The Proverbs of Scotland Part 18

Better haud wi' the hounds than rin wi' the hare.

The policy of the Vicar of Bray. It is better to side with the strongest or winning party.

Better keep the deil out than hae to put him out.

Better keep weel than make weel.

Better lang little than soon naething.

Better late thrive than never do weel.

Better laugh at your ain pint stoup, than greet and gather gear.

It is better to be merry spending money, than sorrowful acquiring it.

Better learn frae your neebor's skaith than frae your ain.

Learn experience rather from the misfortunes of others than from your own.

Better leave to my faes than beg frae my friends.

Better leave than lack.

That it is better to have too much of some things than too little.

Better live in hope than die in despair.

Better marry ower the midden than ower the muir.

Rather marry among those whom you know than go among strangers for a wife. "Marry over the mixon, and you will know who and what she is."--_German._ "Your wife and your nag get from a neighbour."--_Italian._

Better master ane than fight wi' ten.

Better my bairns seek frae me than I beg frae them.

Better my friends think me fremit than fas.h.i.+ous.

Better visit friends seldom than so often as to prove troublesome.

Better nae ring nor the ring o' a rash.

Better ne'er begun than ne'er ended.

Better ower 't than in 't.

Better beyond the fear of danger than in it.

Better plays the fu' wame than the new coat.

A man may be well dressed but still have a hungry belly, and _vice versa_. He that has the "fu' wame" is the more likely to be in good spirits.

Better rough an' sonsy than bare an' donsy.

It is better to be rough in manners, if coupled with prosperous circ.u.mstances, than be "genteel" and at the same time poverty stricken.

Better rue sit than rue flit.

Better not remove at all than do so and then regret it.

"Didna I see when gentle Geordie was seeking to get other folk out of the Tolbooth forby Jocky Porteous? but ye are of my mind, hinny--better sit and rue, than flit and rue--ye needna look in my face sae amazed. I ken mair things than that, maybe."--_Heart of Midlothian._

Better saucht wi' little aucht than care wi' mony cows.

Better comfort and peace of mind with little, than care and contention with much.

Better saut than sour.

Better say "Here it is" than "Here it was."

Better short and sweet than lang and lax.

Better sit idle than work for nought.

Better sit still than rise an' fa'.

Better skaith saved than mends made.

Better that offence should not be given than committed and then apologized for.

Better sma' fish than nane.

Better soon as syne.

"I tell'd your honour a while syne, that it was lang that I hae been thinking o' flitting, may be as lang as frae the first year I came to Osbaldistone Hall; and now I'm o' the mind to gang in gude earnest--better soon as syne--better a finger aff as aye wagging."--_Rob Roy._

Better spared than ill spent.

Better speak bauldly out than aye be grumphin'.

If a complaint requires to be made, make it openly and straightforwardly, instead of continuing to fret about it in an indirect manner.

Better the barn filled than the bed.

Because a full barn denotes prosperity, a full bed trouble.

Better the end o' a feast than the beginning o' a fray.

Better the mother wi' the pock, than the faither wi' the sack.