As tired as a tike is o' lang kail. Spoken when a person is getting the same kind of meat every day. As waukrife as the cat. As wanton (dejected) as a wet hen. As weel as I am, but not so weel as I would. An answer to the question, How do you do?-Kelly. As weel as the wife that brew'd it. i.e., drunk.-Kelly. As weel be sune as syne. "Rob Roy," ch. 18. Delay hath often wrought scathe.-E. As weel try to stop the North wind comin' throu' the glens o' Foudland.—Aberdeenshire. As weel try to sup soor dook (milk) wi' an elshin. The two preceding proverbs are used to indicate impossibilities. As wight as a wabster's doublet that ilka day taks a thief by the neck. An insinuation that weavers, as a class, are dishonest. The English say, As stout as a miller's waistcoat that takes a thief by the neck every day. As yauld as an eel. As ye "The Antiquary," ch. 12. i.e., as alert as an eel. brew weel, ye'll drink the better. We must eat as we bake.-E. As ye're stout be merciful. Used tauntingly.-Kelly, Ask the tapster if his ale be gude. Ask the seller if his ware be bad; and, Ask my fellow whether I be a thief.-E. Ask my mother if my father be a thief.-North of England. An ironical answer by a person who is asked to give an opinion of his own character or property.-Hislop. AT deil speed the liars. Used when persons are roundly abusing one another. "Red Gauntlet," Letter II. AT Eildon tree, if you shall be, A brig owre Tweed you there may see.-Thomas the Rhymer. A prophecy long since fulfilled. D AT Fasten e'en the maiden was fou', She said she would fast all Lentren through. Spoken when people in plenty commend temperance.—Kelly. AT no hand. i.e., on no account,-certainly not.-"Guy Mannering," ch. 39. AT the last an' the lang. i.e., after all." Roy's Generalship," part 4. AT Three-burn Grange on some after day, When a three thumbit wight by the reins shall hold And thae three burns three days shall rin Wi' the blood o' the slain that fa' therein.-Thomas the Rhymer. A little above the Press, about three miles from Coldingham, the Ale water is formed by the junction of three small streams descending from Coldingham moor, at a place called Threeburn Grange-properly, Grains. Towards the end of last century a child was born with three thumbs at Renton, a place about three miles distant from Threeburn Grange. Though this circumstance alarmed the country people, the prophecy, happily, remains unfulfilled. A popular saying declares, with reference to this place, That a threethumbed man should haud three kings' horses up to the saddle girths lappert i' bluid.--Henderson. AT two full times and three half times, Or threescore years and ten, The ravens shall sit on the stones o' St. Brandon And drink o' the bluid o' the slain.---Thomas the Rhymer. The stones of St. Brandon stand in a field about a mile to the west of Banff. This field is supposed to have been the scene of one of the early battles between the Scots and the Danes. AT Yule, and Pasch, and high times. Such a thing must be done, worn, or expended only on extraordinary occasions.-Kelly. ATWEEN the wat grund and the dry, The gowd o' Tamleuchar doth lie. Refers to the tradition of a treasure buried under Tamleuchar Cross in Selkirkshire. AULD acquaintance is kindly, like clean linen. AULD age is a puir scouth. AULD Ayr wham ne'er a toun surpasses For honest men and bonnie lasses.-Burns. AULD chimes and auld rhymes, | Gar us think on auld times. AULD Clootie. A popular name for the devil. AULD fruit has little savour. Many forget past favours and auld friends.—“Old Mortality,” ch. 13. AULD Hornie. A popular name in Scotland for the devil. AULD lang syne. An expression peculiar to Scotland. AULD love's easy kindled. AULD moon mist ne'er died o' thrist (thirst). i.e., a mist at the period of full moon bodes wet weather.-Hislop. Compare the following English sayings Or AULD REEKIE. An old moon in a mist As safe as treasure in a kist Is the day in an old moon's mist. 66 A popular name of Edinburgh.-"The Antiquary," ch. 6. At a high masonic festival held in the city some years ago, the Earl of Dalhousie very appropriately gave the toast, Lang may auld Reekie's lums reek rarely!" but he felt so much difficulty in articulating the words that much merriment was excited.-Chambers. It is said the Fife people hit upon the name from observing the smoke of the city across the Firth of Forth. AULD saws speak truth. AULD sparrows are ill to tame. AULD Springs get nae price. Spoken when people or things are despised.-Kelly. AULD stots hae stiff horns. AULD use and custom hings aboot the fire. AULD wives and bairns mak' fools o' physicians. The former on the stren; th of their experience, and the latter from ignorance. AULD wives were aye gude maidens. AVANT Dernele! i.e., forward Darnley! The slogan of the Stewarts, Earls of Lennox. Darnley, in Renfrewshire, was the original seat of the race, and from it their second title was taken, which was borne by the eldest son of the house. The slogan came to be adopted as the family motto.-Chambers. AwE the mear, awe the bear, let the filly eat there. Spoken when we see a man's goods squandered by his own people. -Kelly. "Ay, ay, Billy Baneless, an a' tales be true yours is nae lee," as the man said to the ghost. 'Siege of Roxburgh," ch. 15.-The Ettrick Shepherd. AYE as ye thrive your feet fa's frae ye. Unexpected interruptions occur in business.-Kelly. The further you go the further behind.-E. given by Kelly. AVE flether (argue) away; since I'll no do wi' foul play, try me wi' fair. AVE keep your bannet on: sheeps' heads are best warm. AYE tak' the fee when the tear's i' the e'e. A good advice to doctors. AVE to eild, but never to wit. He is continually growing older, but never any wiser. B. BAD legs and ill wives should aye stay at hame. BAEK feast.-Orkney. An entertainment given by the best man at the close of the usual wedding festivities, in defraying which he was assisted by contributions from other young men in the neighbourhood. BAIRNS' mither bursts never. Because she will keep meat out of her own mouth to put it in theirs. -Kelly. Also in Gaelic. BAIRNS speak i' the field what they hear i' the ha'; and, BAIRNS and fules speak at the cross what they hear at the ingleside. BAITH weel and woe come aye wi' the warld's gear. "Heart of Midlothian,” ch. 49. BAKEN bread and brown ale winna bide lang. BANKS fou', braes fou', Gather ye a' the day, ye'll no gather your nieves fou'. BANNOCKS are better than nae bread. Half a loaf is better than no bread.-E. Thin kneading is better than no bread.—Gaelic. In scarcity time vetch mixed bread.-Italian. Better half an egg than an empty shell.--German. BARE gentry, bragging beggars. BARE legs need happing. i.e., poor people require assistance, BARE shoulders mak' burned shins. When a boy is ill clothed he will sit so near the fire that his legs will burn. -Kelly. BARE words mak' no bargains. A preface to the demanding of earnest.-Kelly. Bare words buy no barley.-E. BARLA fummil barley. An exclamation for a truce by one who has fallen down in wrestling or play, "by our Lady, upset! I am down." BARON of Bucklyvie, | May the foul fiend drive ye, "Rob Roy," heading to ch. 28. The Baron of Bucklyvie was a Buchanan, a cadet of the family of Kippen. BASTARD brood are aye proud. BE a friend to yoursel', and ithers will. BE aye the thing you would be ca'd. BE gaun, the gate's afore ye. i.e., a jocose or surly hint to go. BE lang sick that ye may be sune hale. i.e., do not rise from a sick bed too soon. Be ready wi' your bonnet, but slow wi' your purse. i.e., be free with civility, but sparing with your cash. Be slow in choosing a friend, but slower in changing him. |