Out o' the warld and into Kippen.
Kippen, in Stirlingshire, was formerly so very remote and little
frequented by strangers, that a visit to it was jocularly deemed
equivalent to going out of the world altogether; and the remark
passed into a proverb, used when a person is going to a strange
place. The feudal lord of this district was formerly styled King of
Kippen.
Own debt and crave days.
Ower braw a purse to put a plack in.
That is, externally grander or more showy than internal means
justify. "Spoken when one builds a magnificent house upon a small
income."--_Kelly._
Ower high, ower laigh, ower het, ower cauld.
That is, from one extreme to the other.
Ower holy was hanged, but rough and sonsy wan awa'.
Ower mony cooks spoil the broth.
Ower mony grieves hinder the wark.
Ower mony irons in the fire, some maun cool.
Spoken when a person has too many projects in hand; meaning that
some must fail.
"Ower mony maisters," quo' the puddock to the harrow, when ilka tooth
gied her a tug.
Ower muckle hameliness spoils gude courtesy.
"Too much familiarity breeds contempt."--_English._
Ower muckle loose leather about your chafts.
A rude but expressive way of saying that a person is not looking
well, or is, _Scotice_, "thin."
Ower muckle cookery spoils the brochan.
Ower muckle o' ae thing is gude for naething.
Ower narrow counting culyes nae kindness.
To "culye" is to gain, to draw forth. "When people deal in rigour
with us we think ourselves but little obliged to them."--_Kelly._
Ower reckless may repent.
Ower sicker, ower loose.
Or, you are either too harsh and stringent, or the very reverse.
Ower strong meat for your weak stamack.
Ower sune is easy mended.
[Illustration]
Patch and lang sit, build and soon flit.
A slow and gradual rise is likely to prove a permanent one; but a
rapid or sudden one merely temporary; or, as the Irishman said, "Up
like a rocket, and down like its stick."
Paterson's mare aye goes foremost.
Pay-before-hand's never weel ser'd.
The tradesman is said to be troubled with two kinds of bad
customers, viz., those who pay in advance, or "before-hand," and
those who do not pay at all.
Pay him in his ain coin.
Pennyless souls maun pine in purgatory.
Penny-wheep's gude enough for muslin-kail.
"Penny-wheep," says Jamieson, "is the weakest kind of small beer,
sold at a _penny_ per bottle;" and muslin-kail is a common kind of
broth. The proverb expresses that poor service merits poor reward.
Peter's in, Paul's out.
"Spoken when, after we had wanted a necessary person a long time,
upon his arrival, another equally necessary is gone."--_Kelly._
Pigs may whistle, but they hae an ill mouth for't.
Applied when an awkward person is attempting to perform some work of
which he is incapable.
Penny wise and pound foolish.
Pint stoups hae lang lugs.
For a great deal is said over them, which, but for their influence,
would not be heard.
Pith's gude at a' play but threading o' needles.
Plack aboot's fair play.
Placks and bawbees grow pounds.
Plaister thick and some will stick.
Play carle wi' me again if you daur.
"Do not dare to offer to contest with me. Spoke by parents to
stubborn children."--_Kelly._
Play's gude while it's play.
Pleading at the law is like fighting through a whin bush--the harder the
blows the sairer the scarts.
The knowledge that "whin bush" is the furze renders this saying
easily intelligible.
Please your kimmer, and ye'll easy guide your gossip.
Please yoursel and ye'll no dee o' the pet.
Plenty is nae plague.
Plenty maks dainty.
Poets and painters are aye poor.
This appears in no collection preceding Henderson's, and is probably
a record of his own experience and that of his friends, he being a
painter himself by profession, and on intimate terms with Motherwell
and others.
Poets and painters hae liberty to lo'e.
Poor folk are fain o' little.
Poor folk maun fit their wame to their winning.
Poor folk seek meat for their stamacks, and rich folk stamacks for their
meat.
Poor folk's friends soon misken them.
Poortith pairts gude company.
Poortith's better than pride.
Poortith's pain, but nae disgrace.
Poortith taks awa pith.
"'I tell you, Master Moniplies,' said Jenkin, 'I am as poor as any
Scot among you. I have broken my indenture, and I think of running
the country.' 'A-well-a-day!' said Ritchie. 'But that maunna be,
man. I ken weel, by sad experience, that poortith takes away pith,
and the man sits full still that has a rent in his
breeks.'"--_Fortunes of Nigel._
Poortith wi' patience is less painfu'.
Possession's worth an ill charter.
Poverty's a bad back friend.
Praise without profit puts little i' the pat.
Prayer and practice is gude rhyme.
Pretty man, I maun say; tak a peat and sit down.
We are unable to make much either of this proverb or of Kelly's note
to it--"An ironical expression to a mean boy who would gladly be
esteemed."
Pride and grace ne'er dwell in ae place.
Pride an' sweer'dness need muckle uphaudin.
"Sweer'd," lazy or unwilling. Pride and laziness require much to
support them.
Pride finds nae cauld.
"Spoken heretofore to young women when, in compliance with the
fashion, they went with their breasts and shoulders bare; and may
now (1721) be applied to ladies with their extravagant
hoops."--_Kelly._
Pride ne'er leaves its maister till he get a fa'.
Pride prinks her brow for the deil to pouse.
That is, pride bedecks herself, and the devil despoils.
Pride's an ill horse to ride.
Pride that dines wi' vanity sups wi' contempt.
Pride will hae a fa'.
Provision in season maks a bien house.
Prudence should be winning when thrift is spinning.
Puddins and paramours should be hetly handled.
"Puddings when cold are uneatable; and love when coldrife is near
the breaking off."--_Kelly._
Put a coward to his mettle, and he'll fight the deil.
"A baited cat is as fierce as a lion."--_English._
Put anither man's bairn in your bosom, and he'll creep oot at your
sleeve.
"That is, cherish or love him, he'll never be naturally affected
towards you."--_Ray._
Put nae force against the flail.
Put on your spurs and be at your speed.
Put twa pennies in a purse, and they'll creep thegither.
Put your finger in the fire, and say it was your fortune.
Spoken of a person who has wittingly placed himself in difficulties,
and who attributes his bad position to fortune.
Put your hand in the creel, tak out an adder or an eel.
"In buying horses and taking a wife, shut your eyes and commend
yourself to God."--_Italian._
Put your hand nae farther oot than your sleeve will reach.
Put your hand twice to your bannet for ance to your pouch.
"Put your hand quickly to your hat, and slowly to your purse, and
you will take no harm."--_Danish._
Put the man to the mear that can manage the mear.
Put the saddle on the right horse.
Put your shanks in your thanks and mak gude gramashes o' them.
Literally, put your legs in your thanks and make good gaiters of
them. A sharp remark on those who pay in thanks only, when a more
substantial reward is expected.
Put your thoom upon that.
"Conceal it carefully--keep it secret."--_Jamieson._
[Illustration]
Quality without quantity is little thought o'.
Quey calves are dear veal.
A "quey calf" is a female calf. They are generally kept to replenish
the stock; it is bull calves that are principally fattened for
killing young.
Quick at meat, quick at wark.
Quick, for you'll ne'er be cleanly.
"That is, do a thing nimbly, for you'll never do it
neatly."--_Kelly._
Quick returns mak rich merchants.
Quietness is best.
[Illustration]
Rab Gibb's contract,--stark love and kindness.
Raggit folk and bonny folk are aye ta'en haud o'.
Spoken jocularly when a person has rent or caught his clothes upon a
nail or other projection.
Raise nae mair deils than ye are able to lay.
"Raise no more spirits than you can conjure down."--_German._
Rather spoil your joke than tine your friend.
Raw dads mak fat lads.
Raw leather raxes weel.
"Raw leather will stretch."--_English._
Reavers shouldna be ruers.
Literally, robbers should not repent.
Reckless youth maks ruefu' eild.
"People who live too fast when they are young will neither have a
vigorous nor a comfortable old age."--_Kelly._
Reckon up your winning at your bed-stock.
Red brackens bring milk and butter.
"In October, the bracken or fern on hill pastures becomes red with
the first frosty nights, and about that time the autumnal herbage is
very rich, and productive of the good things in question."--_Robert
Chambers._
Red wood maks gude spindles.
"'Red wood,' the name given to the reddish or dark-coloured and more
incorruptible wood found in the heart of trees."--_Jamieson._
Refer my coat and lose a sleeve.
"Rejoice, bucks," quo' Brodie, when he shot at the buryin' and thought
it was a weddin'.
Remember, man, and keep in mind, a faithfu' friend is hard to find.
Remove an auld tree an' it'll wither.
Riches are got wi' pain, kept wi' care, and tint wi' grief.
Rich folk hae routh o' friends.
"Routh o' friends," that is, many of them.
Rich folk's wit rives poor folk's jaws.
Rich mixture maks gude mortar.
Ride fair and jaup nane.
"Taken from riding through a puddle, but applied to too home
jesting."--_Kelly._
Right, Roger, sow's gude mutton.
A proverbial expression, meaning that a person is totally mistaken
about a matter.
Right wrangs nae man.
Ripe fruit is soonest rotten.
Rise when the day daws, bed when the night fa's.
Robin, that herds on the height, can be blithe as Sir Robert the Knight.
Rome wasna built in a day.
Rot him awa' wi' ham and eggs.
Rowan-tree and red thread mak the witches tine their speed.
These particular articles were formerly supposed to have a
controlling power over witches.
Royt lads may mak sober men.
To "royt" is to go about idly or dissolutely.
Rue and thyme grow baith in ae garden.
Rule youth weel, for eild will rule itsel'.
Ruse the fair day at e'en.
"Commend not a thing or a project till it has had its full
effect."--_Kelly._
"It is not good praising the ford till a man be over."--_English._
Ruse the ford as ye find it.
Speak only of things as your experience has found them.
Rusted wi' eild, a wee piece gate seems lang.
Literally, decayed by age, a short road seems a very long one.
[Illustration]
Sae mony men, sae mony minds.
"Saft beddin's gude for sair banes," quo' Howie when he streekit himsel
on the midden-head.
"Saft's your horn, my friend," quo' the man when he grippit the cuddy's
lug.
"Sail," quo' the king: "Haud," quo' the wind.
Sair cravers are ill-payers.
"This proverb, and the reverse, viz., 'Ill payers are sore cravers,'
I have never yet seen fail."--_Kelly._
Sairs shouldna be sair handled.
That is, delicate or painful subjects should be cautiously alluded
to.
Sair wark and poortith downa weel be joined.
Sairy be your meal-pock, and aye your nieve i' the neuk o't.
An uncharitable saying, expressing literally a wish that the meal
bag may be empty when the hand is put in to take some.
"Saut," quo' the souter, when he had eaten a cow a' but the tail.
"Spoken to them that flag when they have almost finished a difficult
task."--_Kelly._
Save yoursel' frae the deil and the laird's bairns.
"A caution of poor people to their children, how they meddle with
their superiors; for, if they hurt the laird's bairns, they will be
sure to be punished, but, if hurt by them, they will get no
right."--_Kelly._
Saw thin, shear thin.
Saw wheat in dirt and rye in dust.
Saw ye that and shotna at it, and you sae gleg a gunner.
A satire upon a boaster who is telling of some extraordinary thing
which he pretends to have seen.
Say aye "No," and ye'll ne'er be married.
A jocular remark to a person who has refused something which has
been offered to him.
Saying gangs cheap.
"Talking pays nae toll."--_English._
Say weel and dae weel, end wi' ae letter: say weel is gude, but dae weel
is better.
Say what you will, an ill mind will turn't to ill.
Scant-o'-grace hears lang preachings.
Or, at least, thinks them so.
Scanty cheeks mak a lang nose.
Scart-the-cog wad sup mair.
To "scart the cog" is to scrape the inside of the dish.
Scorn comes wi' skaith.
Scornfu' dogs eat dirty puddin's.
"'Hout, fye--hout, fye--all nonsense and pride,' said the Laird of
Summertrees, 'scornful dogs will eat dirty puddings, cousin Crosbie.
Ye little ken what some of your friends were obliged to do yon time
for a sowp of brose or a bit of bannock.'"--_Redgauntlet._
Scorn not the bush ye get beild frae.
Scotsmen aye reckon frae an ill hour.
Scotsmen aye tak their mark frae a mischief.
That is, always reckon from the date of some untoward event, such as
a death, an accident, or a fire.
See for love and buy for siller.
Seein's believin' a' the world ower.
Seek muckle, and get something; seek little, and get naething.
Seek till you find, and ye'll never lose your labour.
Seek your sa' where you got your ail, and beg your barm where you buy
your ale.
The surly reply of a person who has been shunned for some trivial or
mistaken reason by one who is compelled by circumstances to apply to
him for information or assistance.
Seil ne'er comes till sorrow be awa.
Seldom ride tines his spurs.
Seldom seen, soon forgotten.
Self-praise comes aye stinking ben.
Self-praise is nae honour.
Sel, sel, has half-filled hell.
"Sel, sel," that is, the sin of selfishness.
Send a fool to France, and a fool he'll come back.
Send your gentle blude to the market, and see what it will buy.
A reproach upon those who boast of their gentle birth, but who
possess nothing of greater value.
Send your son to Ayr: if he do weel here, he'll do weel there.
Send you to the sea, and ye'll no get saut water.
"Spoken when people foolishly come short of their errand."--_Kelly._
Ser' yoursel', and your friends will think the mair o' ye.
An answer of those who are asked to do a favour when they would
rather not oblige.
Ser' yoursel' till your bairns come o' age.
Set a beggar on horseback, he'll ride to the deil.
Set a stout heart to a stey brae.
"Delay not,
And fray not,
And thou sall sie it say;
Sic gets ay,
That setts ay,
Stout stomaks to the brae."--_Cherrie and the Slae._
Set a thief to grip a thief.
Set him up and shute him forward.
"'A lord!' ejaculated the astonished Mrs Dods: 'a lord come down to
the Waal!--they will be neither to haud nor to bind now--ance wud
and aye waur--a lord!--set them up and shute them forward--a
lord!--the Lord have a care o' us!--a lord at the hottle! Maister
Touchwood, it's my mind he will only prove to be a Lord o'
Session.'"--_St Ronan's Well._
Set that doun on the backside o' your count-book.
That is, I have done you a service, see that you repay it.
Set your foot upon that, an' it winna loup in your face.
Shallow waters mak maist din.
"Shame fa' the couple," as the cow said to her fore feet.
Shame fa' the dog that, when he hunted you, didna gar you rin faster.
Shame fa' them that think shame to do themsels a gude turn.
Shame's past the shed o' your hair.
Sharp sauce gies a gude taste to sweetmeats.
She brak her elbow at the kirk door.
"Spoken of a thrifty maiden when she becomes a lazy wife."--_Kelly._
She frisks about like a cat's tail i' the sun.
She has an ill paut wi' her hind foot.
She has gi'en them green stockings.
Spoken when a young woman marries before her elder sisters.
She hauds up her gab like an aumos dish.
"And aye he gies the touzie drab
The tither skelpin' kiss,
While she held up her greedy gab
Just like an aumos dish."--_Burns._
She hauds up her head like a hen drinking water.
The two last sayings are applied to persons who behave in an
impudent or forward manner.
She'll keep her ain side o' the house, and gang up and down yours.
"Spoken to dissuade our friend from marrying a woman whom we suspect
to be too bold."--_Kelly._
She'll wear like a horseshoe, aye the langer the clearer.
She lookit at the moon, but lichtit i' the midden.
Applied to young women who have boasted, before marriage, of the
"fine match" which they will get, but who afterwards are allied to
common every-day people.
She looks as if butter wadna melt in her mou.
She looks like a leddy in a landward kirk.
This means that a person may appear very conspicuous on account of a
peculiar dress or manner.
She pined awa like Jenkin's hen.
"To die like _Jenkin's hen_ is to die an old maid."--_Jamieson._
She's a bad sitter that's aye in a flutter.
She's a drap o' my dearest blude.
She's a wise wife that wats her ain weird.
That is, who knows her own destiny.
She's better than she's bonny.
A Highlander, in speaking favourably of his wife, is reported to
have misquoted this, and characterized her as being "bonnier than
she was better."
She's black, but she has a sweet smack.
That is, she is not very beautiful, but she is rich.
She's dinket out, neb and feather.
"Dressed completely; from top to toe."--_Jamieson._
She's grown gatty that was ance a dautie.
She's no to be made a sang about.
"An abatement of a woman's commendation to beauty."--_Kelly._
She that fa's ower a strae's a tentless taupie.
She that gangs to the well wi' an ill will, either the pig breaks or the
water will spill.
She that taks a gift, hersel she sells; and she that gies ane, does
naething else.
She wadna hae the walkers, and the riders gaed by.
"It is recorded of a celebrated beauty, Becky Monteith, that being
asked how she had not made a good marriage, having replied, 'Ye see,
I wadna hae the walkers, and the riders gaed by.'"--_Ramsay's
Reminiscences._
Shod i' the cradle, and barefit i' the stubble.
Applied to people who dress out of keeping with their work.
Shored folk live lang, an' so may him ye ken o'.
"'Force our way with the king's keys, and break the neck of every
living soul we find in the house, if ye dinna gie it ower
forthwith!' menaced the incensed Hobbie. 'Threatened folks live
lang,' said the hag, in the same tone of irony; 'there's the iron
gate--try your skeel on't, lads--it has kept out as good men as you
or now.'"--_The Black Dwarf._
Short accounts mak lang friends.
Short rents mak careless tenants.
Shouther to shouther stands steel and pouther.
Show me the man and I'll show you the law.
Sic a man as thou wad be, draw thee to sic companie.
Sic as ye gie, sic will you get.
Sic faither, sic son.
Sic reek as is therein comes out o' the lum.
Sic things maun be if we sell ale.
"This was the good woman's reply to her husband when he complained
of the exciseman's too demonstrative gallantry."--_W. K. Kelly._
Silence and thought hurt nae man.
Silence grips the mouse.
Silly bairns are eith to lear.
Sins and debts are aye mair than we think them.
Sit down and rest you, and tell us how they drest you, and how you wan
awa.
A jocular way of asking a person about people whom he has been to
see.
Sit on your seat, and nane will rise you.
"Sit in your place, and none can make you rise."--_English._
Skill is nae burden.
Slander leaves a sair behint.
Slighted love is sair to bide.
Slipshod's no for a frozen road.
Slow at meat, slow at wark.
A reverse of this saying is common to many countries--"Quick at
meat, quick at work."
Sma' fish are better than nane.
Sma' winnings mak a heavy purse.
Smooth water rins deep.
"Tweed said to Till,
'What gars ye rin sae still?'
Till said to Tweed,
'Though ye rin sae wi' speed,
And I rin slaw,
Where ye drown ae man,
I drown twa.'"--_Berwickshire Rhyme._
Sober, neighbour! The night's but young yet.
A remonstrance with a person who is doing a thing too hurriedly,
signifying that there is plenty of time to spare for the purpose.
Sodgers, fire, and water soon mak room for themsels.
Some ane has tauld her she was bonny.
Some are gey drouthy, but ye're aye moistified.
An insinuation that a person is very much addicted to tippling.
"'Moistify,' a low word, generally used in a ludicrous sense in
regard to topers."--_Jamieson._
Some are only daft, but ye're red-wud raving.
Somebody may come to kame your hair wi' a cutty stool.
"Spoken by mothers to stubborn daughters, intimating they will come
under the hands of a stepmother, who, it is likely, will not deal
too tenderly with them."--_Kelly._
Some can stand the sword better than the pintstoup.
Some folk look up, and ithers look down.
And, we presume, the proverb would have the reader to understand
they prosper or fail accordingly.
Some fork low, but ye fork ower the mow.
That is, some people do not do their work sufficiently, but you
overdo it.
Some hae a hantel o' fauts, ye're only a ne'er-do-weel.
Some, though very bad, still have some redeeming qualities; the
party addressed has none.
Some hae hap, and some stick i' the gap.
Meaning that some have and some have not good fortune.
Some hae little sense, but ye're aye haverin'.
Some show a gliff o' the gowk, but ye're aye goavin.
To "show a gliff of the gowk" is to behave foolishly.
Some strake the measure o' justice, but ye gie't heapit.
Some tak a', but ye leave naething.
Some that hae least to dree are loudest wi' "waes me."
"Those who are least hurt cry loudest."--_English._
"So on and accordingly," quo' Willie Baird's doggie.
Soon enough if well enough.
Soon enough to cry "Chuck" when it's out o' the shell.
Soon gotten, soon spent.
Soon ripe, soon rotten.
"Soor plooms," quo' the tod when he couldna climb the tree.
Sorrow an' ill weather come unca'd.
Sorrow be on your hands that held sae well to your head.
An imprecation on a person who has surpassed another in an
undertaking.
Sorrow is soon enough when it comes.
Sorrow shake you out o' the wabster's handiwark.
Literally, sorrow shake you out of your clothes.
Sorrow's sib to a' body.
Souters and tailors count hours.
That is, tradesmen and commercial persons are aware of the value of
time.
Souters shouldna gae ayont their last.
Spare at the spigot, and let out at the bunghole.
"Spoken to them who are careful and penurious in some trifling
things, but neglective in the main chance."--_Kelly._
Spare to speak, spare to speed.
Spare weel and hae weel.
Spare when ye're young, and spend when ye're auld.
Speak gude of pipers, your faither was a fiddler.
Speak o' the deil and he'll appear.
Jocularly applied to a person who approaches those who have just
been inquiring for him.
Speak when ye're spoken to, and drink when ye're drucken to.
Speak when ye're spoken to, do what ye're bidden, come when ye're ca'd,
an' ye'll no be chidden.
A sharp remark to those who join in the conversation of others
unsolicited or impertinently.
Speir at Jock Thief if I be a leal man.
Spoken by rogues, who, when their respectability is questioned,
refer to persons equally bad.
"Ask my comrade, who is as great a liar as myself."--_French._
Spend, and God will send; spare, and be bare.
Spilt ale is waur than water.
Spit in your loof and haud fast.
This means, simply, take a firm hold of a thing.
Spit on a stane and it will be wat at last.
Stable the steed, and put your wife to bed when there's night wark to
do.
"'Am I no gaun to the ploy, then?' said Maggie, in a disappointed
tone. 'And what for should ye?' said her lord and master; 'to dance
a' night, I'se warrant, and no to be fit to walk your tae's-length
the morn, and we have ten Scots miles afore us? Na, na. Stable the
steed, and pit your wife to bed when there's night wark to
do.'"--_Redgauntlet._
Standers-by see mair than gamesters.
Staunin' dubs gather dirt.
"Standing pools gather filth."--_English._
Stay and drink o' your ain browst.
"Take a share of the mischief that you have occasioned."--_Kelly._
"But gae your wa's, Bessie, tak on ye,
And see wha'll tak care o' ye now;
E'en gae wi' the Bogle, my bonnie--
It's a browst your ain daffery did brew."--_Old Ballad._
Stay nae langer in a friend's house than ye're welcome.
Step by step climbs the hill.
Stickin' gangsna by strength, but by the right use o' the gully.
Stretching and gaunting bodes sleep to be wanting.
Strike as ye feed, and that's but soberly.
Strike the iron while it's hot.
Stuffing hauds out storms.
"Advising men to take some good thing before they travel in a bad
day."--_Kelly._
Sturt pays nae debt.
"Spoken with resentment to them who storm when we crave of them our
just debts."--_Kelly._
Sudden friendship's sure repentance.
Sue a beggar and gain a louse.
Sunday wooin' draws to ruin.
Supp'd out wort ne'er made gude ale.
"Spoken when one asks us for a drink of our wort, for what is drunk
in wort will never be ale, good or bad."--_Kelly._
Suppers kill mair than doctors cure.
Surfeits slay mair than swords.
Swear by your burnt shins.