Chapter 4
Buy what you dinna want and ye'll sell what you canna spare.
By chance a cripple may grip a hare.
By doing naething we learn to do ill.
Ca' a cow to the ha' and she'll rin to the byre.
"Set a frog on a golden stool; Off it goes again to the pool."--_German._
Ca' again: you're no a ghaist.
An intimation that your visits are agreeable.
Ca' canny and flee laigh.
Ca' canny, and ye'll break nae graith.
Literally, drive slowly, and you will not overstrain the harness.
Ca' canny, lad, ye're but a new-come cooper.
A caution to those who are new or inexpert at an occupation,--a hint that more experience or information is desirable.
Cadgers are aye cracking o' creels.
Cadgers hae aye mind of lade saddles.
The conversation of most men turns more or less on their own business.
Caff and draff is gude eneuch for aivers.
Chaff and draff, _i.e._, brewers' grains, are good enough for horses. Common food suits common people.
Can do is easily carried.
"At this moment the door opened, and the voice of the officious Andrew was heard,--'A'm bringin' in the caunles--ye can light them gin ye like--can do is easily carried about wi' ane.'"--_Rob Roy._
Ca'ing names breaks nae banes.
"Sticks and stanes 'll break my banes, But names will never hurt me."--_Schoolboy Rhyme._
Ca' me what ye like, but dinna ca' me ower.
Canna has nae craft.
To an unwilling person, or one who will _not_ learn, instruction is of little or no use.
Canny stretch, soon reach.
Care will kill a cat, yet there's nae living without it.
Careless folk are aye cumbersome.
Carena would hae mair.
"Carena" refers here to an answer that may be construed into either "yes" or "no," and is treated accordingly. "'I don't want it, I don't want it,' says the friar; 'but drop it into my hood.'"--_Spanish._
Carles and aivers win a'; carles and aivers spend a'.
"Servants' wages, buying and keeping of horses, and purchasing other utensils, eat up the product of a farm."--_Kelly._
Carrick for a man, Kyle for a cow, Cunningham for corn and ale, and Galloway for woo'.
"This old rhyme points out what each of the three districts of Ayrshire, and the neighbouring territory of Galloway, were remarkable for producing in greatest perfection. The mountainous province of Carrick produced robust men; the rich plains of Kyle reared the famous breed of cattle now generally termed the Ayrshire breed; and Cunningham was a good arable district. The hills of Galloway afford pasture to an abundance of sheep."--_Robert Chambers._
Carry saut to Dysart and puddings to Tranent.
This proverb, the meaning of which is obvious enough, is paralleled in all languages. The English say, "To carry coals to Newcastle." The French and German suggest that it is not necessary "To send water to the sea." The French also say, "To carry leaves to the wood;" and the Dutch are wise enough not "To send fir to Norway." Neither will the Asiatic "Carry blades to Damascus."
Cast a bane in the deil's teeth.
Cast a cat ower the house and she'll fa' on her feet.
Cast nae snawba's wi' him.
That is, do not trust him too much; he is churlish or dangerous.
Cast not a clout till May be out.
Cast the cat ower him.
"It is believed that when a man is raging in a fever, the cat cast ower him will cure him; applied to them whom we hear telling extravagant things, as if they were raving."--_Kelly._
Cast ye ower the house riggin', and ye'll fa' on your feet.
"Throw him in the Nile, and he will rise with a fish in his mouth," says the Arab; and we have met somewhere with this saying, that "If he lost a penny he would find a ducat."
Castna out the dowed water till ye get the clean.
Cat after kind.
Cats and carlins sit i' the sun, but fair maidens sit within.
A rhyming intimation that exposure to the sun is not favourable to beauty.
Cats eat what hussies spare.
Cauld grows the love that kindles ower het.
Cauld kail het again is aye pat tasted.
Cauld kail het again, that I liked never; auld love renewed again, that I liked ever.
Cauld parritch are sooner het than new anes made.
Cauld water scauds daws.
Chalk's no shears.
"Taken from tailors marking out their cloth before they cut it, signifying that a thing may be proposed that will never be executed."--_Kelly._
Change o' deils is lightsome.
Change your friend ere ye hae need.
Changes are lightsome, and fools like them.
Changes o' wark is lightening o' hearts.
Charge nae mair shot than the piece 'll bear.
Charity begins at hame, but shouldna end there.
Cheatery game will aye kythe.
"Kythe," to appear. That is, cheatery or evil-doing will almost invariably come to light. A qualified version of the English saying, "Murder will out."
Choose your wife on Saturday, not on Sunday.
This saying suggests that a wife should rather be chosen for her good qualities and usefulness, which are seen in her daily labours, than for her fine dress or her Sunday manners.
Claw for claw, as Conan said to the deil.
"In the Irish ballads relating to Fion (the Fingal of MacPherson), there occurs, as in the primitive poetry of most nations, a cycle of heroes, each of whom has some distinguishing attribute; upon these qualities, and the adventures of those possessing them, many proverbs are formed, which are still current in the Highlands. Among other characters, Conan is distinguished as in some respects a kind of Thersites, but brave and daring even to rashness. He had made a vow that he would never take a blow without returning it; and having, like other heroes of antiquity, descended to the infernal regions, he received a cuff from the archfiend who presided there, which he instantly returned: hence the proverb."--_Sir Walter Scott, Note to Waverley._
Claw me and I'll claw thee.
Speak well of me and I will speak well of thee, whether, we presume, it is deserved or not.
Clawing and eating needs but a beginning.
Clean pith and fair play.
Clear in the south beguiled the cadger.
Cadgers (beggars, or gipsy pedlars), from their out-of-door experience, are allowed to be good judges of coming weather. The proverb means that even the best judges may be occasionally mistaken in their opinions. The one following is of similar import.
Clear in the south drown'd the ploughman.
Clecking time's aye canty time.
Good cheer and mirth in the house when a birth has taken place.
"'Perhaps,' said Mannering, 'at such a time a stranger's arrival might be inconvenient?' 'Hout, na, ye needna be blate about that; their house is muckle enough, and clecking time's aye canty time.'"--_Guy Mannering._
Clippet sheep will grow again.
Clout upon a hole is gude gentry, clout upon a clout is gude yeomanry, but clout upon a clouted clout is downricht beggary.
"Facetiously spoken to those who quarrel with a patch about you."--_Kelly._
Come a' to Jock Fool's house and ye'll get bread and cheese.
Spoken sarcastically of those who invite every person indiscriminately to dine or sup with them.
Come day, go day, God send Sunday.
"Spoken to lazy, unconscionable servants, who only mind to serve out their time, and get their wages."--_Kelly._
Come it air, or come it late, in May will come the cow-quake.
Come not to council unbidden.
"Thair is a sentence said be sum, Let nane uncalled to counsell cum, That welcum weins to be; Zet I haif hard anither zit, Quha cum uncallt, unserved suld sit, Perhaps, sir, sae may ze."--_Cherrie and the Slae._
Come unca'd, sits unserved.
Come when ye are ca'd and ye'll no be chidden.
Come wi' the wind and gang wi' the water.
Common saw sindle lies.
Common fame seldom lies; but another proverb says, "Common fame is a common liar."
Condition makes, condition breaks.
Confess and be hang'd, and syne your servant, smith.
Confess debt and crave days.
Confess'd faut is half amends.
Content's nae bairn o' wealth.
Contentibus, quo' Tammy Tamson, kiss my wife, and welcome.
"Spoken facetiously when we comply with a project."--_Kelly._
Corbies and clergy are kittle shot.
Corbies dinna gather without they smell carrion.
"Where the carrion is, there do the eagles gather."--_Danish._
Corbies dinna pike out corbies' een.
One rogue does not wrong another. "Crows do not peck out crows' eyes."--_Portuguese._
Corn him weel, he'll work the better.
Counsel is nae command.
"Quod _Danger_, Sen I understand That counsell can be nae command, I have nae mair to say, Except gif that he thocht it good; Tak counsell zit or ze conclude Of wyser men nor they."--_Cherrie and the Slae._
Count again is no forbidden.
Count like Jews and 'gree like brithers.
Count siller after a' your kin.
Courtesy is cumbersome to him that kens it na.
Crabbit was and cause hadna.
Crab without a cause, mease without mends.
That is, if you are peevish and ill-pleased without cause, you must regain your good nature without amends.
Craft maun hae claes, but truth gaes naked.
Credit is better than ill-won gear.
Credit keeps the crown o' the causey.
Creep before ye gang.
"Ye will never make your bread that way, Maister Francie. Ye suld munt up a muckle square of canvass, like Dick Tinto, and paint folk's ainsells, that they like muckle better to see than ony craig in the haill water; and I wadna muckle objeck even to some of the Wallers coming up and sitting to ye. They waste their time war, I wis--and, I warrant, ye might mak a guinea a-head of them. Dick made twa, but he was an auld used hand, and folk maun creep before they gang."--_St Ronan's Well._
Cripples are aye better planners than workers.
Cripples are aye great doers--break your leg and try.
People who are always very ready to give advice are generally slow in giving assistance.
"Crookit carlin," quo' the cripple to his wife.
"Oh wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us! It wad frae mony a blunder free us, And foolish notion."--_Burns._
Cry a' at ance, that's the way to be served.
Curses mak the tod fat.
So long as he is cursed only, not hunted, does he thrive; for "A curse will not strike out an eye unless the fist go with it."--_Danish._
Cut your coat according to your cloth.
Daffin' and want o' wit maks auld wives donnart.
"Daffin'" is defined by Ramsay as "folly in general;" so the proverb means that foolish conduct in the aged is inconsistent or "donnart," _i.e._, stupid.
Daffin' does naething.
Playing accomplishes nothing.
Daily wearing needs yearly beiting.
Literally, clothes that are worn daily, require to be renewed annually.
Dame, deem warily, ye watna wha wytes yoursel.
"Deemer," one who judges.--_Jamieson._ That is, judge other people cautiously; we know not who blames ourselves.
Dammin' and lavin' is gude sure fishing.
"'Dammin' and lavin',' a low poaching mode of catching fish in rivulets, by _damming_ and diverting the course of the stream, and then _laving_ or throwing out the water, so as to get at the devoted prey."--_Jamieson._
Danger past, God forgotten.
Daughters and dead fish are kittle keeping wares.
A suggestion that daughters should be married, and dead fish eaten, otherwise they will both spoil on the hands of their possessors. "Daughters are brittle ware."--_Dutch._ "Marry your son when you will, and your daughter when you can."--_Spanish._
Daughters pay nae debts.
Dawted bairns can bear little.
Dawted daughters mak daidling wives.
Daughters who have been too much indulged or petted at home before marriage make but indifferent wives.
Daylight will peep through a sma' hole.
Dead men are free men.
Dead men do nae harm.
Deal sma' and ser' a'.
Death and drink-draining are near neighbours.
In allusion to the drinking usages formerly common at burials.
Death and marriage break term-day.
Death at ae door and heirship at the other.
Death comes in and speirs nae questions.
"Death does not blow a trumpet."--_Danish._
Death defies the doctor.
Death pays a' scores.
Death's gude proof.
Deil be in the house that ye're beguiled in.
A compliment, meaning that a person is so shrewd that no less a person than his Satanic majesty can deceive him.
Deil be in the pock that ye cam in.
Deil mend ye if your leg were broken.
The two last sayings are directly opposed to the preceding one, as they wish all manner of evil to the agencies that bring any particular person, whose presence is disagreeable.
Deil speed them that speir, and ken fu' weel.
That is, shame befall those who ask questions upon subjects with which they are perfectly well acquainted; and who, by cross questioning, &c., lead people to commit themselves.
Deil stick pride--my dog died o't.
Deil's in our bairns: they'll no bed when their belly's fu'.
"Spoken with indignation, when people who are already well enough cannot hold themselves so, or be satisfied."--_Kelly._
Delays are dangerous.
Did ye ever fit counts wi' him?
Do not boast of your friend, or consider his friendship too stedfast, until you have had money transactions with him.
Diet cures mair than doctors.
Ding doon Tantallan, and big a road to the Bass.
Ding down the nest, and the rooks will flee away.
"Destroy the places where villains shelter, and they will disperse. This proverb was unhappily apply'd at the Reformation to the destroying of many stately cathedrals and collegiate churches."--_Kelly._
Dinna bow to bawtie, lest he bite.
Be careful how you are familiar with your superiors. "Too much familiarity breeds contempt."
Dinna cast awa' the cog when the cow flings.
Do not throw away the milking pail if the cow should kick it over: do not be discouraged if a misfortune should occur.
Dinna dry the burn because it may wat your feet.
Do not remove a public good or convenience because of an individual objection.
Dinna empty your ain mouth to fill other folk's.
Dinna gut your fish till ye get them.
This saying is common to many countries. "Don't cry herrings till they are in the net."--_Dutch._ "Don't sell the bearskin before you have caught the bear."--_Italian._ "Unlaid eggs are uncertain chickens."--_German._
Dinna lee for want o' news.
Dinna lift me before I fa'.
"'Weel, I've keepit a house this mony a year, and I never heard o' warm plates to a hot dinner before.' 'Then you refuse to give us them?' 'By no manner o' means, Dr Seggie, so ye needna lift folks before they fa'--you're welcome to any plates you please; and a' that I have to say is, that the langer a body lives they see the mair ferlies.'"--_Laird of Logan._
Dinna meddle wi' the deil and the laird's bairns.
Dinna scaud your mouth wi' other folk's kail.
Be cautious in interfering with the affairs of neighbours or strangers.
Dinna sigh for him, but send for him: if he's unhanged he'll come.
Do not speak about a thing, or wish it done, but do it. "Talking is easier than doing, and promising than performing."--_German._
Dinna speak o' a raip to a chield whase father was hanged.
Dinna straik against the hair.
"Ony way, I wadna hae liked to have offended Mr Treddles; he was a wee toustie when you rubbed him again the hair--but a kind, weel-meaning man."--_The Highland Widow._
Dinna stretch your arm farther than your sleeve 'ill let ye.
"'I'll no let ye rest if ye dinna mak me a bailie's wife or a' be done.' I was not ill pleased to hear Mrs Pawkie so spiritful; but I replied, 'Dinna try to stretch your arm, gudewife, farther than your sleeve will let you; we maun ca' canny mony a day yet before we think of dignities.'"--_The Provost._
Dinna tell your fae when your foot sleeps.
Dinna touch him on the sair heel.
Do not speak to him on a subject on which he is known to be sensitive.
Dirt bodes luck.
Dirt defies the king.
Dirt parts gude company.
Dit your mouth wi' your meat.
"Dit," close. A suggestion intended to put a stop to idle conversation.
Do a man a good turn, and he'll never forgie you.
"'Are you mad?' cried Bryce Snailsfoot, 'you that lived sae lang in Zetland to risk the saving of a drowning man? Wot ye not, if you bring him to life again, he will be sure to do you some capital injury?'"--_The Pirate._
Do as the cow o' Forfar did, tak a stannin' drink.
"A cow in passing a door in Forfar, where a tub of ale had been placed to cool, drank the whole of it. The owner of the ale pursued the proprietor of the cow for the value of the ale; but a learned bailie, in giving his decision, decreed, that since the ale was drank by the cow while standing at the door, it must be considered _deoch an dorius_, or stirrup cup, for which no charge could be made, without violating the ancient hospitality of Scotland."--_Sir Walter Scott, Note to Waverley._
Do as the lasses do--say No, but tak it.
"Maids, in modesty, say 'No' to that which they would have the profferer construe 'Ay.'"--_Shakespeare._
Do as the miller's wife o' Newlands did--she took what she had and she never wanted.
Dogs and bairns are fain o' fools.
That is, fools attract the attention of children and dogs.
Dogs bark as they are bred.
Dogs will redd swine.
"Redd," is here used in the sense of to put in order.
Dolour pays nae debts.
Dool and an ill life soon mak an auld wife.
"Sorrow and an evil life maketh soon an old wife."--_English._
Do on the hill as ye wad do in the ha'.
Let your private character be consistent with your public one.
Do't by guess, as the blind man fell'd the dog.
Do the likeliest and hope the best.
Double charges rive cannons.
That is, surfeits are dangerous; but the proverb which follows shows, as usual, that there is no rule without an exception.
Double drinks are gude for drouth.
Do weel, an' doubt nae man; do ill, an' doubt a' men.
Do weel and dread nae shame.
Do weel and hae weel.
Do what ye ought and come what can; think o' ease, but work on.
The first clause of this is common to many countries; but as the second only occurs in Henderson's collection, we suspect it is an addition of his own.
Do what ye ought, and let come what will.
Do your turn weel, and nane will speir what time ye took.
Meaning, that work should rather be done well than quickly.
Draff he sought, but drink was his errand.
That is, while pretending to ask for one thing, his great object was to get another.
Draff is gude enough for swine.
Dree out the inch when ye have tholed the span.
Since you have suffered patiently, or submitted to injustice for a long time, bear on quietly when there is a prospect of early relief.
Driest wood will eithest lowe.
Drink and drouth come na aye thegither.
Drink little, that ye may drink lang.
Drive the swine through't.
"You should sift Jamie's tender passion--that's the novelle-name for calf-love; and if it's within the compass o' a possibility, get the swine driven through't, or it may work us a' muckle dule, as his father's moonlight marriage did to your ain, worthy man!"--_The Entail._
Drunk at e'en and dry in the morning.
Drunk folk seldom tak harm.
The French say, "God helps three kinds of people: fools, children, and drunkards;" and another of our own states that "God's aye kind to fu' folk and bairns."
Dry bargains bode ill.
A bargain in times gone by was not "lucky," unless ratified by a drink.
Dummie canna lee.
Dunse dings a'.
"It may be mentioned that this is only the opinion which the people of Dunse entertain of the town, as their neighbours, in general, scout the idea with great indignation."--_Robert Chambers._ There are several local additions to this saying, such as "Dunse dings a' for braw lads and drucken wives;" "for gude yill and bonnie lasses," &c.
Eagles catch nae fleas.
Spoken of conceited people who affect disdain for petty details.
Eagles flee alane, but sheep herd thegither.
Early birds catch the worms.
Early crooks the tree, that good cammock should be.
Early maister, lang servant.
Early sow, early mow.
East or west, hame is best.
East and wast, the sign o' a blast; north and south, the sign o' a drouth.
Easy learning the cat the road to the kirn.
When the natural inclination tends towards any particular subject, it assists the learner greatly.
Eat and welcome--fast and twice as welcome.
Eaten meat is ill to pay.
"Eaten bread is soon forgotten."--_Italian._
Eating, drinking, and cleaning need but a beginning.
Eat in measure and defy the doctor.
Eat peas wi' the prince and cherries wi' the chapman.
Eats meat, an's never fed; wear claes, an's never cled.
Of some people it may be said, that "they put their meat in an ill skin;" for, notwithstanding that they live well, they appear always thin and hungry, and not at all, to use a Scotticism, "like their meat." Some people are equally unfortunate with regard to their clothing; always amply dressed, they seem the very reverse.
Eat till ye sweat and work till ye freeze.
Eat-weel's Drink-weel's brither.
Signifying that good drinking must necessarily go hand in hand with good eating.
Eat your fill and pouch nane, is gardener's law.
E'en as ye won't, sae ye may wear't.
As you won it, so you may wear it; applied either in a good or bad sense.
E'ening grey and a morning red, put on your hat or ye'll weet your head.
E'ening orts are gude morning's fodder.
"Orts," rejected provender. Meaning that a thing which is rejected or despised at present may be acceptable or valuable at another time.
E'ening red an' a morning grey is taiken sure o' a bonnie day.
E'en pickle in your ain pock-neuk.
"'Ye'll find the stane breeks and the iron garters--ay, and the hemp cravat, for a' that, neighbour,' replied the bailie. 'Nae man in a civilised country ever played the pliskies ye hae done; but e'en pickle in your ain pock-neuk--I hae gi'en ye warning.'"--_Rob Roy._
Eident youth maks easy age.
"Industry is the parent of fortune."--_German._
Eild and poortith are a sair burden for ae back.
"Eild and poortith," age and poverty. "Poverty on an old man's back is a heavy burden."--_English._
Eild and poortith's sair to thole.
This saying is of similar import to the preceding one. Literally, age and poverty are hard to bear.
Eild should hae honour.
Either live or die wi' honour.
Either prove a man or a mouse.
Either win the horse or tine the saddle.
Win the horse or lose the saddle. "Neck or nothing."
Eith keeping the castle that's no besieged.
"It is easy to sit at the helm in fair weather."--_Danish._
Eith learned soon forgotten.
"Easy come, easy go."--_English._
Eith to that thy ain heart wills.
Eith working when will's at hame.
The two preceding maxims have a similar meaning to the French sayings, that "Will is power;" and "A willing heart helps work." "Where the will is ready the feet are light."--_German._
Ell and tell is gude merchandise.
Ell and tell is ne'er forgotten, and the best pay's on the peck bottom.
"Ell and tell," if we mistake not, refers to good measure and prompt payment; and the latter saying may be construed thus:--The grain is emptied from the "peck" measure, the measure is inverted, and payment for the grain is "told" on the bottom of it.
Enough's as gude as a feast.
Enough's enough o' bread and cheese.
Meaning, that too much of one thing is not good. The French and Dutch say, "Enough is better than too much," while the Italians are of opinion that "Enough is enough, and too much spoils."
Envy shoots at a high mark.