Reminiscences of Scottish Life & Character Part 23

There is a set of Scottish proverbs which we may group together as containing one quality in common, and that in reference to the Evil Spirit, and to his agency in the world. This is a reference often, I fear, too lightly made; but I am not conscious of anything deliberately profane or irreverent in the following:--

_The deil's nae sae ill as he's caa'd_. The most of people may be found to have some redeeming good point: applied in _Guy Mannering_ by the Deacon to Gilbert Glossin, upon his intimating his intention to come to his shop soon for the purpose of laying in his winter stock of groceries.

To the same effect, _It's a sin to lee on the deil_. Even of the worst people, _truth_ at least should be spoken.

_He should hae a lang-shafted spune that sups kail wi' the deil._ He should be well guarded and well protected that has to do with cunning and unprincipled men.

_Lang ere the deil dee by the d.y.k.e-side._ Spoken when the improbable death of some powerful and ill-disposed person is talked of.

_Let ae deil ding anither_. Spoken when too bad persons are at variance over some evil work.

_The deil's bairns hae deil's luck_. Spoken enviously when ill people prosper.

_The deil's a busy bishop in his ain diocie_. Bad men are sure to be active in promoting their own bad ends. A quaint proverb of this cla.s.s I have been told of as coming from the reminiscences of an old lady of quality, to recommend a courteous manner to every one: _It's aye gude to be ceevil, as the auld wife said when she beckit[135] to the deevil_.

_Raise nae mair deils than ye are able to lay_. Provoke no strifes which ye may be unable to appease.

_The deil's aye gude to his ain_. A malicious proverb, spoken as if those whom we disparage were deriving their success from bad causes.

_Ye wad do little for G.o.d an the deevil was dead_. A sarcastic mode of telling a person that fear, rather than love or principle, is the motive to his good conduct.

In the old collection already referred to is a proverb which, although somewhat _personal_, is too good to omit. It is doubtful how it took its origin, whether as a satire against the deca.n.a.l order in general, or against some obnoxious dean in particular. These are the terms of it: _The deil an' the dean begin wi' ae letter. When the deil has the dean the kirk will be the better._

_The deil's gane ower Jock Wabster_ is a saying which I have been accustomed to in my part of the country from early years. It expresses generally misfortune or confusion, but I am not quite sure of the _exact_ meaning, or who is represented by "Jock Wabster." It was a great favourite with Sir Walter Scott, who quotes it twice in _Rob Roy_. Allan Ramsay introduces it in the _Gentle Shepherd_ to express the misery of married life when the first dream of love has pa.s.sed away:--

"The 'Deil gaes ower Jock Wabster,' hame grows h.e.l.l, When Pate misca's ye waur than tongue can tell."

There are two very pithy Scottish proverbial expressions for describing the case of young women losing their chance of good marriages by setting their aims too high. Thus an old lady, speaking of her granddaughter having made what she considered a poor match, described her as having "_lookit at the moon, and licht.i.t[136] in the midden_."

It is recorded again of a celebrated beauty, Becky Monteith, that being asked how she had not made a good marriage, she replied, "_Ye see, I wadna hae the walkers, and the riders gaed by._"

_It's ill to wauken sleeping dogs._ It is a bad policy to rouse dangerous and mischievous people, who are for the present quiet.

_It is nae mair ferly[137] to see a woman greit than to see a goose go barefit._ A harsh and ungallant reference to the facility with which the softer s.e.x can avail themselves of tears to carry a point.

_A Scots mist will weet an Englishman to the skin._ A proverb, evidently of Caledonian origin, arising from the frequent complaints made by English visitors of the heavy mists which hang about our hills, and which are found to annoy the southern traveller as it were downright rain.

_Keep your ain fish-guts to your ain sea-maws._ This was a favourite proverb with Sir Walter Scott, when he meant to express the policy of first considering the interests that are nearest home. The saying savours of the fis.h.i.+ng population of the east cost.

_A Yule feast may be done at Pasch_. Festivities, although usually practised at Christmas, need not, on suitable occasions, be confined to any season.

_It's better to sup wi' a cutty than want a spune._ Cutty means anything short, stumpy, and not of full growth; frequently applied to a short-handled horn spoon. As Meg Merrilies says to the bewildered Dominie, "If ye dinna eat instantly, by the bread and salt, I'll put it down your throat wi' the _cutty spune_."

"_Fules mak feasts and wise men eat 'em,_ my Lord." This was said to a Scottish n.o.bleman on his giving a great entertainment, and who readily answered, "Ay, and _Wise men make proverbs and fools repeat 'em._"

_A green Yule[138] and a white Pays[139] mak a fat kirk-yard._ A very coa.r.s.e proverb, but may express a general truth as regards the effects of season on the human frame. Another of a similar character is, _An air[140] winter maks a sair[141] winter_.

_Wha will bell the cat?_ The proverb is used in reference to a proposal for accomplis.h.i.+ng a difficult or dangerous task, and alludes to the fable of the poor mice proposing to put a bell about the cat's neck, that they might be apprised of his coming. The historical application is well known. When the n.o.bles of Scotland proposed to go in a body to Stirling to take Cochrane, the favourite of James the Third, and hang him, the Lord Gray asked, "It is well said, but wha will bell the cat?"

The Earl of Angus accepted the challenge, and effected the object. To his dying day he was called Archibald Bell-the-Cat.

_Ye hae tint the tongue o' the trump._ "Trump" is a Jew's harp. To lose the tongue of it is to lose what is essential to its sound.

_Meat and ma.s.s hinders nae man._ Needful food, and suitable religious exercises, should not be spared under greatest haste.

_Ye fand it whar the Highlandman fand the tangs_ (i.e. at the fireside).

A hit at our mountain neighbours, who occasionally took from the Lowlands--as having found--something that was never lost.

_His head will ne'er rive_ (i.e. tear) _his father's bonnet_. A picturesque way of expressing that the son will never equal the influence and ability of his sire.

_His bark is waur nor his bite._ A good-natured apology for one who is good-hearted and rough in speech.

_Do as the cow of Forfar did, tak a standing drink_. This proverb relates to an occurrence which gave rise to a lawsuit and a whimsical legal decision. A woman in Forfar, who was brewing, set out her tub of beer to cool. A cow came by and drank it up. The owner of the cow was sued for compensation, but the bailies of Forfar, who tried the case, acquitted the owner of the cow, on the ground that the farewell drink, called in the Highlands the _dochan doris_[142], or stirrup-cup, taken by the guest standing by the door, was never charged; and as the cow had taken but a standing drink outside, it could not, according to the Scottish usage, be chargeable. Sir Walter Scott has humorously alluded to this circ.u.mstance in the notes to _Waverley_, but has not mentioned it as the subject of an old Scotch proverb.

_Bannocks are better nor nae kind o' bread._ Evidently Scottish. Better have oatmeal cakes to eat than be in want of wheaten loaves.

_Folly is a bonny dog._ Meaning, I suppose, that many are imposed upon by the false appearances and attractions of vicious pleasures.

_The e'ening brings a' hame_ is an interesting saying, meaning, that the evening of life, or the approach of death, softens many of our political and religious differences. I do not find this proverb in the older collections, but Sir William Maxwell justly calls it "a beautiful proverb, which, lending itself to various uses, may be taken as an expression of faith in the gradual growth and spread of large-hearted Christian charity, the n.o.blest result of our happy freedom of thought and discussion." The literal idea of the "e'ening bringing a' hame," has a high and ill.u.s.trious antiquity, as in the fragment of Sappho, [Greek: 'Espere, panta phereis--phereis oin (or oinon) phereis aiga, phereis maeteri paida]--which is thus paraphrased by Lord Byron in Don Juan, iii. 107:--

"O Hesperus, thou bringest all good things-- Home to the weary, to the hungry cheer; To the young birds the parent's brooding wings, The welcome stall to the o'erlaboured steer, etc.

Thou bring'st the child, too, to the mother's breast."

A similar graceful and moral saying inculcates an acknowledgment of grat.i.tude for the past favours which we have enjoyed when we come to the close of the day or the close of life--

_Ruse[143] the fair day at e'en._

But a very learned and esteemed friend has suggested another reading of this proverb, in accordance with the celebrated saying of Solon (Arist.

Eth. N.I. 10): [Greek: Kata Solona chreon telos hozan]--Do not praise the fairness of the day _till_ evening; do not call the life happy _till_ you have seen the close; or, in other matters, do not boast that all is well till you have conducted your undertaking to a prosperous end.

_Let him tak a spring on his ain fiddle._ Spoken of a foolish and unreasonable person; as if to say, "We will for the present allow him to have his own way." Bailie Nicol Jarvie quotes the proverb with great bitterness, when he warns his opponent that _his_ time for triumph will come ere long,--"Aweel, aweel, sir, you're welcome to a tune on your ain fiddle; but see if I dinna gar ye dance till't afore it's dune."

_The kirk is meikle, but ye may say ma.s.s in ae end o't;_ or, as I have received it in another form, "If we canna preach in the kirk, we can sing ma.s.s in the quire." This intimates, where something is alleged to be too much, that you need take no more than what you have need for. I heard the proverb used in this sense by Sir Walter Scott at his own table. His son had complained of some quaighs which Sir Walter had produced for a dram after dinner, that they were too large. His answer was, "Well, Walter, as my good mother used to say, if the kirk is ower big, just sing ma.s.s in the quire." Here is another reference to kirk and quire--_He rives[144] the kirk to theik[145] the quire_. Spoken of unprofitable persons, who in the English proverb, "rob Peter to pay Paul."

_The king's errand may come the cadger's gate yet._ A great man may need the service of a very mean one.

_The maut is aboon the meal._ His liquor has done more for him than his meat. The man is drunk.

_Mak a kirk and a mill o't._ Turn a thing to any purpose you like; or rather, spoken sarcastically, Take it, and make the best of it.

_Like a sow playing on a trump._ No image could be well more incongruous than a pig performing on a Jew's harp.

_Mair by luck than gude guiding._ His success is due to his fortunate circ.u.mstances, rather than to his own discretion.

_He's not a man to ride the water wi'._ A common Scottish saying to express you cannot trust such an one in trying times. May have arisen from the districts where fords abounded, and the crossing them was dangerous.

_He rides on the riggin o' the kirk._ The rigging being the top of the roof, the proverb used to be applied to those who carried their zeal for church matters to the extreme point.

_Leal heart never lee'd,_ well expresses that an honest loyal disposition will scorn, under all circ.u.mstances, to tell a falsehood.