The Proverbs of Scotland Part 86

Sic as ye gie, sic will you get.

Sic faither, sic son.

Sic reek as is therein comes out o' the lum.

Sic things maun be if we sell ale.

"This was the good woman's reply to her husband when he complained of the exciseman's too demonstrative gallantry."--_W. K. Kelly._

Silence and thought hurt nae man.

Silence grips the mouse.

Silly bairns are eith to lear.

Sins and debts are aye mair than we think them.

Sit down and rest you, and tell us how they drest you, and how you wan awa.

A jocular way of asking a person about people whom he has been to see.

Sit on your seat, and nane will rise you.

"Sit in your place, and none can make you rise."--_English._

Skill is nae burden.

Slander leaves a sair behint.

Slighted love is sair to bide.

Slipshod's no for a frozen road.

Slow at meat, slow at wark.

A reverse of this saying is common to many countries--"Quick at meat, quick at work."

Sma' fish are better than nane.

Sma' winnings mak a heavy purse.

Smooth water rins deep.

"Tweed said to Till, 'What gars ye rin sae still?'

Till said to Tweed, 'Though ye rin sae wi' speed, And I rin slaw, Where ye drown ae man, I drown twa.'"--_Berwicks.h.i.+re Rhyme._

Sober, neighbour! The night's but young yet.

A remonstrance with a person who is doing a thing too hurriedly, signifying that there is plenty of time to spare for the purpose.

Sodgers, fire, and water soon mak room for themsels.

Some ane has tauld her she was bonny.

Some are gey drouthy, but ye're aye moistified.

An insinuation that a person is very much addicted to tippling.

"'Moistify,' a low word, generally used in a ludicrous sense in regard to topers."--_Jamieson._

Some are only daft, but ye're red-wud raving.

Somebody may come to kame your hair wi' a cutty stool.

"Spoken by mothers to stubborn daughters, intimating they will come under the hands of a stepmother, who, it is likely, will not deal too tenderly with them."--_Kelly._

Some can stand the sword better than the pintstoup.

Some folk look up, and ithers look down.

And, we presume, the proverb would have the reader to understand they prosper or fail accordingly.

Some fork low, but ye fork ower the mow.

That is, some people do not do their work sufficiently, but you overdo it.

Some hae a hantel o' fauts, ye're only a ne'er-do-weel.

Some, though very bad, still have some redeeming qualities; the party addressed has none.

Some hae hap, and some stick i' the gap.

Meaning that some have and some have not good fortune.

Some hae little sense, but ye're aye haverin'.

Some show a gliff o' the gowk, but ye're aye goavin.

To "show a gliff of the gowk" is to behave foolishly.

Some strake the measure o' justice, but ye gie't heapit.

Some tak a', but ye leave naething.

Some that hae least to dree are loudest wi' "waes me."

"Those who are least hurt cry loudest."--_English._

"So on and accordingly," quo' Willie Baird's doggie.