The Proverbs of Scotland Part 28

"The Threave was a strong castle belonging to the Black Douglases.

The governor left a deputy, and he a subst.i.tute, by whose negligence the castle was taken."--_Kelly._

Every man's no born wi' a siller spoon in his mouth.

Every man's nose winna be a shoeing horn.

Certain things can only be used for certain purposes.

Every man's tale's gude till anither's tauld.

Every man thinks his ain craw blackest.

"Every man to his ain trade," quo' the browster to the bishop.

Every man to his taste, as the man said when he kiss'd his cow.

Every maybe hath a may not be.

Every miller wad weise the water to his ain mill.

"Every miller draws the water to his own mill."--_English._

Every play maun be played, and some maun be the players.

Every shoe fits not every foot.

Every sow to her ain trough.

People should keep their own place; or, according to Ray, "Every man should support himself, and not hang upon another."

Everything has a beginning.

Everything has an end, and a pudding has twa.

Everything has its time, and sae has a rippling-kame.

"Rippling-kame," a coa.r.s.e comb used in the preparation of flax. The proverb means that there is a time _proper_ for everything.

Everything is the waur o' the wear.

That is, worse for wearing.

Everything wad fain live.

Every wight has his weird, and we maun a' dee when our day comes.

Evil words cut mair than swords.

Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in nae ither.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Facts are chiels that winna ding.

Faint heart ne'er wan fair lady.

Fair an' foolish, black an' proud, lang an' lazy, little an' loud.

How far this proverb is borne out by fact is certainly open to question. It appears in Ray's collection as English, and as a remark upon it he says, "Beauty and folly do often go hand in hand, and are often matched together."

Fair and softly gangs far.

"Who goes softly goes safely, and he that goes safely goes far."--_Italian._

Fair exchange is nae robbery.

Fair fa' gude drink, for it gars folk speak as they think.

"Fair fa'," well betide; good luck to. This is the Scotch version of the common saying, "When the wine is in, the wit is out;" or, "What is in the heart of the sober man is on the tongue of the drunken man."--_Latin._

"Leeze me on drink! it gi'es us mair Than either school or college, It kindles wit, it waukens lair, It pangs us fu' o' knowledge: Be't whisky gill, or penny wheep, Or ony stronger potion, It never fails, on drinking deep, To kittle up our notion, By night or day."--_Burns._

Fair fa' the wife, and weel may she spin, that counts aye the lawin' wi'

a pint to come in.

Literally, good luck to the hostess who includes a pint _still to come_ when the reckoning is called for. This saying, so far as we can discover, is exclusively Scottish.

Fair fa' you, and that's nae fleaching.

"Fleach," to flatter. A good wish sincerely expressed.

Fair folk are aye foisonless.

Kelly says of the word "foisonless," that it means "without strength or sap; dried up; withered." Scott, in _Old Mortality_, uses it in the moral sense, "unsubstantial."

Fair gae they, fair come they, and aye their heels hindmost.

Meaning that they go and come regularly, decently, and in order.

Fair hair may hae foul roots.

Fair hechts mak fools fain.

"_Hope_ puts that haste into zour heid, Quhilk boyls zour barmy brain; Howbeit fulis haste c.u.ms huly speid, Fair hechts will mak fulis fain."--_Cherrie and the Slae._