party were pursuing a marauder. By the law of the Marches, the fiery symbol protected the pursuers from molestation, and the same law doomed to death any who might bar their way. The phrase is now used to indicate that an enterprise is being pursued with great zeal, though such an undertaking may be difficult and dangerous. A HOUSE built and a garden to grow never brought what they cost. A HOUSE fu' o' folk and a purse wi' three fardens i' the corner o't dinna sort weel thegither. A HOUSE in a hastrie is dounricht wastrie. A HOUSE wi' a reek, and a wife wi' a reard, will make a man rin to the door. Smoke, a dripping roof, and a scolding wife are enough to drive a man out of his life.-Spanish. A HUNGER and a burst. A feast and a fast.-E. You been like Smithwick, either clemed or bossten.-Cheshire. A HUNGRY care's an unco care. A HUNGRY man sees far. A hungry man smells meat afar off.-E. Also in Gaelic. A HUNGRY man's meat is lang o' making ready. A HUNGRY tike ne'er minds a blaud wi' a rough bane. Many will stand abuse and even harsh treatment when their interests are concerned. Take the bit and the buffet with it.-E. Pelt a dog with a bone and you will not offend him.-Italian. A dog will not cry if you beat him with a bone.-E. A dog won't howl at a bone.—Gaelic. A HUNGRY wame has nae lugs. I.e., a hungry man is deaf to reason. A JANUAR haddock, a Februar bannock, and a March pint o' ale. Supposed to be at their best during these months. With regard to the haddock, the statement is contradicted by a Mearns proverb, which declares that "A cameral haddock's ne'er gude Till it gets three draps o' May flude." A JOKE has sometimes mair wisdom in't than the pulpit oration o' a greetin' minister. Many a true word is spoken in jest.—E. A JOURNEYMAN minister. i.e., one without a charge of his own.-Hogg. A KAIL supper o' Fife. "The Antiquary," ch. 4. A term applied to the natives of the "kingdom" from their supposed ancient liking for good Scotch kail. A KELSO Convoy. A step and a half ower the door stane." Antiquary," ch. 30. A KELSO traveller. Border phrase. A wooden stand on wheels, upon which was placed the hot water kettle at toddy parties. The stand and kettle were run round the table for the convenience of the guests, hence the name. A KICK at the bendweed foal. i.e., an obstinate fellow." The Entail," ch. 77. A KINDLY colt will never mak a gude horse. So, on the contrary, it is said, A ragged colt may make a good horse.-E. A KINDLY word cools anger. A KING'S face should gi'e grace. "Fortunes of Nigel," ch. 3 A KINSMAN is part of a man's body, but a foster brother is a piece of his heart. Gaelic. "Waverley," ch. 23. A KIRKYAIRD deserter. Applied to persons who are remarkable for a ghastly and death-like appearance. A KISS and a drink o' water mak but a wersh breakfast. Compare, Its lang or four bare legs gather heat in a bed. A LAIDLAW maun aye be read backward. The Ettrick Shepherd, "Siege of Roxburgh," ch. 13. A LAMBERTON Toll marriage. Compare, A Coldstream marriage. A LANDWARD lad is aye laithfu'. i.e., a country lad is bashful. A LANDWARD toun. The Scots retain the use of the word town in its comprehensive Saxon meaning, as a place of habitation. A mansion or a farm house, though solitary, is called the toun. A landward toun is a dwelling situated in the country." Old Mortality," ch. 8, and footnote. The term toun is applied to all the buildings about a farm; it is the generic name for the master's house, the hinds' cottages, and the farm offices. Landward bred, i.e., country bred, homely in manners.— "Heart of Midlothian," ch. 36. A LANG gathered dam soon runs out. A LAUGHING faced lad often maks a lither (lazy) servant. A LAWYER'S e'e has twa lenses. A LAYIN' hen is better than a standing mill. A LEAKY ship needs muckle pumping. A LEASURE, as lairds die.-Kelly. (At leisure.) At leisure, as flax groweth.-E. A LED farm. "Guy Mannering," ch. 50. 1.e., a farm on which the tenant does not reside. A LINGERIN' death and a lingerin' love mak the heart sick. i.e., a very diminutive person. A LOCHARBRIGG lad or lass. i.e., a warlock or witch, later, a doubtful character. Locharbrigg hill, about four miles from Dumfries, was the noted tryst of the Nithsdale and Galloway warlocks and witches. Their gathering hymn contained the following lines:— "When the grey howlet has three times hoo'd, When the tod has jowled three times i' the woode, At the red mune cowering ahin' the clud; When the stars hae cruppen deep i' the drift, Ryde, ryde for Locharbrigg knowe." A LOCKERBIE lick. Between Speldins and Lockerbie, on a level plain beside the Dryffe water, a desperate battle was fought between the border clans of Johnstone and Maxwell sometime about the beginning of the seventeenth century. Lord Maxwell was killed, and his followers put to flight, many of them so disfigured by slashes in the face from the axes of their foes, that "a Lockerbie lick " became from that time a proverbial expression. A LORD of Seat.. A nobleman was called a Lord of State. The Senators of the College of Justice were termed Lords of Seat, or of the Session.-"Heart of Midlothian," ch. 4, and footnote. A LOUP-THE-DYKE Jenny Cameron. A woman of bad character.-Gall, "The Entail," ch. 65. A LOUP the window. i.e., a secret lover.-Galt, "The Entail," ch. 64. A LOVING heart and a leal within Are better than gowd or gentle kin. A MAN canna bear a' his ain kin aboot on his back. i.e., no one can be expected to support all his relations. A MAN cannot sell his tinsel (loss). Spoken when a man has refused a good rate for a commodity and afterwards lost it.-Kelly. A MAN may be kind, yet gi'e little o' his gear. A MAN may speir the gate he kens fu' weel. From policy. This is often done to puzzle the person examined, and so lead him to commit himself. This is condemned in another Scotch proverb, Deil speed them that speir and ken fu' weel. What sent the messengers to hell Was asking what they knew full well. "Waverley," ch. 24. So, Asking what one knows, the worst kind of asking.-Gaelic. B A MAN may speir the gate to Rome. Spoken to those who, being bid go an errand, excuse themselves because they know not the way.-Kelly. A MAN may spit in his neive and do but little. As, Muckle cry and little woo. A MAN may woo where he will, but must wed where his weird is. What's allotted can't be blotted.-Irish. A MAN of straw is worth a woman of gold.—Kelly. A MAN should ride where he may not wrestle. A Border saying, as, Discretion is the better part of valour. A MAN was once hanged for leaving his drink. It took its rise from the villain that assassinated the Prince of Orange. Spoken when men proffer to go away before their drink be out.-Kelly. He will be hanged for leaving his liquor, like the saddler of Bawtry-is a parallel English proverb, though the reputed origin is different. The latter saying arose from the following circumstances. In former days an ale house, called "The Gallows House," stood half way between York and the place of public execution for that city, and here the cart invariably stopped for the refreshment of the convict and his escort. The saddler, however, refused the offer of a last glass, and hastened on to the place of execution, where, very soon after he was turned off, a reprieve arrived, so that had he stopped at "The Gallow's House," the time consumed there would have been the means of saving his life.— Pegge's "Curialia," ed. 1818, pp. 340-1. A MAN wha lippens to a strae rope may hang himsel'. Better run no risks. A MAN'S a man for a' that.-Burns. A MAN'S aye blind in his ain cause.-Fergusson. A MAN'S aye crouse in his ain cause. A man is bold with what's his own.-Gaelic, and, Every man is a lion in his own cause.-Gaelic. A MAN'S hand, and a mailed glove on that. The Borderers, with all their carelessness, were severe observers of the faith which they had pledged even to an enemy. Their declaration of good will and form of pledging faith, "A man's hand and a mailed glove on that," was regarded as inviolable. If any person broke his word so plighted, the individual with whom faith had not been kept, used to bring to the next Border meeting a glove hung on the point of a spear, and proclaim to Scots and English the name of the defaulter. This was considered so great a disgrace to all connected with him, that his own clansmen sometimes destroyed the offender to escape the infamy he had brought on his name. |