し Probably it is equivalent to the two following English sayings Absence weakens home ties; and, Out of sight out of mind. ANCE is nae custom. ANCE payt never craved. A man is richer for paying his debts.-Fr. ANCE provost, aye My Lord. In "Redgauntlet," ch. 20, Peter Peebles says: Was I a burgess? and am I not a burgess even now? I have done nothing to forfeit the right, I trow, once provost, and aye my Lord. ANCE there, and awa' wi' care. Said when one has secured safe and comfortable quarters. ANCE wud, and aye waur. "St. Ronan's Well," ch. 15. ANCE wud never wise. Insanity usually gets worse instead of better, and a man who has once been deranged is always suspected. AND for the buck thou stoutly brought To us up that steep heuch, Thy designation ever shall Be John Scott in Buckscleuch. According to a tradition—as given by the old chronicler, Satchellsone of two brothers who had come to Ettrick Forest seized a stag which stood at bay in the glen, now called Buccleugh in Ettrick, and grasping the animal by the horns, carried it to the king, who was on the top of a steep bank at a place called Cacra Cross. Upon which the king is said to have addressed him in the words of the rhyme. ANE at a time is gude fishing. ANE gets sma' thanks for tineing his ain. ANE herrand damysele, and ane spekand castel, "The Complaint of Scotland," ed. 1801, p. 167. A castle that speaketh and a woman that will hear, they will be gotten both.-E. ANE may bind the sack afore it's fu'. A stop may be put to some operations at any time without injury.— Hislop. ANE may like a haggis weel enough that wadna like the bag bladded (slapped) on his chafts. ANE may like the kirk weel enough and no ride on the riggin' o't. i.e., he is a good churchman, but not a fanatic. A man may love his house well, though he ride not on the ridge.-E. ANE wad like to be lo'ed, but wha wad mool in wi' a moudiewort? (a mole). The preceding three proverbs imply that we should avoid extremes. ANE never tines by doing a gude turn. ANE wha sees a spirit dies soon. ANE wull gar a hundred lee. ANE'S ain hearth is gowd's worth. ANGER's a drouthy passion. "Old Mortality," ch. 4. ANGER'S mair hurtful than the wrong that caused it. ANGER'S short lived in a gude man. ANGUS bodies. i.e., Forfarshire men. ANNAN, Tweed, and Clyde | Rise a' oot o' ae hillside. So it is said Tweed ran, Annan wan, Clyde fell and brake its neck owre Corra Linn. The Annan, as the shortest of the three, is here said to win the race. The Tweed rises at Tweedswell, in the Parish of Tweedsmuir, Peebleshire, at the base of a hilly range, from the further side of which spring the rivers Annan and Clyde. ANOTHER for Hector. Said at the battle of Inverkeithing, 1562, with reference to the chief of the Macleans, Hector Roy of Durat.-" Fair Maid of Perth," ch. 34. APPREHENDED dangers may be always defended dangers. Attributed to "Earl Trueman," an Earl of Douglas, so called. Footnote to "Quentin Durward," ch. 26. A danger foreseen is half avoided.-E. APRIL showers bring May flowers. April showers bring summer flowers.-E. "ARE they no a bonny pair?" as the deil said to his hoofs. ARTHUR and Bower has broken his bands, And he's come roaring owre the lands; The King o' Scots, and a' his power, A riddle on a high wind.-Chambers. L As a carl riches, he wretches. Wretch, a covetous or niggardly person.-Jamieson. So, The more you heap, the worse you cheap. —E. As wealth increases, so the love of money grows.-L. As ae door shuts anither opens. As akin to a peats-ship and Sheriffdom as a sieve is to a riddle. As ane flits anither sits, and that keeps mailins (farms) dear. Tenant after tenant makes the land dear.-Gaelic. As auld as the hills. As auld as the three trees o' Dysart.-Fife. As blunt as a beetle-(a heavy mallet). As deaf as a beetle.--E. As caigue as a pyat picking at a worm. As caller as a kail blade. As cautious as a Scot. As cheeky as a young bantam cock. As clean as a leek. As clean as a new penny. As clean as a whistle.-E. As clean gane as if the cat had lick't the place. As coarse as Nancie's harn-sark-three threads out o' the pound (?) As crouse as a cat when the fleas are kaimed aff her. "Rob Roy," ch. 19. As crouse as a new washen louse. As daft as a cuddy. As daft as a yett on a windy day. As dark as a Yule midnight. As day brake, butter brake. Spoken when a person or thing that was wanting comes opportunely. -Kelly. L. As deaf as a post. As deaf as Ailsa Craig. As deep as Pedwell (pro Peddle). Spoken of a designing person. Pedwell is a fishing village on the Tweed, and is mentioned in Reginald the Monk's "Miracles of St. Cuthbert."-Henderson. As dumb as a dead cuddy. As dure as a door nail. As fain as a fool o' a fair day. As false as a Scot; and, Fair and false like a Scot. For many centuries previous to the Union of the Crowns, the English, in speaking of their northern neighbours, used to say "as false as a Scot," forgetting, as Scott points out in note D. to the "Talisman," that their own encroachments on the independence of the weaker nation compelled the Scottish people to defend themselves by policy as well as force. The disgrace must be divided between Edward I. and III., who enforced their dominion over a free country, and the Scots who were compelled to take compulsory oaths without any intention of keeping them. The English also detested the Burgundians, and speaking ironically said, By the faith of a true Burgundian. This expression is put into the mouth of Echo, the parasite, in Gascoigne's "Glasse of Govern. ment, 1575." See his "Poems," II., 23, 62. The English appear not to have borne a much better character in respect to good faith themselves, for Foy d'Anglais, Ne vaut un poitevin, expressed the opinion prevalent in the Middle Ages as to English treachery. This seems to be a favourite complaint against foreigners, for the Finns say, German faith, ironically, as the Romans said, Punica fides; and Juvenal wrote of Græcia mendax, as the French spoke of, and perhaps still speak of Le perfide Anglais. The Russian proverb asserts that The Greeks only tell the truth once a year; while the Arabs express their opinion of Western veracity in the saying, List to a Frank and hear a fable. As false as Waghorn, and he was nineteen times falser than the deil. As fat as a Lochrin distillery pig. Lochrin distillery is situated at Tollcross, Edinburgh, but is not now used for its original purpose. As fat as a miller's horse. As fierce as the Pentland Firth. As fine as tippence, you'll gie a groat raking (readily). A jest upon a girl who is finely drest, whereas she used to be dirty. -Kelly. As fine as hands could mak them. As fixed as Cheviot. "Black Dwarf," ch. 14. As flat i' the fore as a farrow cat. Spoken of a hungry looking person. As fresh as a May gowan. "Guy Mannering," ch. 33. As fu' as a biled wulk. As fu' as a piper. As fu' as Bastie. A Kyle proverbial saying.—Burns. As fu' as the Baltic. As fushionless as rue leaves at Yule. "Rob Roy," ch. 20. As gentle as German's bitch that lap ower the ingle and ate the roast. As gleg as a gled. i.e., as hungry as a kite.-"Heart of Midlothian," ch. 5. As glum as a man who has found a penny and lost a sixpence. As greedy as ten cocks scraping in a dunghill for ae barley pickle. Excessive greed and keen competition. As gude a fallow as ever toom'd a bicker. As gude fish i' the sea as e'er cam' oot o't. Be content, the sea hath fish enough.-E. As gude haud as draw. Brag is a good dog, but Holdfast is a better.-E. An illegitimate son of Elliot of Larriston in Liddesdale-the head of the family-served as stable-boy with his relative, Elliot of Stobbs. His master, who knew the connection, was in the habit of saying, as he mounted his horse, "Better he that holds the stirrup than he that |