A waited pat's lang o' boiling.
A wamefu's a wamefu' wer't but o' bare cauf.
A bellyful is a bellyful, no matter what kind of meat is taken. A
variation occurs in _St Ronan's Well_:--"A wamefu's a wamefu'
whether it be o' barley meal or bran."
A wee bush is better than nae beild.
"Dame Elspeth is of good folk, a widow, and the mother of
orphans,--she will give us house-room until something be thought
upon. These evil showers make the low bush better than no
beild."--_The Monastery._
A wee house has a wide throat.
A wee house weel fill'd, a wee piece land weel till'd, a wee wife weel
will'd, will mak a happy man.
A wee mouse will creep beneath a muckle corn stack.
A wee spark maks muckle wark.
A wee thing fleys cowards.
A wee thing puts your beard in a bleeze.
A wee thing ser's a cheerfu' mind.
A wet May and a winnie, brings a fu' stackyard and a finnie.
"Implying that rain in May and dry winds afterwards produce a
plentiful crop, with that mark of excellence by which grain is
generally judged of by connoisseurs--a good feeling in the
hand."--_Robert Chambers._
A whang off a cut kebbuck's never miss'd.
A wife is wise enough when she kens her gudeman's breeks frae her ain
kirtle.
Kelly gives a very indifferent version of this proverb, and says,
"This is old, and a good one if rightly understood: that is, she is
a good wife who knows the true measure of her husband's authority
and her obedience."
A wight man ne'er wanted a weapon.
A wild goose ne'er laid tame eggs.
A wilfu' man maun hae his way.
"'Reuben Butler! Reuben Butler!' echoed the Laird of Dumbiedykes,
pacing the apartment in high disdain,--'Reuben Butler, the dominie
at Liberton--and a dominie-depute too!--Reuben, the son of my
cottar!--Very weel, Jeanie, lass, wilfu' woman will hae her
way--Reuben Butler! he hasna in his pouch the value o' the auld
black coat he wears.'"--_Heart of Midlothian._
A wilfu' man ne'er wanted wae.
"It has been said, and may be sae,
A wilfull man wants never wae,
Thocht he gets little gains."--_Cherrie and the Slae._
A wilfu' man should be unco wise.
A willing mind maks a light foot.
A winking cat's no aye blind.
A winter day and a wintry way is the life o' man.
A winter night, a woman's mind, and a laird's purpose, aften change.
"Women, wind, and luck soon change."--_Portuguese._
A wise head maks a close mouth.
A wise lawyer ne'er gangs to law himsel.
A wise man carries his cloak in fair weather, an' a fool wants his in
rain.
"An encouragement to care, caution, and foresight, and especially
not to leave your cloak, be the weather e'er so
encouraging."--_Kelly._
"Chiels carry cloaks, when 'tis clear,
The fool when 'tis foul has nane to wear."--_Ramsay._
A wise man gets learning frae them that hae nane o' their ain.
A wise man wavers, a fool is fixed.
A woman's gude either for something or naething.
A word is enough to the wise.
A working mither maks a daw dochter.
Another rendering of "A light-heeled mother," &c.
Aye as ye thrive your feet fa's frae ye.
"Unexpected interruptions occur in business."--_Kelly._
"The farther you go, the farther behind."--_English._
Aye flether away;--since I'll no do wi' foul play, try me wi' fair.
A yeld sow was never gude to gryces.
This more expressive than elegant proverb means that those people
who have no family of their own are rarely inclined to be kind to
the children of others.
Aye takin' out o' the meal pock and ne'er puttin' in't soon comes to the
bottom.
Aye tak the fee when the tear's in the ee.
Aye to eild, but never to wit.
That is, he is always growing older, but never any wiser.
A' you rin you win.
"Taken from playing at bowls: applied to endeavours about a project
that seems not feasible, where what you can make is clear
gain."--_Kelly._
A Yule feast may be done at Pasche.
[Illustration]
Bachelors' wives and auld maids' bairns are aye weel bred.
Bad legs and ill wives should stay at hame.
Bairns are certain care, but nae sure joy.
Bairns speak i' the field what they hear i' the ha'.
Baith weal and woe come aye wi' world's gear.
"'And I positively must not ask you how you have come by all this
money?' said the clergyman.... 'Is it anything that distresses your
own mind?' 'There is baith weal and woe come wi' warld's gear,
Reuben: but ye maun ask me naething mair.--This siller binds me to
naething, and can never be speered back again.'"--_Heart of
Midlothian._
Baked bread and brown ale winna bide lang.
Bannocks are better than nae bread.
"Half a loaf is better than no bread."--_English._
Barefooted folk shouldna tread on thorns.
"Those who live in glass houses should not throw
stones."--_English._
Bare gentry, bragging beggars.
Bare words mak nae bargain.
Bastard brood are aye proud.
Be a friend to yoursel, and others will.
Bear and forbear is gude philosophy.
Bear wealth weel, poortith will bear itsel.
Beauty, but bounty's but bauch.
Beauty is but skin deep.
Beauty's muck when honour's tint.
Beauty is worthless when honour is lost.
Be aye the thing you would be ca'd.
"Because" is a woman's reason.
"I have no other but a woman's reason: I think him so, because I
think him so."--_Shakespeare._
Beds are best, quo' the man to his guest.
We presume he said so on the score of economy, _i.e._, to evade
supplying supper.
Beefsteaks and porter are gude belly mortar.
Bees that hae honey in their mouths hae stings in their tails.
Before an ill wife be gude, even if she was a' turned to tongue.
Before, I ween'd; but now, I wat.
Before, I only suspected; now, I am certain. "Spoken on the full
discovery of some malefice, which before we only
suspected."--_Kelly._
Before the deil gaes blind, and he's no blear e'ed yet.
Before ye choose a friend, eat a peck o' saut wi' him.
Be gaun, the gate's before you.
Be going, the road lies before you. A jocose or surly hint to go.
Beg frae beggars and you'll ne'er be rich.
Beggars breed, and rich men feed.
Beggars downa bide wealth.
Beggars shouldna be choosers.
Begin wi' needles and preens, and end wi' horn'd nowte.
That is, beginnings apparently trifling may lead to very great
results. Used here as a caution against dishonesty.
Be it better, be it worse, be ruled by him that has the purse.
Be it sae, is nae banning.
Used in yielding a point in dispute because you are either unwilling
or unable to argue further; but also indicating that you do not
admit yourself to be in the wrong.
Be lang sick, that ye may be soon hale.
Believe a' ye hear, an' ye may eat a' ye see.
Belyve is twa hours and a half.
A jocular allusion to the fact that if a person says he will be
back, or done with anything "belyve," that is, immediately, or in a
little, the probability is he will be longer than expected.
Be ready wi' your bonnet, but slow wi' your purse.
Be slow in choosing a friend, but slower in changing him.
Best to be off wi' the auld love before we be on wi' the new.
Be thou weel, or be thou wae, yet thou wilt not aye be sae.
Better a bit in the morning than a fast a' day.
Better a clout in than a hole out.
That is, a patched garment is better than one with holes in it.
Better a dog fawn on you than bark at you.
Better ae e'e than a' blind.
Better ae wit bought than twa for nought.
Better a finger aff as aye wagging.
"The first night is aye the warst o't. I hae never heard o' ane that
sleepit the night afore the trial, but of mony a ane that sleepit as
sound as a tap the night before their necks were straughted. And
it's nae wonder--the warst may be tholed when it's kend: Better a
finger aff as aye wagging."--_Heart of Midlothian._
Better a fremit friend than a friend fremit.
Better have a stranger for your friend than a friend turned
stranger.
Better a gude fame than a fine face.
Better alane than in ill company.
Better a laying hen than a lying crown.
Better a lean horse than a toom halter.
Better a poor horse than no horse at all.
Better a mouse in the pat than nae flesh.
Better an auld man's darling than a young man's warling.
"Used as an argument to induce a young girl to marry an old man, to
the doing of which no argument should prevail."--_Kelly._
Better an even down snaw than a driving drift.
Better an ill spune than nae horn.
Better a saft road than bad company.
"'I redd ye, Earnscliff' (this Hobbie added in a gentle whisper),
'let us take a cast about, as if to draw the wind on a buck--the bog
is no abune knee-deep, and better a saft road than bad
company.'"--_The Black Dwarf._
Better a sair fae than a fause friend.
Better a shameless eating than a shamefu' leaving.
Better a sma' fish than an empty dish.
Better at a time to gie than tak.
Better a thigging mither than a riding father.
Better a tocher in her than wi' her.
That is, better that a wife have good qualities without money than
_vice versa_.
Better a toom house than an ill tenant.
Better auld debts than auld sairs.
Better a wee bush than nae beild.
Better a wee fire to warm you than a big fire to burn you.
Better bairns greet than bearded men.
Better be a coward than a corpse.
"Discretion is the better part of valour."--_English._
Better be at the end o' a feast than at the beginning o' a fray.
Better be before at a burial than ahint at a bridal.
Better be blythe wi' little than sad wi' naething.
Better be envied than pitied.
Better be friends at a distance than enemies at hame.
Better be happy than wise.
Better be idle than ill doing.
Better be John Tamson's man, than Ring and Dinn's, or John Knox's.
"John Thomson's man is he that is complaisant to his wife's humours;
Ring and Dinn's is he whom his wife scolds; John Knox's is he whom
his wife beats."--_Kelly._
Better be kind than cumbersome.
Better belly burst than gude meat spoil.
A plea for gluttony on the score of economy.
Better bend than break.
Better be out o' the warld than out o' fashion.
Better be sonsy than soon up.
Better be the head o' the commons than the tail o' the gentry.
"To reign is worth ambition, though in hell;
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven."--_Milton._
Better be the lucky man than the lucky man's son.
Better bow to my faes than beg frae my friends.
Better buy than borrow.
Better cry "Feigh, saut," than "Feigh, stink."
The first can be remedied or improved in cooking; but a putrid
article cannot.
Better day the better deed.
Better do it than wish it done.
Better eat brown bread in youth than in eild.
Better fed than bred.
Better find iron than tine siller.
Better fleech a fool than fight him.
"'I have as much mind as ever I had to my dinner, to go back and
tell him to sort his horse himself, since he is as able as I am.'
'Hout tout, man!' answered Jasper, 'keep a calm sough: better to
fleech a fool than fight with him.'"--_The Monastery._
Better gang about than fa' in the dub.
Rather a long road and safety than a short one attended with danger.
Better gang to bed supperless than rise in debt.
Better gie the slight than tak it.
Better greet ower your gudes than after your gudes.
Meaning that it is better not to sell goods at all than to sell and
not be paid for them.
Better gude sale than gude ale.
Better guide weel than work sair.
Better hae than want.
Better hain weel than work sair.
Better half egg than toom doup.
"Better half an egg than empty shells."--_German._
Better half hang'd than ill married.
Better hand loose nor bound to an ill bakie.
"_Bakie_, the stake to which an ox or cow is bound to the
stall."--_Jamieson._
Better hands loose than in an ill tethering.
Better happy at court than in gude service.
Better haud at the brim than at the bottom.
Better haud by a hair than draw by a tether.
Better haud out than put out.
"Prevention is better than cure."--_English._
Better haud wi' the hounds than rin wi' the hare.
The policy of the Vicar of Bray. It is better to side with the
strongest or winning party.
Better keep the deil out than hae to put him out.
Better keep weel than make weel.
Better lang little than soon naething.
Better late thrive than never do weel.
Better laugh at your ain pint stoup, than greet and gather gear.
It is better to be merry spending money, than sorrowful acquiring
it.
Better learn frae your neebor's skaith than frae your ain.
Learn experience rather from the misfortunes of others than from
your own.
Better leave to my faes than beg frae my friends.
Better leave than lack.
That it is better to have too much of some things than too little.
Better live in hope than die in despair.
Better marry ower the midden than ower the muir.
Rather marry among those whom you know than go among strangers for a
wife. "Marry over the mixon, and you will know who and what she
is."--_German._ "Your wife and your nag get from a
neighbour."--_Italian._
Better master ane than fight wi' ten.
Better my bairns seek frae me than I beg frae them.
Better my friends think me fremit than fashious.
Better visit friends seldom than so often as to prove troublesome.
Better nae ring nor the ring o' a rash.
Better ne'er begun than ne'er ended.
Better ower 't than in 't.
Better beyond the fear of danger than in it.
Better plays the fu' wame than the new coat.
A man may be well dressed but still have a hungry belly, and _vice
versa_. He that has the "fu' wame" is the more likely to be in good
spirits.
Better rough an' sonsy than bare an' donsy.
It is better to be rough in manners, if coupled with prosperous
circumstances, than be "genteel" and at the same time poverty
stricken.
Better rue sit than rue flit.
Better not remove at all than do so and then regret it.
"Didna I see when gentle Geordie was seeking to get other folk out
of the Tolbooth forby Jocky Porteous? but ye are of my mind,
hinny--better sit and rue, than flit and rue--ye needna look in my
face sae amazed. I ken mair things than that, maybe."--_Heart of
Midlothian._
Better saucht wi' little aucht than care wi' mony cows.
Better comfort and peace of mind with little, than care and
contention with much.
Better saut than sour.
Better say "Here it is" than "Here it was."
Better short and sweet than lang and lax.
Better sit idle than work for nought.
Better sit still than rise an' fa'.
Better skaith saved than mends made.
Better that offence should not be given than committed and then
apologized for.
Better sma' fish than nane.
Better soon as syne.
"I tell'd your honour a while syne, that it was lang that I hae been
thinking o' flitting, may be as lang as frae the first year I came
to Osbaldistone Hall; and now I'm o' the mind to gang in gude
earnest--better soon as syne--better a finger aff as aye
wagging."--_Rob Roy._
Better spared than ill spent.
Better speak bauldly out than aye be grumphin'.
If a complaint requires to be made, make it openly and
straightforwardly, instead of continuing to fret about it in an
indirect manner.
Better the barn filled than the bed.
Because a full barn denotes prosperity, a full bed trouble.
Better the end o' a feast than the beginning o' a fray.
Better the mother wi' the pock, than the faither wi' the sack.
"The mother, though in a low condition, will be more kindly to, and
more careful of, orphans, than the father can be, though in a
better."--_Kelly._
Better the ill ken'd than the gude unken'd.
Better the nag that ambles a' the day than him that makes a brattle for
a mile and then's dune wi' the road.
Better thole a grumph than a sumph.
Be troubled rather by an intelligent, though surly man, than by a
stupid one.
Better tine life than gude fame.
"I might hae fled frae this Tolbooth on that awfu' night wi' ane wha
wad hae carried me through the warld, and friended me, and fended
for me. But I said to them, Let life gang when gude fame is gane
before it."--_Heart of Midlothian._
Better tine your joke than tine your friend.
Better to haud than draw.
Better to rule wi' the gentle hand than the strang.
Better twa skaiths than ae sorrow.
"Losses may be repaired, but sorrow will break the heart and ruin
the constitution."--_Kelly._
Better unkind than ower cumbersome.
Better unmarried than ill married.
Better wade back mid water than gang forward and drown.
Rather withdraw from a bargain or position found likely to prove bad
or dangerous than proceed with either in hopes of improvement.
Better wait on cooks than leeches.
Better wear shoon than wear sheets.
Better you laugh than I greet.
Meaning, I would rather be ridiculed for not doing a thing, than do
it and be sorry for it.
Better your feet slip than your tongue.
Between Martinmas and Yule, water's wine in every pool.
Between the deil and the deep sea.
Between two extremes equally dangerous.
"I fell into Claverhouse's party when I was seeking for some o' our
ain folk to help ye out o' the hands o' the whigs; sae, being atween
the deil and the deep sea, I e'en thought it best to bring him on
wi' me, for he'll be wearied wi' felling folk the night, and the
morn's a new day."--_Old Mortality._
Between three and thirteen, thraw the woodie when it's green.
Train the minds and principles of children when young.
Between you and the lang day be'it.
Be what ye seem and seem what ye are.
Bid a man to a roast and stick him wi' the spit.
Pretend to show kindness to a man while your intention is to injure
him.
Bide weel, betide weel.
Wait well or patiently and you will fare well; or at least as well
as those who are hasty.
Biggin and bairns marrying are arrant wasters.
"Building is a sweet impoverishing."--_Spanish._
Bind the sack ere it be fou.
Do not tax any person or thing to the utmost.
Birds o' a feather flock thegither.
Birk will burn be it burn drawn; sauch will sab if it were simmer sawn.
Literally, wood will burn even if drawn through water, and the
willow will droop if sown out of season. Figuratively, natural will
and inclination will predominate and exhibit themselves, although
submitted to the most antagonistic influences.
Birth's gude but breeding's better.
Bitter jests poison friendship.
Black's my apron, and I'm aye washing 't.
When a man has got a bad character, although he may endeavour to
redeem it, he will find great difficulty in doing so.
Black will tak nae ither hue.
Blaw the wind ne'er sae fast, it will lown at the last.
Blind horse rides hardy to the fecht.
"Who so bold as blind Bayard?"--_French._
Blind men shouldna judge o' colours.
Blue and better blue.
"That is, there may be difference between things of the same kind
and persons of the same station."--_Kelly._
Blue's beauty, red's a taiken, green's grief, and yellow's forsaken.
Examples of the "Poetry of colour."
Blue is love true.
Bluid's thicker than water.
"'Weel, weel,' said Mr Jarvie, 'bluid's thicker than water; and it
liesna in kith, kin, and ally, to see motes in ilk other's een if
other een see them no.'"--_Rob Roy._
Bode a robe and wear it, bode a pock and bear it.
According as our aspirations are high or low, so do we succeed or
fail. "As you make your bed, so you must lie on it."
Bode for a silk gown and ye'll get a sleeve o't.
That is, if we "bode" or earnestly wish for an article or result, we
will get at least something approaching to it. An Aberdeenshire
parallel to this is, "They never bodet a house o' gowd, but aye got
a caber o't."
Bode gude and get it.
Boden gear stinks.
The theory of the fox and grapes.
Bonnet aside! how sell you your maut?
Bonny birds are aye the warst singers.
Bonny sport, to fare weel and pay nothing for't.
"Diogenes is said to have thought that the best wine which cost him
nothing."--_Kelly._
Bourdna wi' bawty lest he bite ye.
Bourdna wi' my e'e nor wi' mine honour.
Do not jest or trifle with subjects of delicacy, character, &c.
Bread and cheese is gude to eat when folk can get nae ither meat.
Bread and milk is bairns' meat: I wish them sorrow that loe it.
Bread's house skail'd never.
A full or hospitable house never wants visitors.
Break my head and syne draw on my how.
Breeding wives are aye beddie.
Bridal feasts are soon forgotten.
Broken bread maks batet bairns.
Broken friendships may be souther'd, but never sound.
Burnt bairns dread the fire.
Busy folk are aye meddling.
But middlin' bonny, like Boles' gudemither.
Butter and burn trouts are kittle meat for maidens.
Butter's king o' a' creesh.
Butter to butter's nae kitchen.
Like to like is no improvement or relish.
Buy a thief frae the widdie and he'll help to hang ye.
"Save a rogue from the gallows, and he will hang you up."--_French._
Buy friendship wi' presents, and it will be bought frae you.
Buy in the market and sell at hame.
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.