Chapter III: Part 3

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

Fair in the cradle may be foul in the saddle.

Fair maidens wear nae purses.

Fair words are nae cause o' feuds.

Fair words hurt ne'er a bane, but foul words break mony a ane.

Fair words winna mak the pat boil.

Falkirk bairns dee ere they thrive.

Falkirk bairns mind naething but mischief.

Fa' on the feeblest, the beetle among the bairns.

"Spoken when we do a thing at a venture, that may be good for some
and bad for another; and let the event fall upon the most
unfortunate. Answers to the English 'Among you blind
harpers.'"--_Kelly._

Fancy flees before the wind.

Fancy was a bonnie dog, but Fortune took the tail frae't.

Fann'd fires and forced love ne'er dae weel.

Far ahint maun follow the faster.

Far ahint that mayna follow, an' far before that canna look back.

Far awa fowls hae fair feathers.

"She wad vote the border knight,
Though she should vote her lane;
For far-off fowls hae feathers fair,
And fools o' change are fain."--_Burns._

Far frae court far frae care.

Far frae my heart's my husband's mother.

Far sought and dear bought is gude for ladies.

Farewell frost, fair weather neist.

Fare-ye-well, Meg Dorts, and e'en's ye like.

A jocose adieu to those who go away in the sulks.

Farmer's fauch gars lairds laugh.

Farther east the shorter west.

Farthest frae the kirk aye soonest at it.

In contradistinction to those who are "near the kirk but far frae
grace."

Fashious fools are easiest flisket.

Troublesome or fretful persons are easily offended.

Fast bind, fast find.

This saying is very old, and common to many countries. Shakespeare
terms it "a proverb never stale to thrifty minds."

Fat flesh freezes soon.

Fat hens are aye ill layers.

Fat paunches bode lean pows.

Ray explains this by adding, "Full bellies make empty skulls."

Fause folk should hae mony witnesses.

Fausehood maks ne'er a fair hinder-end.

Meaning, that falsehood is sure to be exposed in the long run.

Favours unused are favours abused.

Feather by feather the goose is plucked.

February, fill the dike, be it black or be it white; if it's white, it's the better to like.

Feckfu' folk can front the bauldest wind.

"I own 'tis cauld encouragement to sing,
When round ane's lugs the blattran' hailstanes ring;
But feckfu' folk can front the bauldest wind,
An' slunk through muirs, an' never fash their mind."
--_Allan Ramsay._

Feckless folk are fain o' ane anither.

"Feckless folk," silly people. Fools are fond of one another.

Feckless fools should keep canny tongues.

Silly or mischievous people should be cautious what they say.

Feed a cauld, but hunger a colic.

Feeding out o' course maks mettle out o' kind.

Feeling has nae fellow.

Few get what they glaum at.

Fiddlers, dogs, and flesh-flies come aye to feasts unca'd.

Fiddler's fare--meat, drink, and money.

Fiddler's wives and gamester's drink are free to ilka body.

Fight dog, fight bear; wha wins, deil care.

Fill fu' and haud fu', maks the stark man.

Plenty of meat and drink makes a strong man.

Fine feathers mak fine birds.

Fine to fine maks a bad line.

Or, "Butter to butter's nae kitchen," _q. v._

Fire and water are gude servants but ill maisters.

Fire is gude for the fireside.

All things are good in their proper places.

First come, first ser'd.

Fish guts an' stinkin' herrin' are bread and milk for an Eyemouth bairn.

"The small seaport town of Eyemouth was formerly distinguished for
its 'ancient fishlike smells,' its narrow, intricate streets, and
smuggling trade."--_G. Henderson._

Fish maun soom thrice.

First in water, second in sauce, third in wine.

Fleas and a girning wife are waukrife bedfellows.

Flee as fast as you will, your fortune will be at your tail.

Fleying a bird is no the way to grip it.

To frighten a bird is not the way to catch it; severity or constant
threatening do not tend to make children or servants better.

Fling at the brod was ne'er a gude ox.

Flit an auld tree and it'll wither.

Flitting o' farms mak mailens dear.

See "As ane flits," &c., of which this is merely a variation.

Folk are aye free to gie what's no their ain.

Folk maun grow auld or dee.

Folk's dogs bark waur than themsels.

Folk should never ask for mair than they can make a good use o'.

Follow love and it will flee thee: flee love and it will follow thee.

Folly is a bonnie dog, but a bad ane.

Fools and bairns shouldna see half-dune wark.

Fools are aye fond o' flittin', and wise men o' sittin'.

Fools are aye fortunate.

Fools are aye seeing ferlies.

Fools are fain o' flattery.

Fools are fain o' naething.

Fools are fond o' a' they forgather wi'.

Fools aye see ither folk's fauts and forget their ain.

Fools big houses and wise men buy them.

Fools' haste is nae speed.

Fools laugh at their ain sport.

Fools mak feasts and wise men eat them.

"This was once said to a great man in Scotland, upon his giving an
entertainment. He readily answered, 'Wise men make proverbs, and
fools repeat them.'"--_Kelly._

Fools ravel and wise men redd.

Literally, fools entangle affairs and circumstances, and require
"wise men" to assist them out of their troubles.

Fools set far trysts.

Fools shouldna hae chappin-sticks.

For as gude again, like Sunday milk.

"A precise woman in the country would not sell her milk on the
Sunday, but would give it for as good again. Spoken when we suspect
people's kindness to be mercenary."--_Kelly._

For a tint thing, carena.

Do not fret about a thing or opportunity which has been lost.

For better acquaintance' sake, as Sir John Ramsay said when he drank to his father.

"Sir John Ramsay had been long abroad, and coming home he
accidentally met with his father, who did not know him; he invites
his father to a glass of wine, and drinks to him for more
acquaintance."--_Kelly._

Forbid a fool a thing, an' that he'll do.

Force without foresight aften fails.

Forewarned is forearmed.

For fashion's sake, as dogs gae to market.

For faut o' wise men fools sit on binks.

Forgotten pain, when follows gain.

For gude cheese and cheer mony haunt the house.

Many frequent the house for the sake of what they get to eat.

For my ain pleasure, as the man thrashed his wife.

For puir folk they seldom ring.

Fortune and futurity are no to be guessed at.

Fortune favours the brave.

Fortune gains the bride.

Fortune helps the hardy.

"For I haif aft hard suith men say,
And we may see oursells,
That fortune helps the hardy aye,
And pultrones aye repels."--_Cherrie and the Slae._

For want o' a steek a shoe may be tint.

"A stitch in time saves nine." The old nursery lines fully explain
the philosophy of this doctrine. "For want of a nail the shoe was
lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of a horse the
man was lost."

Foster the guest that stays--further him that maun gang.

Foul fa' nought, and then he'll get naething.

Used in satirical allusion to those who expect a legacy from a very
improbable source.

Foul water slockens fire.

Frae saving comes having.

Frae the teeth forward.

He speaks from the lips only, not from the heart.

Freedom's a fair thing.

Fresh fish and poor friends soon grow ill-faur'd.

Fresh fish and unwelcome friends stink before they're three days auld.

Friday flit, short time sit.

Meaning that to remove on a Friday is unlucky.

Friday rules Sunday.

Friends are like fiddle-strings, they mauna be screwed ower ticht.

Friends gree best separate.

Friendship canna stand aye on ae side.

Frost and fausehood hae baith a dirty wa' gang.

Fry stanes wi' butter and the broo will be gude.

Fu' o' courtesy, fu' o' craft.

Gae shoe the goose.

Gae hap and hang yoursel, then you'll dee dancing.

Gae kiss your Lucky--she lives in Leith.

"A cant phrase, from what rise I know not, but it is made use of
when one thinks it is not worth while to give a distinct answer, or
think themselves foolishly accused."--_Allan Ramsay._

Gae to bed wi' the lamb and rise wi' the laverock.

Gae to the deil, and he'll bishop you.

Meaning, that the person addressed is so well versed in evil ways as
to be able to occupy a high position in the service of the Evil One.

Gae to the deil, for his name's sake.

Gane is the goose that laid the muckle egg.

Gang farther and fare waur.

Gardener's law--Eat your fill, but pouch nane.

Gar wood's ill to grow; chuckie stanes are ill to chow.

Gather haws before the snaws.

Gathering gear is weel liket wark.

Acquiring wealth is pleasant employment.

Gaunting bodes wanting ane o' things three--sleep, meat, or gude companie.

Yawning is proverbially supposed to indicate the want of one of the
three things mentioned.

Gaunting gaes frae man to man.

Gawsie cow, gudely calf.

Handsome mother, goodly daughter.

Gaylie would be better.

When a person says he is "gaylie," _Anglice_, middling, he is
understood not to be so well as he would like to be.

Gear is easier gotten than guided.

Gentlemen are unco scant when a wabster gets a lady.

The "wabster," or weaving profession, seems to have stood very low
in the estimation of proverb makers.

Gentle partans hae lang taes.

Gentle servants are poor men's hardships.

Gentle servants are rich men's tinsel.

Gentry's dowff wi' an empty purse.

Get the word o' soon rising, an' ye may lie in bed a' day.

Obtain a reputation for early rising, and you may lie in bed all
day. The Spanish say, "Get a good name, and go to sleep."

Get and save, and thou wilt have.

"Get and saif and thou salt haif,
Len and grant and thou salt want;
Wha in his plenty taks not heid,
He sall haif falt in time of need."--_The Evergreen._

Get weel, keep weel.

Get what you can, and keep what you hae, that's the way to get rich.

Get your rock and spindle ready, God will send the tow.

"Let us do our duty, and refer the rest to God's
providence."--_Ray._

Gibbie's grace--Deil claw the clungiest.

This saying of the graceless Gibbie means literally, "Devil take the
hungriest."

Gie a bairn his will, and a whelp its fill, and nane o' them will e'er do weel.

Gie a beggar a bed, and he'll pay you wi' a louse.

Gie a carl your finger, and he'll take your haill hand.

Gie a gaun man a drink, and a rising man a knock.

Gie a greedy dog a muckle bane.

Gie a thing, tak a thing, and that's the ill man's ring.

"Gie her her will, or she'll burst," quo' the man when his wife kamed his head with the three-legged stool.

Gie him a hole, and he'll find a pin.

That is, give him an opportunity, and he will take advantage of it.

Gie him an inch, and he'll tak an ell.

Gie him tow enough, and he'll hang himsel.

Gie is a gude fellow, but he soon wearies.

Meaning, that one tires of giving at all times.

Gie losin' gamesters leave to talk.

Giff gaff maks gude friends.

Gie my cousin kail enow, and see my cousin's dish be fu'.

We presume that this is an ironical signification that the cousin's
"room" is preferred to his company.

Gie ne'er the wolf the wedder to keep.

Gie ower when the play's gude.

Gie't about, it will come to my faither at last.

Gie the deil his due, and ye'll gang to him.

Gie ye a use, and ye'll ca't a custom.

Gie ye meat, drink, and claes, and ye'll beg among your friends.

Applied to unreasonable people, who get everything they want, and
still are not satisfied.

Gie your heart to God, and your alms to the poor.

From the remarkable paucity of proverbs relating to religion in the
older collections, we infer that this saying is Henderson's own, as
it only appears in his collection.

Gie your tongue mair holidays than your head.

Girn when you knit, and laugh when you louse.

Meaning, that while enforcing discipline we should do so with
firmness, and relax it freely when occasion requires.

Glasgow for bells, Lithgow for wells, Falkirk for beans and pease.

Glasgow people, Greenock folk, and Paisley bodies.

"These words imply gradations of dignity, the Paisley bodies being
(how far deservedly would admit of much question) at the bottom of
the scale. Some years ago, when a public dinner was given to
Professor Wilson, of Edinburgh, in Paisley, which is his native
place, on his speaking of it as a town containing such and such a
number of souls, his friend, Thomas Campbell, who sat by his side,
whispered, 'Bodies, you mean.'"--_Robert Chambers._

Glasses and lasses are brittle ware.

Glib i' the tongue is aye glaiket at the heart.

A smooth tongue betokens a deceitful heart.

Glowering is nae gainsaying.

Glum folk's no easily guided.

"Glum" or morose people are difficult to manage.

God be wi' the gude Laird o' Balmaghie, for he ne'er took mair frae a poor man than a' that he had.

God comes wi' leaden feet, but strikes wi' iron hands.

God helps them that help themselves.

God help the rich, for the poor can beg.

God help you to a hutch, for ye'll never get a mailing.

Spoken of an incompetent person, that he may succeed in making a
bare living, for his abilities will never secure him a fortune.

God keep ill gear out o' my hands; for if my hands ance get it, my heart winna part wi't,--sae prayed the gude Earl of Eglinton.

God keep the cat out o' our gate, for the hens canna flee.

God ne'er measures men by inches.

God ne'er sent the mouth, but he sent the meat wi't.

God's aye kind to fu' folk and bairns.

As instanced by the marvellous manner in which men escape injury
while under the influence of drink.

God sends fools fortunes.

God sends meat and the deil sends cooks.

God sends men claith as they hae cauld.

God send us siller, for they're little thought o' that want it.

God send water to that well that folk think will ne'er be dry.

"Spoken when our poor kin and followers are always asking of us; as
if we should never be exhausted."--_Kelly._

God send ye mair sense, and me mair siller.

God send ye readier meat than running hares.

God send ye the warld you bode, and that's neither scant nor want.

God shapes the back for the burden.

God's help is nearer than the fair e'en.

Gold's gude, but it may be dear bought.

Go to Hecklebirnie.

"This term is used in a strange sort of imprecation. If one say, 'Go
to the d----l!' the other often replies, 'Go you to Hecklebirnie!'
which is said to be a place three miles beyond hell!"--_Jamieson._

Graceless meat maks folk fat.

Grass grows nae green in the common road.

Gratitude preserves auld friendships and begets new.

Great barkers are nae biters.

Great pains and little gains soon mak a man weary.

Great tochers makna aye the greatest testaments.

Great winning maks wark easy.

Greed is envy's auldest brither: scraggy wark they mak thegither.

Greedy folk hae lang arms.

Gree, like tykes and swine.

Greening wives are aye greedy.

Grey-eyed, greedy; brown-eyed, needy; black-eyed, never blin', till it shame a' its kin.

Gude advice is never out o' season.

Gude ale needs nae wisp.

"A wisp of straw stuck upon the top of a country house is a sign
that ale is to be sold there; but if the ale be good, people will
haunt the house though there be none."--_Kelly._

Gude bairns are eith to lear.

Gude bairns get broken brows.

For they are as liable to injury as bad ones.

Gude be wi' auld langsyne, when our gutchers ate the trenchers.

Gude breeding and siller mak our sons gentlemen.

Gude cheer and cheap gars mony haunt the house.

Gude claes open a' doors.

Gude counsel is abune a' price.

Gude-enough has got a wife and Far-better wants.

Gude folk are scarce, tak care o' me.

Gude foresight furthers wark.

Gude gear gangs into little bouk.

Gude gear's no to be gaped at.

Gude health is better than wealth.

Gude kail is half meat.

Gude night, and joy be wi' you a'.

Gude reason and part cause.

Signifying that a person has _both_ good reason and cause to
complain.

Gude to fetch sorrow to a sick wife.

Gude! ye're common to kiss your kimmer.

Gude wares may come frae an ill market.

Gude wares mak a quick market.

Gude watch hinders harm.

Gudewill ne'er wants time to show itsel.

Gudewill should be ta'en in part payment.

Gude wit jumps.

Gude words cost naething.

Guessed work's best if weel done.

"Gulp!" quo' the wife when she swallowed her tongue.

Gunpowder is hasty eldin.

Gust your gab wi' that.

"He's no ill boden,
That gusts his gab wi' oyster sauce,
An' hen weel soden."--_Fergusson._

Gut nae fish till ye get them.

Ha' binks are sliddry.

"Great men's favours are uncertain."--_Kelly._

Had I fish was never gude to eat mustard.

"An answer to them that say, Had I such a thing, I would do so or
so."--_Kelly._

"Had I wist," quo' the fool.

Had you sic a shoe on ilka foot, you would shochel.

Or, had you my sorrows to bear, you would look equally miserable.

Hae! gars a deaf man hear.

Hae God, hae a'.

Hae, lad,--rin, lad; that maks an olite lad.

Hae you gear or hae you nane, tine heart and a' is gane.

Hain'd gear helps weel.

"Hain'd gear"--saved money--is of great assistance.

Hair by hair maks the carl's head bare.

Hale sale is gude sale.

Hale claith's afore cloutit.

Half acres bear aye gude corn.

Meaning that when people have but little property, they take good
care of it.

Half a tale is enough for a wise man.

Hallowe'en bairns see far.

"And touching the bairn, it's weel kent she was born on Hallowe'en
was nine years gane, and they that are born on Hallowe'en whiles see
mair than ither folk."--_The Monastery._

Hame's a hamely word.

"Hame's hamely," quo' the deil when he found himsel in the Court o' Session.

Hand in gear helps weel.

Hand in use is father o' lear.

The constant practice of our profession is the surest road to "lear"
or affluence.

Handle your tools without mittens.

Hand ower head, as men took the covenant.

"Alluding to the manner in which the covenant, so famous in Scottish
history, was violently taken by above sixty thousand persons about
Edinburgh, in 1638; a novel circumstance at that time, though
afterwards paralleled by the French, in voting by
_acclamation_."--_Fielding._

Handsome is that handsome does.

Hang a thief when he's young, and he'll no steal when he's auld.

Hang him that has nae shift, and hang him that has ower mony.

Hang hunger and drown drouth.

Hanging gaes by hap.

Hanging's nae better than it's ca'd.

Hanging's sair on the eesight.

Hankering an' hinging-on is a poor trade.

Hands aff is fair play.

Hap an' a ha'penny is world's gear enough.

Happiness and moderate means in this world are enough.

Happy for the son when the dad gaes to the deil.

"For commonly they who first raise great estates, do it either by
usury and extortion, by fraud and cozening, or by flattery, and by
ministering to other men's vices."--_Ray._

"Alas for the son whose father goes to heaven!"--_Portuguese._

Happy is the bride that the sun shines on; happy is the corpse that the rain rains on.

Happy is the wooing that's no lang o' doing.

Happy man be his dool.

A good wish,--that happiness may be the greatest affliction sent
him.

Happy man, happy kavel.

Happy the man that belongs to nae party, but sits in his ain house, and looks at Benarty.

"Sir Michael Malcolm, of Loch Ore, an eccentric baronet, pronounced
this oracular couplet in his old age, when troubled with the talk of
the French Revolution. As a picture of meditative serenity and
neutrality, it seems worthy of preservation."--_Robert Chambers._

Happy's the maid that's married to a mitherless son.

Hard fare maks hungry bellies.

Hardships seldom come single.

Haste and anger hinder gude counsel.

Haste maks waste, and waste maks want, and want maks strife between the gudeman and the gudewife.

Hasty meet, hasty part.

"An observation upon marriage suddenly contracted, as if it were
ominous, and portended a sudden separation."--_Kelly._

Hasty was hanged, but Speed-o'-foot wan awa.

Haud the hank in your ain hand.

Do the difficult part of your work yourself, or retain every
advantage you can.

Haud your feet, Lucky Dad, auld folk's no fiery.

Literally, look to your feet, as you are not nimble: applied when
people stumble.

Haud you hand, your father slew a whaup.

Haud your hands aff ither folk's bairns till ye get some o' your ain.

Hawks winna pike out hawks' een.

"It was an unco thing to see hawks pike out hawks' een, or ae kindly
Scot cheat anither."--_Rob Roy._

Hearken to the hinder-end, after comes not yet.

Hearts may 'gree though heads may differ.

He begs frae them that borrowed frae him.

He bides as fast as a cat does to a saucer.

Meaning that a person will "bide" or stay only so long as he can get
anything, or serve his own purpose.

He blaws in his lug fu' brawly.

"Blaw his lug," to praise a person in an extravagant or fulsome
manner.

He blushes at it like a beggar at a bawbee.

He breeds o' the gowk that casts a' down at e'en.

He brings a staff to break his ain head.

He can do ill, and he may do gude.

He can haud the cat and play wi' the kitten.

He can ill rin that canna gang.

He can lee like a dog licking a dish.

He canna see an inch before his nose.

He can say "My Jo," and think it no.

That is, he can be complimentary in his speech, but not in his
intentions.

He can suck the laverock's frae the lift.

"In relation to one who possesses great power of wheedling. It
evidently alludes to the idea of the fascinating power of serpents
by means of their breath."--_Jamieson._

He can wile the flounders out o' the sea.

"'Heard ye ever the like o' that, laird?' said Saddletree to
Dumbiedikes, when the counsel had ended his speech. 'There's a chiel
can spin a muckle pirn out o' a wee tait o' tow!... And he's cleckit
this great muckle bird out o' this wee egg! He could wile the very
flounders out o' the Firth.'"--_Heart of Midlothian._

He caresna wha's bairns greet if his ain laugh.

He ca's me scabbed because I winna ca' him sca'd.

Meaning that a man has endeavoured to make his opponent in a
particular transaction lose his temper, but failing to do so, he
loses his own.

"Hech!" quo' Howie, when he swallowed his wife's clue.

"Hech!" is here used as an expression of surprise and relief that a
disagreeable operation has been performed. A "clue" is a ball of
worsted.

He comes oftener wi' the rake than the shool.

"Spoken of a poor friend whose business is not to give us, but to
get from us."--_Kelly._

He comes o' gude, he canna be ill.

A satirical expression applied to persons who are vain enough to
suppose that they can do no wrong.

He complains early that complains o' his parritch.

He counts his ha'penny gude siller.

Meaning that a person may confer a very small favour, and have a
greatly exaggerated idea of his own generosity.

He cuts near the wood.

To "cut near the wood" is to be very keen in driving a bargain.

He daurna say "Bo" to your blanket.

He doesna aye ride when he saddles his horse.

He doesna ken a B frae a bull's foot.

A saying denoting that a person is extremely ignorant.

He doesna ken what end o' him's upmost.

He doesna like his wark that says "Now!" when it's done.

He doubles his gift that gies in time.

He eats the calf i' the cow's wame.

Which means, in other words, he has spent his fortune before he
received it; that "He has eaten his corn in the blade."--_French._

Heedna says, or ye'll ne'er sit at ease.

He fells twa dogs wi' ae bane.

"Pate disna fend on that alane;
He can fell twa dogs wi' ae bane,
While ither folk
Must rest themselves content wi' ane,
Nor farer trock."--_Fergusson._

He flings the helve after the hatchet.

He fyles his neighbour's cog to get the brose himsel.

Meaning that a person has been wicked enough to injure the character
of another that he might supplant him in influence or position.

He gaed for oo' but came hame shorn.

"A camel going to seek horns lost his ears."--_Arabic._

He gangs awa in an ill time that ne'er comes back again.

He gangs far aboot seeking the nearest.

He gangs frae the jilt to the gellock.

To "jilt," to throw or dash water on a person; "gellock" (gavelock),
an iron lever or crowbar. Meaning, perhaps, that a man's temper is
such that he passes from the extreme of playfulness to that of
passion very quickly.

He gangs lang barefoot that waits for dead men's shune.

He gaes nae whitings without banes.

Or, if he confers an obligation, it is sure to have some condition
attached to it.

He girns like a sheep's head in a pair o' tangs.

"Little Andrew, the wratch, has been makin' a totum wi' his
faither's ae razor; an' the pair man's trying to shave himsel
yonder, an' girnan like a sheep's head on the tangs."--_Hugh
Miller._

He got his mother's malison the day he was married.

Spoken of a man who has a bad wife.

He had gude skill o' horse flesh wha bought a goose to ride on.

He harps aye on ae string.

He has a bee in his bonnet-lug.

Applied when a person is very much occupied with a project of his
own.

He has a cauld coal to blaw at.

"A' things o' religion hae settled into a method that gies the
patronless preacher but little chance o' a kirk. Wi' your oye's
ordinar looks, I fear, though he were to grow as learned as Matthew
Henry himsel, he would hae but a cauld coal to blaw at."--_Sir
Andrew Wylie._

He has a crap for a' corn.

He has a gude judgment that doesna lippen to his ain.

He has a hearty hand for a hungry meltith.

He bestows charity liberally.

He has a hole beneath his nose that winna let his back be rough.

Meaning that his extravagance in the matter of food is such that it
prevents his back being "rough" or well clothed.

He has a lang clue to wind.

"I might hae been in a state and condition to look at Miss Girzy;
but, ye ken, I hae a lang clue to wind before I maun think o'
playing the ba' wi' Fortune, in ettling so far aboun my
reach."--_The Entail._

He has an ill look among lambs.

He has a saw for a' sairs.

That is, a salve or "balm for every wound."

He has a slid grip that has an eel by the tail.

"Spoken to those who have to do with cunning fellows whom you can
hardly bind sure enough."--_Kelly._

He has been rowed in his mother's sark tail.

Synonymous with being "tied to his mother's apron-string," _i.e._,
kept too strictly under parental authority.

He has brought his pack to a braw market.

He has come to gude by misguiding.

He has coosten his cloak on the ither shouther.

He has coup'd the muckle pat into the little.

Sarcastically applied to those who claim to have executed
extraordinary deeds.

He has drowned the miller.

Meaning that in mixing liquids, as in mixing toddy, too much water
has been added. The English say, "He has put the miller's eye out."

He has faut o' a wife that marries mam's pet.

He has feathered his nest, he may flee when he likes.

He has gane without taking his leave.

He has gi'en up a trade and ta'en to stravaigin'.

A humorous way of expressing that a man has retired from business to
live comfortably. To "stravaig" is to walk about idly.

He has got a bite o' his ain bridle.

He has gotten his kail through the reek.

"To meet with severe reprehension. To meet with what causes
bitterness or thorough repentance as to any course that one has
taken."--_Jamieson._

He has gotten the boot and the better beast.

This saying has evidently emanated from the stable. When persons
wish to exchange horses, he who has the poorest animal gives a
"boot" or compensation in addition to the horse, to make the
exchange equal. The proverb is applied to a person who has
over-reached his neighbour.

He has gotten the whip hand o' him.

He has got the heavy end of him.

Meaning that in an argument or struggle he has the best of it.

He has help'd me out o' a deadlift.

Or rendered very great assistance in an emergency.

He has hit the nail on the head.

He has it o' kind, he coft it not.

Meaning that a person's bad qualities are inherited from his
parents; equivalent to the saying, "What's bred in the bone won't
out of the flesh."

He has left the key in the cat-hole.

He has licket the butter aff my bread.

To "lick the butter," in proverbial phraseology, is to supplant a
person in business, or so interfere with his arrangements as to
injure them.

He has made a moonlight flitting.

To "shoot the moon," as the English say, is to decamp from a house
without paying the rent.

He has mair floor than he has flail for.

Or more work than he can overtake.

He has mair jaw than judgment.

He has mair wit in his wee finger than ye hae in your hale bouk.

He has muckle prayer, but little devotion.

He hasna a bauchle to swear by.

He hasna a hail nail to claw him wi'.

He hasna as muckle sense as a cow could haud in her faulded nieve.

He has nae clag till his tail.

"A vulgar phrase, signifying that there is no stain on one's
character, or that no one can justly exhibit a charge against
him."--_Jamieson._

He has nae mair mense than a miller's horse.

_Vide_, "As menseless as a tinkler's messan."

He has naething to crave at my hand.

He has need o' a clean pow that ca's his neighbour nitty now.

"A man ought to be free of those faults that he throws up to
others."--_Kelly._

He has neither stock nor brock.

He has neither money nor meat.

He has ower many greedy gleds o' his ain.

Meaning that a man has too many family claims upon his generosity to
meet, to be able to attend to those of strangers.

He has skill o' roasted woo--when it stinks it's ready.

He has some sma' wit, but a fool has the guiding o't.

He has soon done that never dought.

He has spur metal in him.

He has swallowed a flee.

He has ta'en the country on his back.

A proverbial expression of the fact that a man has run away.

He hastit to his end like a moth to a candle.

He has the best end o' the string.

He has the gift o' the gab.

"'I wish,' said Dumbiedikes, 'I were as young and as supple as you,
and had the gift o' the gab as weel.'"--_Heart of Midlothian._

He has wit at will that wi' an angry heart can sit still.

He hauds baith heft and blade.

That is, he has a thing entirely at his own option.

He hearsna at that ear.

He hears wi' his heels, as the geese do in hairst.

"That is, he heard, had he been pleased to answer."--_Kelly._

He hid a bodle and thought it a hoard.

He hides his meat and seeks for mair.

"Spoken when covetous people pretend poverty, and conceal their
wealth to plead pity."--_Kelly._

He is not a merchant bare, that hath either money, worth, or ware.

"A good merchant may want ready money."--_Kelly._

He jump'd at it, like a cock at a grossart.

"'I had quite forgotten,' said Tyrrel, 'that the inn was your own;
though I remember you were a considerable landed proprietor.' 'Maybe
I am,' replied Meg, 'maybe I am not; and if I be, what for no? But
as to what the laird, whose grandfather was my father's landlord,
said to the new doings yonder--he just jumped at the ready penny,
like a cock at a grossart.'"--_St Ronan's Well._

He keeps his road weel enough wha gets rid o' ill company.

He kens a'thing that opens and steeks.

He kens his ain groats amang other folk's kail.

He kens how many beans mak five.

He kens how to butter a whiting.

The import of the two preceding sayings is, that a man is very sharp
in looking after his own interests.

He kens how to turn his ain cake.

"'Never fash your beard, Mr Bide-the-Bent,' replied Girder; 'ane
canna get their breath out between wives and ministers. I ken best
how to turn my own cake. Jean, serve up the dinner, and nae mair
about it.'"--_Bride of Lammermoor._

He kens muckle wha kens when to speak, but far mair wha kens when to haud his tongue.

He kens nae a mavis frae a madge-howlet.

He kens nae a selgh frae a salmon.

He kens nae the pleasures of plenty wha ne'er felt the pains o' poverty.

He kens whilk side his bannock's buttered on.

"There was a set of ancient brethren of the angle from Edinburgh,
who visited St Ronan's frequently in the spring and summer, a class
of guests peculiarly acceptable to Meg, who permitted them more
latitude in her premises than she was known to allow to any other
body. 'They were,' said she, 'pawky auld carles, that kend whilk
side their bread was buttered upon.'"--_St Ronan's Well._

He kicks at the benweed.

_Benweed_, ragwort. That is, he is headstrong, or unreasonable.

He lay in his scabbard, as mony a gude sword's done.

Meaning that he prudently allowed an insult or slight to pass
without notice.

He left his siller in his ither pocket.

A sarcastic allusion to those who seek to evade paying their share
of the reckoning. It was remarked of a friend of ours, that on such
occasions he "was the first to put his hand in his pocket, but the
last to draw it out."

He likes nae beef that grows on my banes.

He'll claw up their mittans.

Metaphorically, "He will kill them, or give the finishing
stroke."--_Jamieson._

He'll either win the horse or tine the saddle.

He'll gang mad on a horse wha's proud on a pownie.

Spoken of those who take undue advantage of the slight authority
they possess.

He'll gang nae farther than his tether's length.

He'll gang to hell for house profit.

He'll get the poor man's answer, "No."

He'll gie his bane to nae dog.

He'll gie you the whistle o' your groat.

He'll hae enough some day, when his mouth's fu' o' mools.

"Spoken of covetous people, who will never be satisfied while they
are alive."--_Kelly._

He'll hing by the lug o't.

"Keep a firm hold of it, as a bull-dog does of his
prey."--_Jamieson._

He'll hing that ower my head.

"'She would haud me nae better than the dirt below her feet,' said
Effie to herself, 'were I to confess I hae danced wi' him four times
on the green down by, and ance at Maggie Macqueen's; and she'll
maybe hing it ower my head that she'll tell my father, and then she
wad be mistress and mair.'"--_Heart of Midlothian._

He'll kythe in his ain colours yet.

"He'll appear without disguise; he'll be known for the man he
is."--_Jamieson._

He'll lick the white frae your e'en.

"This phrase is always applied when people, with pretence of
friendship, do you an ill turn, as one licking a mote out of your
eye makes it blood shot."--_Allan Ramsay._

He'll mak a spune or spoil a horn.

"Ay, ay, we're a' subject to a downcome. Mr Osbaldistone is a gude
honest gentleman; but I aye said he was ane o' them wad mak a spune
or spoil a horn, as my father, the worthy deacon, used to
say."--_Rob Roy._

He'll mend when he grows better, like sour ale in summer.

"The young laird of Balmawhapple, ... he had no imperfection but
that of keeping light company at a time; such as Jinker the
horse-couper, and Gibby Gaethroughwi't, the piper o' Cupar; 'O'
whilk follies, Mr Saunderson, he'll mend, he'll mend,' pronounced
the bailie. 'Like sour ale in summer,' added Davie Gellatley, who
happened to be nearer the conclave than they were aware
of."--_Waverley._

He'll need to dree the dronach o't.

He'll ne'er send you awa wi' a sair heart.

He'll neither dance nor haud the candle.

Like the dog in the manger, he will neither enjoy himself, nor allow
others to do so.

He'll neither dee nor do weel.

Sarcastically applied to people who may be peevish or fretful
through ill health.

He'll neither haud nor bind.

"'Then, if ye maun hae't, the folk in Lunnun are a' clean wud about
this bit job in the north here.' 'Clean wood! what's that?' 'Ou,
just real daft--neither to haud nor to bind--a' hirdy girdy--clean
through ither--the deil's ower Jock Wabster.'"--_Rob Roy._

"A proverbial phrase expressive of violent excitement, whether in
respect of rage, or of folly, or of pride; borrowed, perhaps, from
the fury of an untamed beast, which cannot be so long _held_ that it
may be _bound_ with a rope."--_Jamieson._

He'll neither hup nor wine.

Of similar import to the preceding. _Hup_ and _wine_ are two words
used in guiding plough and cart horses.

He'll never rue but ance, and that'll be a' his life.

"Ride down to Portanferry, and let nae grass grow at the nag's
heels; and if ye find him in confinement, ye maun stay beside him
night and day for a day or twa, for he'll want friends that hae
baith heart and hand; and if ye neglect this, ye'll never rue but
ance, for it will be for a' your life."--_Guy Mannering._

He'll no gie an inch o' his will for a span o' his thrift.

That is, regardless of expense, his wishes must be gratified.

He'll no gie the head for the washing.

To "keep the head for the washing" is to retain possession of an
article which has been made to order or repaired until all charges
upon it are paid.

He'll no let the grass grow at his heels.

He'll no sell his hen on a rainy day.

He will not sell his wares at an unpropitious time.

He'll rather turn than burn.

He'll shoot higher that shoots at the moon, than he that shoots at the midden, e'en though he may miss his mark.

He'll soon be a beggar that canna say "No."

He'll tell it to nae mair than he meets.

He'll wag as the bush wags.

That is, he will do as circumstances compel him.

He loes me for little that hates me for nought.

His love has never been very strong if it turns for a trifle.

He'll wind you a pirn.

"An my auld acquaintance be hersel, or onything like hersel, she may
come to wind us a pirn. It's fearsome baith to see and hear her when
she wampishes about her arms, and gets to her English, and speaks as
if she were a prent book--let a-be an auld fisher's wife."--_The
Antiquary._

He lo'ed mutton weel that lick'd where the ewie lay.

"Spoken to them who will sip the bottom of a glass where good liquor
was, or scrape a plate after good meat."--_Kelly._

"He loved mutton well that dipped his bread in wool."--_English._

He looks as if he could swallow a cow.

This saying and the four which follow are expressive of
peculiarities in the appearance of persons.

He looks as if the wood were fu' o' thieves.

He looks like a Lochaber axe fresh frae the grundstane.

He looks like the far end of a French fiddle.

"Gin ye wad thole to hear a friend,
Tak tent, and nae wi' strunts offend,
I've seen queans dink, and neatly prim'd
Frae tap to middle,
Looking just like the far-aff end
O' an auld fiddle."--_The Farmer's Ha'._

He looks like the laird o' fear.

He loses his time that comes sune to a bad bargain.

Help for help in hairst.

Farmers in time of harvest occasionally give each other a "day's
shearing," or the use of the whole reaping staff for a day. Of
course, the favour is returned, and the benefit rendered mutual.

Help is gude at a'thing, except at the cog.

"At the cog," signifies in taking our food.

He maks nae bairn's bargains.

He maun be a gude friend when you dinna ken his value.

He maun be soon up that cheats the tod.

He maun hae leave to speak that canna haud his tongue.

Addressed to people who talk foolishly or without purpose.

He maun lout that has a laigh door.

He maun rise soon that pleases a'body.

He may be trusted wi' a house fu' o' unbored millstanes.

Meaning that such a person cannot be trusted at all.

He may find fault that canna mend.

He may laugh that wins.

He may tine a stot that canna count his kine.

"The man may ablens tyne a stot
That cannot count his kinsch,
In zour awin bow ze are owre-schot
Be mair than half-an-inch."--_Cherrie and the Slae._

He may weel soom wha has his head hauden up.

Meaning that a task is easy when assistance is given.

He needs a lang-shanket spoon that sups kail wi' the deil.

"He that has to do with wicked and false men had need to be cautious
and on his guard."--_Kelly._

He needs maun rin that the deil drives.

He ne'er did a gude darg that gaed grumbling about it.

"A gude darg" means here a good day's work.

He ne'er tint a cow that grat for a groat.

Literally, he never lost a cow who cried for the loss of a groat.

He never lies but when the holly's green.

The holly being an evergreen, that is to say, a person never speaks
truth at all.

He picked it up at his ain hand, as the cow learned flinging.

He puts his meat in an ill skin.

Meaning that although a person takes plenty of food and nourishment,
his appearance belies it.

He puts in a bad purse that puts in his pechan.

He reads his sin in his punishment.

Henry Clark never slew a man till he come at him.

"A ridicule upon them that threaten hard and dare not
execute."--_Kelly._

Hen's are aye free o' horse corn.

Hen scarts and filly tails, make lofty ships wear lowly sails.

"Certain light kinds of clouds are thus denominated, from their
supposed resemblance to the scratches of hens on the ground and the
tails of young mares. They are held as prognosticative of stormy
weather."--_Robert Chambers._

Here-awa, there-awa, like the Laird o' Hotch Potch's lands.

"Castle fa'an?--na', but the sute's fa'an, and the thunners come
right down the kitchen-lumm, and the things are a' lying here-awa,
there-awa, like the Laird o' Hotch Potch's lands."--_Bride of
Lammermoor._

Here's the wine, but where's the wa-nuts?

He reives the kirk to theek the quire.

To "steal from the church to roof the choir," is "to rob Peter to
pay Paul."

He rides on the riggin' o't.

That is, he goes to a very great extreme.

He rides sicker that never fa's.

He rides well that never falls: he is a perfect man who never errs.

He rules easier wi' a saugh wand than wi' a sharp brand.

He's aftener there than in the parish kirk.

He's a bodie o' the nick-stick kind.

"One who proceeds exactly according to rule; who will not dine a
second time with any person till he has made a return in
kind."--_Jamieson._

He's a cake and pudding courtier.

He's a causey saint and a house deil.

One whose outward deportment towards strangers is not in unison with
the harshness which he exercises at home.

He's a' fair gude e'en, and fair gude-day.

He's a fool that asks ower muckle, but he's a greater fool that gies it.

He's a fool that forgets himsel.

He's a fool that marries at Yule; for when the bairn's to bear the corn's to shear.

He's a gude horse that never stumbled, and a better wife that never grumbled.

"Both so rare, that I never met with either."--_Kelly._

He is a gude piper's bitch; he's aye in at meal-times.

He's a gude shot that hits aye the mark.

He's a hardy man to draw a sword at a haggis.

He's a hawk o' a right nest.

He's a man o' wise mind that o' a foe can mak a friend.

He's an auld horse that winna nicher at corn.

He's ane o' snaw-ba's bairntime.

"That is, such as wealth and prosperity make worse, or who
insensibly go behind in the world."--_Kelly._

He's a poor beggar that canna gang by ae door.

He's a poor man that's never missed.

He's a proud beggar that maks his ain awmous.

That is, he is proud or well pleased who succeeds in realising his
own expectations or wishes.

He's a proud horse that winna carry his ain corn.

He's a sairy cook that canna lick his ain fingers.

He's as bare as the birk at Yule.

He's as bauld as a Lammermuir lion.

"A sheep is called a Lammermuir lion; and the proverb is applied, in
a sarcastic way, to a boasting or assuming person, or to a
braggadocio fellow, who is a coward at bottom."--_G. Henderson._

"As fierce as a lion on Cotswold."--_English._

He's as gleg as a gled.

He's as happy as a dead bird.

He's a selfish skyte that cares but for his ain kyte.

He's as fu' as a fiddler.

Equivalent to being as "drunk as a lord."

He's as gleg as M'Keachen's elshin, that ran through sax plies o' bend-leather into the king's heel.

Quoted in the _Heart of Midlothian_ when Sharpitlaw, accompanied by
Ratcliffe and Madge Wildfire, go to Muschat's Cairn in search of
Robertson.

He's as hard wi' me as if I had been the wild Scot o' Galloway.

He's a silly chield that can neither dae nor say.

He's as stiff as if he had swallowed the poker.

He's as welcome as snaw in hairst.

He's as welcome as water in a riven ship.

He's auld and cauld, and ill to lie beside.

He's awfu' big ahint the door.

To be "big ahint the door," is to be very courageous when there is
no occasion for it.

He's a wise man that can tak care o' himsel.

He's aye for out o' the cheese-fat he was moulded in.

"'Keep back, sir, as best sets ye,' said the bailie, as Andrew
pressed forward to catch the answer to some question I had asked
about Campbell; 'ye wad fain ride the forehorse an ye wist how. That
chield's aye for being out o' the cheese-fat he was moulded
in.'"--_Rob Roy._

He's aye wise ahint the hand.

"Ye noo hae hit the nail upo' the head,
I better wi' less travel micht hae deen,
Had I been tenty as I sud hae been;
But fouks, they say, are wise ahint the han',
Whilk to be true unto my cost I fan."--_Ross's Helenore._

He's as wise as Wudsie's calf, that kent milk frae water.

He's been at the kirk o' Crackabout, whaur the kail pat was the minister.

He's better fed than bred.

He's blind that eats marrow, but far blinder that lets him.

He's but Jock the laird's brither.

"The Scottish lairds concern and zeal for the standing and
continuance of their families, makes the provision for their younger
sons very small."--_Kelly._

He's cooling and supping.

"That is, he has nothing but from hand to mouth."--_Kelly._

He's cowpet the crans.

"It's a great misery to me that I hae nae books to let you look ower
to see my losses; but what gude, when I think on't, would the sight
o' losses do to you? It wouldna put a plack in your pouch--aiblins
every twa or three pages ye wad see this ane or that ane cowpet the
crans, and deep in my debt."--_Laird of Logan._

He seeks nae mair than a bit an' a brat.

Meaning that he is content with little.

He's either a' honey or a' dirt.

He is either exceedingly affectionate and kind, or _vice versa_.

He sell't his soul for a cracket saxpence.

He's failed wi' a fu' hand.

When a man "fails wi' a fu' hand," he defrauds his creditors with
the assistance of the Bankruptcy Act.

He's frae the tap o' the wing, but ye're a grey-neck quill.

Meaning, we presume, that a man is not so good as he would like to
be thought, or as some person he may have compared himself with.

He's free o' fruit that wants an orchard.

He's fond o' barter that niffers wi' Auld Nick.

He's gane aff at the nail.

Or "destitute of any regard to propriety of conduct; mad;
wrongheaded; tipsy."--_Jamieson._

He's gane a' to pigs and whistles.

"Hech, sirs, what a kyteful o' pride's yon'er! and yet I would be
nane surprised the morn to hear that the Nechabudnezzar was a' gane
to pigs and whistles, and driven out wi' the divors bill to the
barren pastures of bankruptcy."--_The Entail._

He's gane ower the buss taps.

"To behave extravagantly; to go over the tops of the
bushes."--_Jamieson._

He's gane to seek his faither's sword.

He's gane to the dog-drave.

He's got his leg ower the harrows.

He's got his nose in a gude kail pat.

Meaning that a person has been well provided for. Generally applied
to a poor man who has married a rich wife.

He's gude that never failed.

He's his faither's better, like the cooper o' Fogo.

"Fogo is a small decayed village near Dunse. It appears that each
generation of its coopers improved upon the plans or workmanship of
their ancestors, and the son became better than the father."--_G.
Henderson._

He's horn deaf on that side o' his head.

That is, he has already made up his mind upon that matter.

He should be seldom angry that has few to mease him.

He's idle that might be better employed.

He's ill-faur'd that dogs bark at.

"'I have had that wad sober me or ony ane,' said the matron. 'Aweel,
Tib, a lass like me wasna to lack wooers, for I wasna sae
ill-favoured that the tikes wad bark after me.'"--_The Monastery._

He's in the wrang when praised that glunshes.

He sits fu' close that has riven breeks.

"This elegant speech was made by the Earl of Douglas, called
Tineman, after being wounded and made prisoner at the battle of
Shrewsbury, where

"'His well-labouring sword
Had three times slain the semblance of the king.'"
--_Fortunes of Nigel._

He sits wi' little ease wha sits on his neighbour's coat tail.

He's John Tamson's man.

"'Atweel, Cuddie, ye are gaun nae sic gate,' said Jenny, coolly and
resolutely. 'The deil's in the wife!' said Cuddie, 'd'ye think I am
to be John Tamson's man, and maistered by women a' the days o' my
life?' 'And whase man wad ye be? And wha wad ye hae to maister ye
but me, Cuddie, lad?'"--_Old Mortality._

He's laid down the barrow.

That is, "he's cowpet the crans," _q. v._

He sleeps as dogs do when wives sift meal.

Meaning that a person is very sharp, and that he, figuratively,
sleeps with one eye open.

He's lifeless that's faultless.

Implying that no one is without fault.

He's like a bagpipe, ne'er heard till his wame's fu'.

He's like a chip amang parritch--little gude, little ill.

He's like a cow in a fremit loaning.

That is, strange, or out of place. "Fremit loaning," strange lane.

He's like a flea in a blanket.

He's like a singet cat--better than he's bonny.

He's like the craws, he eats himsel' out o' ply.

He's like the smith's dog--so weel used to the sparks that he'll no burn.

Spoken of people who are so much accustomed to tipple, that they
never seem any the worse of it.

He's like the wife's bawty--kens naething about it.

He slippet awa like a knotless thread.

He's loose in the heft.

He's mair buirdly i' the back than i' the brain.

He's mair fleyed than hurt.

He's mair worth hanging than hauding.

He's nae gude weaver that leaves lang thrums.

No good workman who wastes material, or leaves work in a slovenly
state.

He's nae sma' drink.

He's ne'er at ease that's angry.

He snites his nose in his neighbour's dish to get the brose himsel.

This rude but expressive saying is used when a person has done
another an injury in order to benefit himself.