen you than your ain prayer.
Neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor gude red herring.
Used to signify that an article is good for nothing.
Neither sae sinfu' as to sink nor sae holy as to soom.
Never's a lang word.
New lairds mak new laws.
"They were decent, considerate men, that didna plague a puir herd callant muckle about a moorfowl or a mawkin, unless he turned common fowler--Sir Robert Ringhorse used to say, the herd lads shot as mony gleds and pyots as they did game. But new lords new laws--naething but fine and imprisonment, and the game no a feather the plentier."--St Ronan's Well.
Next to nae wife, a gude ane's best.
Nineteen naesays o' a maiden is half a grant.
"Her laugh will lead you to the place, Where lies the happiness ye want; And plainly tell you to your face, Nineteen nae-says are half a grant."--Tea-Table Miscellany.
Nipping and scarting's Scotch folk's wooing.
"It may be Scotch folk's wooing; but if that's the gait Betty Bodle means to use you, Watty, my dear, I would see her, and a' the Kilmarkeckles that ever were cleckit, doon the water, or strung in a wuddy, before I would hae onything to say to ane come o' their seed or breed. To lift her hands to her bridegroom!"--The Entail.
Now-a-days truth's news.
Now's now, and Yule's in winter.
[Illustration]
O' ae ill come mony.
O' a' fish i' the sea, herring is king.
O' a' ills, nane's best.
O' a' little tak a little; when there's nought tak a'.
O' a' meat i' the warld the drink gaes best down.
O' a' sorrow, a fu' sorrow's the best.
"Spoken when friends die and leave good legacies."--Kelly.
O' a' the months o' the year curse a fair Februar.
O' bairns' gifts ne'er be fain; nae sooner they gie than they tak it again.
O' gude advisement comes nae ill.
O' ill debtors men get aiths.
"Aith," or oath, is here used in the sense of promise, signifying that from "ill debtors" men get not money but promises, which, of course, are never performed.
Oh for a drap o' gentle blude, that I may wear black abune my brow.
"In Scotland no woman is suffered to wear a silk hood unless she be a gentlewoman; that is, a gentleman's daughter, or married to a gentleman. A rich maid having the offer of a wealthy yeoman, or a bare gentleman, wished for the last, to qualify her to wear a black hood. It is since spoken to such wealthy maidens upon the like occasion."--Kelly.
O' little meddling comes muckle care.
On painting and fighting look abeigh.
On the sea sail, on the land settle.
Onything for ye about an honest man's house but a day's wark.
"Onything sets a gude face," quo' the monkey wi' the mutch on.
Open confession is gude for the soul.
Oppression will mak a wise man wud.
O' the marriages in May, the bairns die o' decay.
O' twa ills choose the least.
Our ain reek's better than ither folk's fire.
Our sins and debts are aften mair than we think.
Our sowens are ill sour'd, ill seil'd, ill sauted, ill sodden, thin, an' little o' them. Ye may stay a' night, but ye may gang hame if ye like. It's weel kenn'd your faither's son was ne'er a scambler.
This proverb is, we think, fairly entitled to rank as the second longest on record, the first being, as recorded by Trench, the German one, "Folk say there is a lack of four people on earth," &c. Kelly says that "this was a speech of a countrywoman of mine to a guest that she would gladly have shaken off, and being so oddly expressed it became a proverb, which we repeat when we think our friend does not entertain us heartily."
Out o' debt, out o' danger.
Out o' God's blessing into the warm sun.
Out o' Davy Lindsay into Wallace.
"Davy Lindsay and Wallace" were two books formerly used in schools; and the proverb is used when a person changes, or, more properly, advances from one thing to another.
Out on the highgate is aye fair play.
Out o' sight, out o' languor.
"Long absent, soon forgotten."--English.
Out o' the peat pot into the gutter.
"Out of the frying pan into the fire."--English.
"Out of the mire into the brook."--Spanish.
Out o' the warld and into Kippen.
Kippen, in Stirlingshire, was formerly so very remote and little frequented by strangers, that a visit to it was jocularly deemed equivalent to going out of the world altogether; and the remark passed into a proverb, used when a person is going to a strange place. The feudal lord of this district was formerly styled King of Kippen.
Own debt and crave days.
Ower braw a purse to put a plack in.
That is, externally grander or more showy than internal means justify. "Spoken when one builds a magnificent house upon a small income."--Kelly.
Ower high, ower laigh, ower het, ower cauld.
That is, from one extreme to the other.
Ower holy was hanged, but rough and sonsy wan awa'.
Ower mony cooks spoil the broth.
Ower mony grieves hinder the wark.
Ower mony irons in the fire, some maun cool.
Spoken when a person has too many projects in hand; meaning that some must fail.
"Ower mony maisters," quo' the puddock to the harrow, when ilka tooth gied her a tug.
Ower muckle hameliness spoils gude courtesy.
"Too much familiarity breeds contempt."--English.
Ower muckle loose leather about your chafts.
A rude but expressive way of saying that a person is not looking well, or is, Scotice, "thin."
Ower muckle cookery spoils the brochan.
Ower muckle o' ae thing is gude for naething.
Ower narrow counting culyes nae kindness.
To "culye" is to gain, to draw forth. "When people deal in rigour with us we think ourselves but little obliged to them."--Kelly.
Ower reckless may repent.
Ower sicker, ower loose.
Or, you are either too harsh and stringent, or the very reverse.
Ower strong meat for your weak stamack.
Ower sune is easy mended.
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Patch and lang sit, build and soon flit.
A slow and gradual rise is likely to prove a permanent one; but a rapid or sudden one merely temporary; or, as the Irishman said, "Up like a rocket, and down like its stick."
Paterson's mare aye goes foremost.
Pay-before-hand's never weel ser'd.
The tradesman is said to be troubled with two kinds of bad customers, viz., those who pay in advance, or "before-hand," and those who do not pay at all.
Pay him in his ain coin.
Pennyless souls maun pine in purgatory.
Penny-wheep's gude enough for muslin-kail.
"Penny-wheep," says Jamieson, "is the weakest kind of small beer, sold at a penny per bottle;" and muslin-kail is a common kind of broth. The proverb expresses that poor service merits poor reward.
Peter's in, Paul's out.
"Spoken when, after we had wanted a necessary person a long time, upon his arrival, another equally necessary is gone."--Kelly.
Pigs may whistle, but they hae an ill mouth for't.
Applied when an awkward person is attempting to perform some work of which he is incapable.
Penny wise and pound foolish.
Pint stoups hae lang lugs.
For a great deal is said over them, which, but for their influence, would not be heard.
Pith's gude at a' play but threading o' needles.
Plack aboot's fair play.
Placks and bawbees grow pounds.
Plaister thick and some will stick.
Play carle wi' me again if you daur.
"Do not dare to offer to contest with me. Spoke by parents to stubborn children."--Kelly.
Play's gude while it's play.
Pleading at the law is like fighting through a whin bush--the harder the blows the sairer the scarts.
The knowledge that "whin bush" is the furze renders this saying easily intelligible.
Please your kimmer, and ye'll easy guide your gossip.
Please yoursel and ye'll no dee o' the pet.
Plenty is nae plague.
Plenty maks dainty.
Poets and painters are aye poor.
This appears in no collection preceding Henderson's, and is probably a record of his own experience and that of his friends, he being a painter himself by profession, and on intimate terms with Motherwell and others.
Poets and painters hae liberty to lo'e.
Poor folk are fain o' little.
Poor folk maun fit their wame to their winning.
Poor folk seek meat for their stamacks, and rich folk stamacks for their meat.
Poor folk's friends soon misken them.
Poortith pairts gude company.
Poortith's better than pride.
Poortith's pain, but nae disgrace.
Poortith taks awa pith.
"'I tell you, Master Moniplies,' said Jenkin, 'I am as poor as any Scot among you. I have broken my indenture, and I think of running the country.' 'A-well-a-day!' said Ritchie. 'But that maunna be, man. I ken weel, by sad experience, that poortith takes away pith, and the man sits full still that has a rent in his breeks.'"--Fortunes of Nigel.
Poortith wi' patience is less painfu'.
Possession's worth an ill charter.
Poverty's a bad back friend.
Praise without profit puts little i' the pat.
Prayer and practice is gude rhyme.
Pretty man, I maun say; tak a peat and sit down.
We are unable to make much either of this proverb or of Kelly's note to it--"An ironical expression to a mean boy who would gladly be esteemed."
Pride and grace ne'er dwell in ae place.
Pride an' sweer'dness need muckle uphaudin.
"Sweer'd," lazy or unwilling. Pride and laziness require much to support them.
Pride finds nae cauld.
"Spoken heretofore to young women when, in compliance with the fashion, they went with their breasts and shoulders bare; and may now (1721) be applied to ladies with their extravagant hoops."--Kelly.
Pride ne'er leaves its maister till he get a fa'.
Pride prinks her brow for the deil to pouse.
That is, pride bedecks herself, and the devil despoils.
Pride's an ill horse to ride.
Pride that dines wi' vanity sups wi' contempt.
Pride will hae a fa'.
Provision in season maks a bien house.
Prudence should be winning when thrift is spinning.
Puddins and paramours should be hetly handled.
"Puddings when cold are uneatable; and love when coldrife is near the breaking off."--Kelly.
Put a coward to his mettle, and he'll fight the deil.
"A baited cat is as fierce as a lion."--English.
Put anither man's bairn in your bosom, and he'll creep oot at your sleeve.
"That is, cherish or love him, he'll never be naturally affected towards you."--Ray.
Put nae force against the flail.
Put on your spurs and be at your speed.
Put twa pennies in a purse, and they'll creep thegither.
Put your finger in the fire, and say it was your fortune.
Spoken of a person who has wittingly placed himself in difficulties, and who attributes his bad position to fortune.
Put your hand in the creel, tak out an adder or an eel.
"In buying horses and taking a wife, shut your eyes and commend yourself to God."--Italian.
Put your hand nae farther oot than your sleeve will reach.
Put your hand twice to your bannet for ance to your pouch.
"Put your hand quickly to your hat, and slowly to your purse, and you will take no harm."--Danish.
Put the man to the mear that can manage the mear.
Put the saddle on the right horse.
Put your shanks in your thanks and mak gude gramashes o' them.
Literally, put your legs in your thanks and make good gaiters of them. A sharp remark on those who pay in thanks only, when a more substantial reward is expected.
Put your thoom upon that.
"Conceal it carefully--keep it secret."--Jamieson.
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Quality without quantity is little thought o'.
Quey calves are dear veal.
A "quey calf" is a female calf. They are generally kept to replenish the stock; it is bull calves that are principally fattened for killing young.
Quick at meat, quick at wark.
Quick, for you'll ne'er be cleanly.
"That is, do a thing nimbly, for you'll never do it neatly."--Kelly.
Quick returns mak rich merchants.
Quietness is best.
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Rab Gibb's contract,--stark love and kindness.
Raggit folk and bonny folk are aye ta'en haud o'.
Spoken jocularly when a person has rent or caught his clothes upon a nail or other projection.
Raise nae mair deils than ye are able to lay.
"Raise no more spirits than you can conjure down."--German.
Rather spoil your joke than tine your friend.
Raw dads mak fat lads.
Raw leather raxes weel.
"Raw leather will stretch."--English.
Reavers shouldna be ruers.
Literally, robbers should not repent.
Reckless youth maks ruefu' eild.
"People who live too fast when they are young will neither have a vigorous nor a comfortable old age."--Kelly.
Reckon up your winning at your bed-stock.
Red brackens bring milk and butter.
"In October, the bracken or fern on hill pastures becomes red with the first frosty nights, and about that time the autumnal herbage is very rich, and productive of the good things in question."--Robert Chambers.
Red wood maks gude spindles.
"'Red wood,' the name given to the reddish or dark-coloured and more incorruptible wood found in the heart of trees."--Jamieson.
Refer my coat and lose a sleeve.
"Rejoice, bucks," quo' Brodie, when he shot at the buryin' and thought it was a weddin'.
Remember, man, and keep in mind, a faithfu' friend is hard to find.
Remove an auld tree an' it'll wither.
Riches are got wi' pain, kept wi' care, and tint wi' grief.
Rich folk hae routh o' friends.
"Routh o' friends," that is, many of them.
Rich folk's wit rives poor folk's jaws.
Rich mixture maks gude mortar.
Ride fair and jaup nane.
"Taken from riding through a puddle, but applied to too home jesting."--Kelly.
Right, Roger, sow's gude mutton.
A proverbial expression, meaning that a person is totally mistaken about a matter.
Right wrangs nae man.
Ripe fruit is soonest rotten.
Rise when the day daws, bed when the night fa's.
Robin, that herds on the height, can be blithe as Sir Robert the Knight.
Rome wasna built in a day.
Rot him awa' wi' ham and eggs.
Rowan-tree and red thread mak the witches tine their speed.
These particular articles were formerly supposed to have a controlling power over witches.
Royt lads may mak sober men.
To "royt" is to go about idly or dissolutely.
Rue and thyme grow baith in ae garden.
Rule youth weel, for eild will rule itsel'.
Ruse the fair day at e'en.
"Commend not a thing or a project till it has had its full effect."--Kelly.
"It is not good praising the ford till a man be over."--English.
Ruse the ford as ye find it.
Speak only of things as your experience has found them.
Rusted wi' eild, a wee piece gate seems lang.
Literally, decayed by age, a short road seems a very long one.
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Sae mony men, sae mony minds.
"Saft beddin's gude for sair banes," quo' Howie when he streekit himsel on the midden-head.
"Saft's your horn, my friend," quo' the man when he grippit the cuddy's lug.
"Sail," quo' the king: "Haud," quo' the wind.
Sair cravers are ill-payers.
"This proverb, and the reverse, viz., 'Ill payers are sore cravers,' I have never yet seen fail."--Kelly.
Sairs shouldna be sair handled.
That is, delicate or painful subjects should be cautiously alluded to.
Sair wark and poortith downa weel be joined.
Sairy be your meal-pock, and aye your nieve i' the neuk o't.
An uncharitable saying, expressing literally a wish that the meal bag may be empty when the hand is put in to take some.
"Saut," quo' the souter, when he had eaten a cow a' but the tail.
"Spoken to them that flag when they have almost finished a difficult task."--Kelly.
Save yoursel' frae the deil and the laird's bairns.
"A caution of poor people to their children, how they meddle with their superiors; for, if they hurt the laird's bairns, they will be sure to be punished, but, if hurt by them, they will get no right."--Kelly.
Saw thin, shear thin.
Saw wheat in dirt and rye in dust.
Saw ye that and shotna at it, and you sae gleg a gunner.
A satire upon a boaster who is telling of some extraordinary thing which he pretends to have seen.
Say aye "No," and ye'll ne'er be married.
A jocular remark to a person who has refused something which has been offered to him.
Saying gangs cheap.
"Talking pays nae toll."--English.
Say weel and dae weel, end wi' ae letter: say weel is gude, but dae weel is better.
Say what you will, an ill mind will turn't to ill.
Scant-o'-grace hears lang preachings.
Or, at least, thinks them so.
Scanty cheeks mak a lang nose.
Scart-the-cog wad sup mair.
To "scart the cog" is to scrape the inside of the dish.
Scorn comes wi' skaith.
Scornfu' dogs eat dirty puddin's.
"'Hout, fye--hout, fye--all nonsense and pride,' said the Laird of Summertrees, 'scornful dogs will eat dirty puddings, cousin Crosbie. Ye little ken what some of your friends were obliged to do yon time for a sowp of brose or a bit of bannock.'"--Redgauntlet.
Scorn not the bush ye get beild frae.
Scotsmen aye reckon frae an ill hour.
Scotsmen aye tak their mark frae a mischief.
That is, always reckon from the date of some untoward event, such as a death, an accident, or a fire.
See for love and buy for siller.
Seein's believin' a' the world ower.
Seek muckle, and get something; seek little, and get naething.
Seek till you find, and ye'll never lose your labour.
Seek your sa' where you got your ail, and beg your barm where you buy your ale.
The surly reply of a person who has been shunned for some trivial or mistaken reason by one who is compelled by circumstances to apply to him for information or assistance.
Seil ne'er comes till sorrow be awa.
Seldom ride tines his spurs.
Seldom seen, soon forgotten.
Self-praise comes aye stinking ben.
Self-praise is nae honour.
Sel, sel, has half-filled hell.
"Sel, sel," that is, the sin of selfishness.
Send a fool to France, and a fool he'll come back.
Send your gentle blude to the market, and see what it will buy.
A reproach upon those who boast of their gentle birth, but who possess nothing of greater value.
Send your son to Ayr: if he do weel here, he'll do weel there.
Send you to the sea, and ye'll no get saut water.
"Spoken when people foolishly come short of their errand."--Kelly.
Ser' yoursel', and your friends will think the mair o' ye.
An answer of those who are asked to do a favour when they would rather not oblige.
Ser' yoursel' till your bairns come o' age.
Set a beggar on horseback, he'll ride to the deil.
Set a stout heart to a stey brae.
"Delay not, And fray not, And thou sall sie it say; Sic gets ay, That setts ay, Stout stomaks to the brae."--Cherrie and the Slae.
Set a thief to grip a thief.
Set him up and shute him forward.
"'A lord!' ejaculated the astonished Mrs Dods: 'a lord come down to the Waal!--they will be neither to haud nor to bind now--ance wud and aye waur--a lord!--set them up and shute them forward--a lord!--the Lord have a care o' us!--a lord at the hottle! Maister Touchwood, it's my mind he will only prove to be a Lord o' Session.'"--St Ronan's Well.
Set that doun on the backside o' your count-book.
That is, I have done you a service, see that you repay it.
Set your foot upon that, an' it winna loup in your face.
Shallow waters mak maist din.
"Shame fa' the couple," as the cow said to her fore feet.
Shame fa' the dog that, when he hunted you, didna gar you rin faster.
Shame fa' them that think shame to do themsels a gude turn.
Shame's past the shed o' your hair.
Sharp sauce gies a gude taste to sweetmeats.
She brak her elbow at the kirk door.
"Spoken of a thrifty maiden when she becomes a lazy wife."--Kelly.
She frisks about like a cat's tail i' the sun.
She has an ill paut wi' her hind foot.
She has gi'en them green stockings.
Spoken when a young woman marries before her elder sisters.
She hauds up her gab like an aumos dish.
"And aye he gies the touzie drab The tither skelpin' kiss, While she held up her greedy gab Just like an aumos dish."--Burns.
She hauds up her head like a hen drinking water.
The two last sayings are applied to persons who behave in an impudent or forward manner.
She'll keep her ain side o' the house, and gang up and down yours.
"Spoken to dissuade our friend from marrying a woman whom we suspect to be too bold."--Kelly.
She'll wear like a horseshoe, aye the langer the clearer.
She lookit at the moon, but lichtit i' the midden.
Applied to young women who have boasted, before marriage, of the "fine match" which they will get, but who afterwards are allied to common every-day people.
She looks as if butter wadna melt in her mou.
She looks like a leddy in a landward kirk.
This means that a person may appear very conspicuous on account of a peculiar dress or manner.
She pined awa like Jenkin's hen.
"To die like Jenkin's hen is to die an old maid."--Jamieson.
She's a bad sitter that's aye in a flutter.
She's a drap o' my dearest blude.
She's a wise wife that wats her ain weird.
That is, who knows her own destiny.
She's better than she's bonny.
A Highlander, in speaking favourably of his wife, is reported to have misquoted this, and characterized her as being "bonnier than she was better."
She's black, but she has a sweet smack.
That is, she is not very beautiful, but she is rich.
She's dinket out, neb and feather.
"Dressed completely; from top to toe."--Jamieson.
She's grown gatty that was ance a dautie.
She's no to be made a sang about.
"An abatement of a woman's commendation to beauty."--Kelly.
She that fa's ower a strae's a tentless taupie.
She that gangs to the well wi' an ill will, either the pig breaks or the water will spill.
She that taks a gift, hersel she sells; and she that gies ane, does naething else.
She wadna hae the walkers, and the riders gaed by.
"It is recorded of a celebrated beauty, Becky Monteith, that being asked how she had not made a good marriage, having replied, 'Ye see, I wadna hae the walkers, and the riders gaed by.'"--Ramsay's Reminiscences.
Shod i' the cradle, and barefit i' the stubble.
Applied to people who dress out of keeping with their work.
Shored folk live lang, an' so may him ye ken o'.
"'Force our way with the king's keys, and break the neck of every living soul we find in the house, if ye dinna gie it ower forthwith!' menaced the incensed Hobbie. 'Threatened folks live lang,' said the hag, in the same tone of irony; 'there's the iron gate--try your skeel on't, lads--it has kept out as good men as you or now.'"--The Black Dwarf.
Short accounts mak lang friends.
Short rents mak careless tenants.
Shouther to shouther stands steel and pouther.
Show me the man and I'll show you the law.
Sic a man as thou wad be, draw thee to sic companie.
Sic as ye gie, sic will you get.
Sic faither, sic son.
Sic reek as is therein comes out o' the lum.
Sic things maun be if we sell ale.
"This was the good woman's reply to her husband when he complained of the exciseman's too demonstrative gallantry."--W. K. Kelly.
Silence and thought hurt nae man.
Silence grips the mouse.
Silly bairns are eith to lear.
Sins and debts are aye mair than we think them.
Sit down and rest you, and tell us how they drest you, and how you wan awa.
A jocular way of asking a person about people whom he has been to see.
Sit on your seat, and nane will rise you.
"Sit in your place, and none can make you rise."--English.
Skill is nae burden.
Slander leaves a sair behint.
Slighted love is sair to bide.
Slipshod's no for a frozen road.
Slow at meat, slow at wark.
A reverse of this saying is common to many countries--"Quick at meat, quick at work."
Sma' fish are better than nane.
Sma' winnings mak a heavy purse.
Smooth water rins deep.
"Tweed said to Till, 'What gars ye rin sae still?' Till said to Tweed, 'Though ye rin sae wi' speed, And I rin slaw, Where ye drown ae man, I drown twa.'"--Berwickshire Rhyme.
Sober, neighbour! The night's but young yet.
A remonstrance with a person who is doing a thing too hurriedly, signifying that there is plenty of time to spare for the purpose.
Sodgers, fire, and water soon mak room for themsels.
Some ane has tauld her she was bonny.
Some are gey drouthy, but ye're aye moistified.
An insinuation that a person is very much addicted to tippling. "'Moistify,' a low word, generally used in a ludicrous sense in regard to topers."--Jamieson.
Some are only daft, but ye're red-wud raving.
Somebody may come to kame your hair wi' a cutty stool.
"Spoken by mothers to stubborn daughters, intimating they will come under the hands of a stepmother, who, it is likely, will not deal too tenderly with them."--Kelly.
Some can stand the sword better than the pintstoup.
Some folk look up, and ithers look down.
And, we presume, the proverb would have the reader to understand they prosper or fail accordingly.
Some fork low, but ye fork ower the mow.
That is, some people do not do their work sufficiently, but you overdo it.
Some hae a hantel o' fauts, ye're only a ne'er-do-weel.
Some, though very bad, still have some redeeming qualities; the party addressed has none.
Some hae hap, and some stick i' the gap.
Meaning that some have and some have not good fortune.
Some hae little sense, but ye're aye haverin'.
Some show a gliff o' the gowk, but ye're aye goavin.
To "show a gliff of the gowk" is to behave foolishly.
Some strake the measure o' justice, but ye gie't heapit.
Some tak a', but ye leave naething.
Some that hae least to dree are loudest wi' "waes me."
"Those who are least hurt cry loudest."--English.
"So on and accordingly," quo' Willie Baird's doggie.
Soon enough if well enough.
Soon enough to cry "Chuck" when it's out o' the shell.
Soon gotten, soon spent.
Soon ripe, soon rotten.
"Soor plooms," quo' the tod when he couldna climb the tree.
Sorrow an' ill weather come unca'd.
Sorrow be on your hands that held sae well to your head.
An imprecation on a person who has surpassed another in an undertaking.
Sorrow is soon enough when it comes.
Sorrow shake you out o' the wabster's handiwark.
Literally, sorrow shake you out of your clothes.
Sorrow's sib to a' body.
Souters and tailors count hours.
That is, tradesmen and commercial persons are aware of the value of time.
Souters shouldna gae ayont their last.
Spare at the spigot, and let out at the bunghole.
"Spoken to them who are careful and penurious in some trifling things, but neglective in the main chance."--Kelly.
Spare to speak, spare to speed.
Spare weel and hae weel.
Spare when ye're young, and spend when ye're auld.
Speak gude of pipers, your faither was a fiddler.
Speak o' the deil and he'll appear.
Jocularly applied to a person who approaches those who have just been inquiring for him.
Speak when ye're spoken to, and drink when ye're drucken to.
Speak when ye're spoken to, do what ye're bidden, come when ye're ca'd, an' ye'll no be chidden.
A sharp remark to those who join in the conversation of others unsolicited or impertinently.
Speir at Jock Thief if I be a leal man.
Spoken by rogues, who, when their respectability is questioned, refer to persons equally bad.
"Ask my comrade, who is as great a liar as myself."--French.
Spend, and God will send; spare, and be bare.
Spilt ale is waur than water.
Spit in your loof and haud fast.
This means, simply, take a firm hold of a thing.
Spit on a stane and it will be wat at last.
Stable the steed, and put your wife to bed when there's night wark to do.
"'Am I no gaun to the ploy, then?' said Maggie, in a disappointed tone. 'And what for should ye?' said her lord and master; 'to dance a' night, I'se warrant, and no to be fit to walk your tae's-length the morn, and we have ten Scots miles afore us? Na, na. Stable the steed, and pit your wife to bed when there's night wark to do.'"--Redgauntlet.
Standers-by see mair than gamesters.
Staunin' dubs gather dirt.
"Standing pools gather filth."--English.
Stay and drink o' your ain browst.
"Take a share of the mischief that you have occasioned."--Kelly.
"But gae your wa's, Bessie, tak on ye, And see wha'll tak care o' ye now; E'en gae wi' the Bogle, my bonnie-- It's a browst your ain daffery did brew."--Old Ballad.
Stay nae langer in a friend's house than ye're welcome.
Step by step climbs the hill.
Stickin' gangsna by strength, but by the right use o' the gully.
Stretching and gaunting bodes sleep to be wanting.
Strike as ye feed, and that's but soberly.
Strike the iron while it's hot.
Stuffing hauds out storms.
"Advising men to take some good thing before they travel in a bad day."--Kelly.
Sturt pays nae debt.
"Spoken with resentment to them who storm when we crave of them our just debts."--Kelly.
Sudden friendship's sure repentance.
Sue a beggar and gain a louse.
Sunday wooin' draws to ruin.
Supp'd out wort ne'er made gude ale.
"Spoken when one asks us for a drink of our wort, for what is drunk in wort will never be ale, good or bad."--Kelly.
Suppers kill mair than doctors cure.
Surfeits slay mair than swords.
Swear by your burnt shins.
Sweet at the on-taking, but soor in the aff-putting.
In allusion to the contraction of debt and other liabilities.
Sweet i' the bed and sweer up i' the morning was ne'er a gude housewife.
"A jocose reproof to young maids when they lie long a-bed."--Kelly.
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