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Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character by Edward Bannerman Ramsay

E >> Edward Bannerman Ramsay >> Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character




_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 passed away:--

"The 'Deil gaes ower Jock Wabster,' hame grows hell,
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 lichtit[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 sex 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 fishing 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 nobleman 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
coarse 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 accomplishing 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 nobles 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 mass 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 circumstance 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 noblest result of our happy freedom of thought
and discussion." The literal idea of the "e'ening bringing a' hame," has
a high and illustrious 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
gratitude 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 mass in ae end o't;_ or, as I have
received it in another form, "If we canna preach in the kirk, we can
sing mass 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 mass 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
circumstances, 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 circumstances, to tell a falsehood.

A common Scottish proverb, _Let that flee stick to the wa'_, has an
obvious meaning,--"Say nothing more on that subject." But the derivation
is not obvious[146]. In like manner, the meaning of _He that will to
Cupar maun to Cupar_, is clearly that if a man is obstinate, and bent
upon his own dangerous course, he must take it. But why Cupar? and
whether is it the Cupar of Angus or the Cupar of Fife?

_Kindness creeps where it canna gang_ prettily expresses that where love
can do little, it will do that little, though it cannot do more.

In my part of the country a ridiculous addition used to be made to the
common Scottish saying. _Mony a thing's made for the pennie_, i.e. Many
contrivances are thought of to get money. The addition is, "As the old
woman said when she saw a black man," taking it for granted that he was
an ingenious and curious piece of mechanism made for profit.

_Bluid is thicker than water_ is a proverb which has a marked Scottish
aspect, as meant to vindicate those family predilections to which, as a
nation, we are supposed to be rather strongly inclined.

_There's aye water where the stirkie[147] drouns._ Where certain effects
are produced, there must be some causes at work--a proverb used to show
that a universal popular suspicion as to an obvious effect must be
laid in truth.

_Better a finger aff than aye waggin_'. This proverb I remember as a
great favourite with many Scotch people. Better experience the worst,
than have an evil always pending.

_Cadgers are aye cracking o' crook saddles_[148] has a very Scottish
aspect, and signifies that professional men are very apt to talk too
much of their profession.

The following is purely Scotch, for in no country but Scotland are
singed sheep heads to be met with: _He's like a sheep head in a pair
o' tangs._

_As sure's deeth_. A common Scottish proverbial expression to signify
either the truth or certainty of a fact, or to pledge the speaker to a
performance of his promise. In the latter sense an amusing illustration
of faith in the superior obligation of this asseveration to any other,
is recorded in the _Eglinton Papers_[149]. The Earl one day found a boy
climbing up a tree, and called him to come down. The boy declined,
because, he said, the Earl would thrash him. His Lordship pledged his
honour that he would not do so. The boy replied, "I dinna ken onything
about your honour, but if you say as sure's deeth I'll come doun."

Proverbs are sometimes local in their application.

_The men o' the Mearns canna do mair than they may._ Even the men of
Kincardineshire can only do their utmost--a proverb intended to be
highly complimentary to the powers of the men of that county.

_I'll mak Cathkin's covenant wi' you, Let abee for let abee._ This is a
local saying quoted often in Hamilton. The laird of that property
had--very unlike the excellent family who have now possessed it for more
than a century--been addicted to intemperance. One of his neighbours, in
order to frighten him on his way home from his evening potations,
disguised himself, on a very wet night, and, personating the devil,
claimed a title to carry him off as his rightful property. Contrary to
all expectation, however, the laird showed fight, and was about to
commence the onslaught, when a parley was proposed, and the issue was,
"Cathkin's covenant, Let abee for let abee."

_When the castle of Stirling gets a hat, the Carse of Corntown pays for
that._ This is a local proverbial saying; the meaning is, that when the
clouds descend so low as to envelope Stirling Castle, a deluge of rain
may be expected in the adjacent country.

I will conclude this notice of our proverbial reminiscences, by adding a
cluster of Scottish proverbs, selected from an excellent article on the
general subject in the _North British Review_ of February 1858. The
reviewer designates these as "broader in their mirth, and more caustic
in their tone," than the moral proverbial expressions of the Spanish and
Italian:--

_A blate[150] cat maks a proud mouse.
Better a toom[151] house than an ill tenant.
Jouk[152] and let the jaw[153] gang by.
Mony ane speirs the gate[154] he kens fu' weel.
The tod[155] ne'er sped better than when he gaed his ain errand.
A wilfu' man should be unco wise.
He that has a meikle nose thinks ilka ane speaks o't.
He that teaches himsell has a fule for his maister.
It's an ill cause that the lawyer thinks shame o'.
Lippen[156] to me, but look to yoursell.
Mair whistle than woo, as the souter said when shearing the soo.
Ye gae far about seeking the nearest.
Ye'll no sell your hen on a rainy day.
Ye'll mend when ye grow better.
Ye're nae chicken for a' your cheepin'_[157].

I have now adduced quite sufficient specimens to convince those who may
not have given attention to the subject, how much of wisdom, knowledge
of life, and good feeling, are contained in these aphorisms which
compose the mass of our Scottish proverbial sayings. No doubt, to many
of my younger readers proverbs are little known, and to all they are
becoming more and more matters of reminiscence. I am quite convinced
that much of the old quaint and characteristic Scottish talk which we
are now endeavouring to recall depended on a happy use of those
abstracts of moral sentiment. And this feeling will be confirmed when we
call to mind how often those of the old Scottish school of character,
whose conversation we have ourselves admired, had most largely availed
themselves of the use of its _proverbial_ philosophy.

I have already spoken of (p. 16) a Scottish peculiarity--viz. that of
naming individuals from lands which have been possessed long by the
family, or frequently from the landed estates which they acquire. The
use of this mode of discriminating individuals in the Highland districts
is sufficiently obvious. Where the inhabitants of a whole country-side
are Campbells, or Frasers, or Gordons, nothing could be more convenient
than addressing the individuals of each clan by the name of his estate.
Indeed, some years ago, any other designation, as Mr. Campbell, Mr.
Fraser, would have been resented as an indignity. Their consequence
sprang from their possession[158]. But all this is fast wearing away.
The estates of old families have often changed hands, and Highlanders
are most unwilling to give the names of old properties to new
proprietors. The custom, however, lingers amongst us, in the northern
districts especially. Farms also used to give their names to the
tenants[159]. I can recall an amusing instance of this practice
belonging to my early days. The oldest recollections I have are
connected with the name, the figure, the sayings and doings, of the old
cow-herd at Fasque in my father's time; his name was Boggy, _i.e._ his
ordinary appellation; his true name was Sandy Anderson. But he was
called Boggy from the circumstance of having once held a wretched farm
on Deeside named Boggendreep. He had long left it, and been unfortunate
in it, but the name never left him,--he was Boggy to his grave. The
territorial appellation used to be reckoned complimentary, and more
respectful than Mr. or any higher title to which the individual might be
entitled. I recollect, in my brother's time, at Fasque, his showing off
some of his home stock to Mr. Williamson, the Aberdeen butcher. They
came to a fine stot, and Sir Alexander said, with some appearance of
boast, "I was offered twenty guineas for that ox." "Indeed, Fasque,"
said Williamson, "ye should hae steekit your neive upo' that."

Sir Walter Scott had marked in his diary a territorial greeting of two
proprietors which had amused him much. The laird of Kilspindie had met
the laird of Tannachy-Tulloch, and the following compliments passed
between them:--"Yer maist obedient hummil servant, Tannachy-Tulloch." To
which the reply was, "Yer nain man, Kilspindie."

In proportion as we advance towards the Highland district this custom of
distinguishing clans or races, and marking them out according to the
district they occupied, became more apparent. There was the Glengarry
country, the Fraser country, the Gordon country, etc. etc. These names
carried also with them certain moral features as characteristic of each
division. Hence the following anecdote:--The morning litany of an old
laird of Cultoquhey, when he took his morning draught at the cauld well,
was in these terms:--"Frae the ire o' the Drummonds, the pride o' the
Graemes, the greed o' the Campbells, and the wind o' the Murrays, guid
Lord deliver us."

The Duke of Athole, having learned that Cultoquhey was in the habit of
mentioning his Grace's family in such uncomplimentary terms, invited the
humorist to Dunkeld, for the purpose of giving him a hint to desist from
the reference. After dinner, the Duke asked his guest what were the
precise terms in which he was in the habit of alluding to his powerful
neighbours. Cultoquhey repeated his liturgy without a moment's
hesitation. "I recommend you," said his Grace, looking very angry, "in
future to omit my name from your morning devotions." All he got from
Cultoquhey was, "Thank ye, my Lord Duke," taking off his glass with the
utmost sangfroid.

FOOTNOTES:

[49] Stoor is, Scottice, dust in motion, and has no English synonym; oor
is hour. Sir Walter Scott is said to have advised an artist, in painting
a battle, not to deal with details, but to get up a good _stoor_: then
put in an arm and a sword here and there, and leave all the rest to the
imagination of the spectator.

[50] Reach me a leg of that turkey.

[51] Clearing ashes out of the bars of the grate.

[52] Mentally confused. Muddy when applied to water.

[53] Preface to 4th edition of _Mystifications_, by Dr. John Brown.

[54] Worse.

[55] Where.

[56] Lord Cockburn's _Memorials_, p. 58.

[57] Frogs.

[58] Killed.

[59] Miss Jenny Methven.

[60] "Civil," "obliging."--Jamieson.

[61] _Dam_, the game of draughts.

[62] _Brod_, the board.

[63] Measles.

[64] Nettle-rash.

[65] The itch.

[66] Whooping-cough.

[67] Mumps.

[68] Toothache.

[69] The Scotticisms are printed in italics.

[70] Delicate in health.

[71] Ailment.

[72] Yawning.

[73] Catching.

[74] Tea-urn

[75] _Ver_, the spring months.--_e.g._ "This was in _ver_ quhen wynter
tid."--_Barbour_.

[76] A number.

[77] Young girls.

[78] Gallows birds.

[79] whistling noises.

[80] Distorted gestures.

[81] Honey jar.

[82] A kind of loose gown formerly worn.

[83] Amongst many acts of kindness and essential assistance which I have
received and am constantly receiving from my friend Mr. Hugh James
Rollo, I owe my introduction to this interesting Scottish volume, now, I
believe, rather scarce.

[84] Kelly's book is constantly quoted by Jamieson, and is, indeed, an
excellent work for the study of good old Scotch.

[85] This probably throws back the collection to about the middle of the
century.

[86] Nurse.

[87] Daw, a slut.

[88] Would.

[89] Forgive.

[90] Going or moving.

[91] Foot.

[92] Always.

[93] If.

[94] Boasters.

[95] Used as cowards(?)

[96] Jest.

[97] A dog's name.

[98] To skail house, to disfurnish.

[99] Being angry or cross.

[100] Judge.

[101] Know not.

[102] Blames.

[103] To aim at.

[104] A stroke.

[105] Full.

[106] Hold.

[107] Potent or strong.

[108] Is angry.

[109] Settle.

[110] Amends.

[111] Comb.

[112] Seldom.

[113] Painfully.

[114] Wool-combers.

[115] Greasy.

[116] Worthless fellow.

[117] Loses.

[118] Sixpenny.

[119] A sort of dagger or hanger which seems to have been used both at
meals as a knife and in broils--

"And _whingers_ now in friendship bare,
The social meal to part and share,
Had found a bloody sheath."

--_Lay of the Last Minstrel_.

[120] Thong.

[121] No lawsuit.

[122] Robbers.

[123] Rue, to repent.

[124] More.

[125] Maidens.

[126] Hares.

[127] Take after.

[128] Cuckoo.

[129] Note.

[130] Attired.

[131] Curried.

[132] Related.

[133] Outrun.

[134] Tune.

[135] Curtsied.

[136] Fallen.

[137] Surprise.

[138] Christmas.

[139] Pasch or Easter.

[140] Early.

[141] Severe.

[142] The proper orthography of this expression is deoch-an-doruis (or
dorais). _Deoch_, a drink; _an_, of the; _doruis_ or _dorais_,
possessive case of dorus or doras a door.

[143] Praise.

[144] Tears.

[145] Thatch.

[146] It has been suggested, and with much reason, that the reference is
to a fly sticking on a wet or a newly painted wall; this is corroborated
by the addition in Rob Roy, "When the dirt's dry, it will rub out,"
which seems to point out the meaning and derivation of the proverb.

[147] A young bullock.

[148] Saddle for supporting panniers.

[149] Vol. i. p. 134.

[150] Shy.

[151] Empty.

[152] Stoop down.

[153] Wave.

[154] The way.

[155] Fox.

[156] Trust to.

[157] Chirping.

[158] Even in Forfarshire, where Carnegies abound, we had Craigo,
Balnamoon, Pitarrow, etc.

[159] This custom is still in use in Galloway; and "Challoch,"
"Eschonchan," "Tonderghie," "Balsalloch," and "Drummorral," etc. etc.,
appear regularly at kirk and market.



CHAPTER THE SEVENTH.

ON SCOTTISH STORIES OF WIT AND HUMOUR.

The portion of our subject which we proposed under the head of
"Reminiscences of Scottish Stories of Wit or Humour," yet remains to be
considered. This is closely connected with the question of Scottish
dialect and expressions; indeed, on some points hardly separable, as the
wit, to a great extent, proceeds from the quaint and picturesque modes
of expressing it. But here we are met by a difficulty. On high authority
it has been declared that no such thing as wit exists amongst us. What
has no existence can have no change. We cannot be said to have lost a
quality which we never possessed. Many of my readers are no doubt
familiar with what Sydney Smith declared on this point, and certainly on
the question of wit he must be considered an authority. He used to say
(I am almost ashamed to repeat it), "It requires a surgical operation to
get a joke well into a Scotch understanding. Their only idea of wit,
which prevails occasionally in the north, and which, under the name of
WUT, is so infinitely distressing to people of good taste, is laughing
immoderately at stated intervals." Strange language to use of a country
which has produced Smollett, Burns, Scott, Galt, and Wilson--all
remarkable for the humour diffused through their writings! Indeed, we
may fairly ask, have they equals in this respect amongst English
writers? Charles Lamb had the same notion, or, I should rather say, the
same prejudice, about Scottish people not being accessible to wit; and
he tells a story of what happened to himself, in corroboration of the
opinion. He had been asked to a party, and one object of the invitation
had been to meet a son of Burns. When he arrived, Mr. Burns had not made
his appearance, and in the course of conversation regarding the family
of the poet, Lamb, in his lack-a-daisical kind of manner, said, "I wish
it had been the father instead of the son;" upon which four Scotsmen
present with one voice exclaimed, "That's impossible, for _he's
dead_[160]." Now, there will be dull men and matter-of-fact men
everywhere, who do not take a joke, or enter into a jocular allusion;
but surely, as a general remark, this is far from being a natural
quality of our country. Sydney Smith and Charles Lamb say so. But, at
the risk of being considered presumptuous, I will say I think them
entirely mistaken. I should say that there was, on the contrary, a
strong _connection_ between the Scottish temperament and, call it if you
like, humour, if it is not wit. And what is the difference? My readers
need not be afraid that they are to be led through a labyrinth of
metaphysical distinctions between wit and humour. I have read Dr.
Campbell's dissertation on the difference, in his Philosophy of
Rhetoric; I have read Sydney Smith's own two lectures; but I confess I
am not much the wiser. Professors of rhetoric, no doubt, must have such
discussions; but when you wish to be amused by the thing itself, it is
somewhat disappointing to be presented with metaphysical analysis. It is
like instituting an examination of the glass and cork of a champagne
bottle, and a chemical testing of the wine. In the very process the
volatile and sparkling draught which was to delight the palate has
become like ditch water, vapid and dead. What I mean is, that, call it
wit or humour, or what you please, there is a school of Scottish
pleasantry, amusing and characteristic beyond all other. Don't think of
_analysing_ its nature, or the qualities of which it is composed; enjoy
its quaint and amusing flow of oddity and fun; as we may, for instance,
suppose it to have flowed on that eventful night so joyously described
by Burns:--