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diff --git a/17448.txt b/17448.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b8a1507 --- /dev/null +++ b/17448.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2289 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Auld Doctor and other Poems and Songs +in Scots, by David Rorie + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Auld Doctor and other Poems and Songs in Scots + +Author: David Rorie + +Release Date: January 2, 2006 [EBook #17448] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AULD DOCTOR *** + + + + +Produced by Richard Bruce Gordon + + + + + +THE AULD DOCTOR AND OTHER POEMS AND SONGS IN SCOTS + +BY DAVID RORIE M.D. + + +NOTE +"The Lum Hat wantin' the Croon" is published, with music, by +Mr. R. W. Pentland, Edinburgh, and it also appears in The British +Students' Song Book along with "The Pawky Duke." This latter +first appeared in St. Andrews University Bazaar Book, and is +included in Seekers after a City. "Macfadden and Macfee" was +contributed to Aberdeen University Alma Mater, and has been +reprinted in Alma Mater Anthology. Various of the other verses +have appeared in The Edinburgh Medical Journal and The Caledonian +Medical Journal. +D. R. + +Not mine to let the hair grow long, and talk +In raptured accents of the Higher Things, +Of all the purple Polyanthus bears, +And beating wings. +(Oh no! Nothing of that sort!) + +Ne'er have I languished on the lower slopes +Of sweet Parnassus in the thrice-dead years, +Chanting in fathoms of the fathomless +To kindred ears. +(Certainly not! No time for it!) + +Nor mine the gift-O, gilded gift and grand! +To linger near the murmur of the Nine, +To mouth in music of the meaningless, +Nay! Never mine! +(That's so! Quite!) + +But here to han'le the auld crambo-clink +On hame-owre themes weel-kent by Galen's tribe, +Regairdless o' what ither fowk may think +Or ca' the scribe! +(Ay! That's aboot it noo!) + + + +CONTENTS + +THE AULD DOCTOR +THE CRAMBO-CLINK +THE LUM HAT WANTIN' THE CROON +THE PAWKY DUKE +MACFADDEN AND MACFEE +TAM AND THE LEECHES +THE HOWDIE +DAYLICHT HAS MONY EEN +THE BANE-SETTER +BRITHERS +THE CYNIC +THE NICHT THAT THE BAIRNIE CAM' HAME +HUMAN NATUR' +ANG-BANG-PANG +THE SPEESHALIST +ISIE +THE HYPOCHONDRIAC +THE AULD CARLE +THE FEE +HERE ABOOTS +DROGGIE +THE WEE DRAP +THE TRICKSTER + + +THE AULD DOCTOR. + +O' a' the jobs that sweat the sark +Gie me a kintra doctor's wark, +Ye ca' awa' frae dawn till dark, +Whate'er the weather be, O! + +Some tinkler wife is in the strae, +Your boots are owre the taps wi' clay +Through wadin' bog an' sklimmin' brae +The besom for to see, O! + +Ye ken auld Jock o' Windybarns? +The bull had near ca'ed oot his harns, +His een were blinkin' fu' o' starns, +An' doon they ran for me, O! + +There's ae guid wife, we're weel acquaint, +Nae trouble's kent but what she's taen't, +Yet aye she finds some new complaint, +O' which I hae the key, O! + +She's had some unco queer mishaps, +Wi' nervish wind and clean collapse, +An' naethin' does her guid but draps- +Guid draps o' barley-bree, O! + +I wouldna care a docken blade, +Gin her accoont she ever paid, +But while she gi'es me a' her trade, +There's ne'er a word o' fee, O! + +Then De'il hae a' thae girnin' wives, +There's ne'er a bairn they hae that thrives, +It's aye the kink-hoast or the hives +That's gaun to gar them dee, O! + +Tak' ony job ye like ava! +Tak' trade, the poopit or the law, +But gin ye're wise ye'll haud awa' +Frae medical degree, O! + + +THE CRAMBO-CLINK. + +Afore there was law to fleg us a', +An' schedule richt frae wrang, +The man o' the cave had got the crave +For the lichtsome lilt o' sang. +Wife an' strife an' the pride o' life, +Woman an' war an' drink; +He sang o' them a' at e'enin's fa' +By aid o' the crambo-clink. + +When the sharpest flint made the deepest dint, +An' the strongest worked his will, +He drew his tune frae the burnie's croon +An' the whistlin' win' o' the hill. +At the mou' o's cave to pleesure the lave, +He was singin' afore he could think, +An' the wife in bye hush'd the bairnie's cry +Wi' a swatch o' the crambo-clink. + +Nae creetic was there wi' superior air +For the singer wha daur decry +When they saw the sheen o' the makar's een, +An' his han' on his axe forbye? +But the nicht grew auld an' he never devaul'd +While ane by ane they would slink, +Awa' at a rin to their beds o' skin +Frae the soun' o' the crambo-clink. + + +THE LUM HAT WANTIN' THE CROON. + +The burn was big wi' spate, +An' there cam' tum'lin' doon +Tapsalteerie the half o' a gate, +Wi' an auld fish-hake an' a great muckle skate, +An' a lum hat wantin' the croon! + +The auld wife stude on the bank +As they gaed swirlin' roun', +She took a gude look an' syne says she: +"There's food an' there's firin' gaun to the sea, +An' a lum hat wantin' the croon!" + +Sae she gruppit the branch o' a saugh, +An' she kickit aff ane o' her shoon, +An' she stuck oot her fit-but it caught in the gate, +An' awa' she went wi' the great muckle skate, +An' the lum hat wantin' the croon! + +She floatit fu' mony a mile, +Past cottage an' village an' toon, +She'd an awfu' time astride o' the gate, +Though it seemed to gree fine wi' the great muckle skate, +An' the lum hat wantin' the croon! + +A fisher was walkin' the deck, +By the licht o' his pipe an' the mune, +When he sees an auld body astride o' a gate, +Come bobbin' alang in the waves wi' a skate, +An' a lum hat wantin' the croon! + +"There's a man overboord!" cries he, +"Ye leear!" says she, "I'll droon! +A man on a boord! It's a wife on a gate, +It's auld Mistress Mackintosh here wi' a skate, +An' a lum hat wantin' the croon!" + +Was she nippit to death at the Pole? +Has India bakit her broon? +I canna tell that, but whatever her fate, +I'll wager ye'll find it was shared by a skate, +An' a lum hat wantin' the croon! + +There's a moral attached to my sang, +On greed ye should aye gie a froon, +When ye think o' the wife that was lost for a gate, +An' auld fish-hake an' a great muckle skate, +An' a lum hat wantin' the croon! + + +THE PAWKY DUKE. + +[It is hoped that all Scottish characteristics known to the +Southron are here: pawkiness and pride of race; love of the +dram; redness of hair; eldership of, and objection to instrumental +music in the Kirk; hatred of the Sassenach; inability to see a joke, +etc., etc. An undying portrait is thus put on record of the typical +Scot of the day.] + +There aince was a very pawky duke, +Far kent for his joukery-pawkery, +Wha owned a hoose wi' a gran' outlook, +A gairden an' a rockery. +Hech mon! The pawky duke! +Hoot ay! An' a rockery! +For a bonnet laird wi' a sma' kailyaird +Is naethin' but a mockery! + +He dwalt far up a Heelant glen +Where the foamin' flood an' the crag is, +He dined each day on the usquebae +An' he washed it doon wi' haggis. +Hech mon! The pawky duke! +Hoot ay! An' a haggis! +For that's the way that the Heelanters dae +Whaur the foamin' flood an' the crag is! + +He wore a sporran an' a dirk, +An' a beard like besom bristles, +He was an elder o' the kirk +And he hated kists o' whistles! +Hech mon! The pawky duke! +An' doon on kists o' whistles! +They're a' reid-heidit fowk up North +Wi' beards like besom bristles! + +His hair was reid as ony rose, +His legs was lang an' bony, +He keepit a hoast an' a rubbin'-post +An' a buskit cockernony! +Hech mon! The pawky duke! +An' a buskit cockernony! +Ye ne'er will ken true Heelantmen +Wha'll own they hadna ony! + +An' if he met a Sassenach, +Attour in Caledonia, +He gart him lilt in a cotton kilt +Till he took an acute pneumonia! +Hech mon! The pawky duke! +An' a Sassenach wi' pneumonia! +He lat him feel that the Land o' the Leal +'S nae far frae Caledonia! + +Then aye afore he socht his bed +He danced the Gillie Callum, +An' wi's Kilmarnock owre his neb +What evil could befall him! +Hech mon! The pawky duke! +What evil could befall him? +When he cast his buits an' soopled his cuits +Wi' a gude-gaun Gillie Callum! + +But they brocht a joke, they did indeed, +Ae day for his eedification, +An' they needed to trephine his heid +Sae he deed o' the operation! +Hech mon! The pawky duke! +Wae's me for the operation! +For weel I wot this typical Scot +Was a michty loss to the nation! + + +MACFADDEN AND MACFEE. + +[This ballad is of great interest, and, as far as we know, has +not hitherto appeared in print. It is certainly not in Child's +Collection. It was taken down from the singing of an aged man of +105 years, in Glen Kennaquhair. Internal evidence would tend to +show that the incidents recorded in the ballad occurred in the +seventeenth century, and that Sir Walter Scott had heard at least +one verse of it. The aged singer-now, alas! no more-sang it to the +air of "Barbara Allen."] + +It was an' aboot the Lammas time, +In sixteen forty-three, sirs, +That there fell oot the awfu' fecht +'Twixt Macfadden an' Macfee, sirs. + +Macfadden, wha was gaun to kirk +Upon the morn's morn, +Had washed his kilt an' cleaned his dirk +An' combed his Sabbath sporran. + +An' bein' for the time o' year +Remarkably fine weather, +These articles o' dress were laid +To air upon the heather. + +Waes me! Macfee, while dandrin' owre +The bonnie braes o' Lorne, +Maun gang an' pit his muckle fit +Upon Macfadden's sporran. + +A piece o' carelessness like this +The brichtest heart would sadden, +An' when he saw the caitiff deed +It fair gaed owre Macfadden. + +For he was shavin' at the time, +An' when the sicht he saw, sir, +Wi' rage he shook an' nearly took +His neb aff wi' his raazor. + +A while he swore and staunched the gore +An' ere Macfee got ae lick, +Macfadden cursed him heid an' heels +In comprehensive Gaelic. + +Syne when his breath was a' but gane, +An' when he couldna say more, +He lat a muckle Heelant yell +An' at him wi' his claymore. + +What sweeter sound could warrior hear +Unless it was the daddin' +That echoed oot when'er Macfee +Got hame upon Macfadden? + +Nae sweeter soond I weel could ween, +Exceppin' it micht be, sirs, +The soond that hurtled oot when'er +Macfadden hit Macfee, sirs. + +An awfu' fecht it was to see, +A fecht baith fell an' dour, sirs, +For ere the tuilzie weel began +The glen was fu' o' stour, sirs. + +An awfu' fecht, again I say't, +And on each auld clay biggin', +The freends o' baith, like hoodie craws, +Were roostin' on the riggin'. + +And aye they buckled till't wi' birr; +In combat sair an' grievous, +They glanced like lightnin' up Strathyre +An' thundered doon Ben Nevis. + +Wha won the fecht, or whilk ane lost, +Was hid frae mortal e'e, sirs, +Nane saw the fearsome end o' baith +Macfadden an' Macfee, sirs. + +But still they say, at break o' day, +Upon the braes o' Lorne, +Ye'll hear the ghaistly rustlin' o' +Macfadden's Sabbath sporran. + + +TAM AND THE LEECHES. + +I. +Faith, there's a hantle queer complaints +To cheenge puir sinners into saints, +An' mony divers ways o' deein' +That doctors hae a chance o' seein'. +The Babylonian scartit bricks +To tell his doots o' Death's dark tricks, +The Roman kentna hoo 'twas farin' +Across the ferry rowed by Charon, +An' readin' doonwards through the ages +The tale's the same in a' their pages, +Eternal grum'lin' at the load +We hae to bear alang Life's road, +Yet, when we're fairly at the bit, +Awfu', maist awfu sweer to flit, +Praisin' the name o' ony drug +The doctor whispers in oor lug +As guaranteed to cure the evil, +To haud us here an' cheat the Deevil. +For gangrels, croochin' in the strae, +To leave this warld are oft as wae +As the prood laird o' mony an acre, +O' temporal things a keen partaker. + +II. +Noo a' this leads up to my tale +O' what befell puir Tam MacPhail, +A dacent miner chiel in Fife +Wha led a maist exemplar' life, +An' ne'er abused himsel' wi' liquor, +But took it canny-like an' siccar. +Aye when he cast his wet pit-breeks, +Tam had a gless that warm'd his cheeks; +For as it trickled owre his craigie, +He held it wardit aff lumbaigy. +It wasna that he liked the dram, +'Twas pure needcessity wi' Tam! +But twa years syne-or was it three?- +Tam thocht that he was gaun to dee, +An' Faith! they've often gar'd me grew +By tellin' what I'll tell to you. + +III. +The early tatties had come in +When Tammas's besettin' sin, +A love o' a' this warld's gude things +An' a' the pleesures eatin' brings, +Gar'd him hae sic a bad mischeef +It fleggit him ayont belief! +Pay-Saturday it was, I mind, +An' Jean, intendin' to be kind, +Had biled the firstlins o' her yaird +(For naethin' else Tam wud hae sair'd), +Sae when they cam' frae Jean's clean pat, +Altho' they seemed a trifle wat, +Tam in his hunger ate a meal +That wud hae staw'd the big black Deil, +Syne at his cutty had a draw, +Syne gantit wi' wide-open jaw, +An' aince his heid was on the cod, +He sune was in the land o' Nod. + +IV. +But when the knock had chappit four +Tam had to rise an' get attour, +For in his bed he couldna' bide +He'd sic a steer in his inside! +The granes o'm waukent faithfu' Jean. +An' then began a bonny scene! +A parritch poultice first she tries, +Het plates on plates she multiplies, +But ilka time his puddens rum'les +A' owre the place Tam rows an' tum'les, +For men in sic-like situations, +Gude kens hae gey sma' stock o' patience! +Yet fast the pain grows diabolic, +A reg'lar, riving, ragin' colic, +A loupin', gowpin', stoondin' pain +That gars the sweat hail doon like rain. +Whiles Tam gangs dancin' owre the flair, +Whiles cheeky-on intil a chair, +Whiles some sma' comfort he achieves +By brizzin' hard wi' baith his nieves; +In a' his toilsome tack o' life +Ne'er had he kent sic inward strife, +For while he couldna' sit, forbye +Like Washington he couldna' lie! + +V. +Noo, at lang last his guts was rackit +Till Tam was bullerin' fair distrackit, +An' sune wi' roar succeedin' roar +He fosh in a' the fowk neist door, +An' ane o' them-auld Girsie Broon- +She ran an' brocht the doctor doon, +Wha hurried in a' oot o' breath, +For Girsie said 'twas life or death! +The doctor oxter'd Tam till's bed, +Fingert his wame an shook his head; +"We who pursue the healing art, +See youth commence and age depart, +Pills we prescribe and pulses feel, +Your systems know from scalp to heel! +And here? Potato indigestion, +Of that there's not the slightest question, +While, what my great experience teaches +Is most relief is got from leeches."- +"Awa'," yells Tam, "fesh hauf a dizzen! +O haste ye, ere I loss my rizzon!" +Sae aff gangs wullin' Girsie Broon, +To wauk the druggist wast the toon. + +VI. +Noo, Droggie had an awfu' stock, +Tobacco, wreetin' paper, rock, +A' kin' o' wersh tongue-twistin' drinks, +A' kin' o' Oriental stinks, +The best cod liver ile emulsions, +Wee poothers that could cure convulsions, +Famed Peter Puffer's soothin' syrup, +An' stuff to gar canaries chirrup. +He'd toothache tinctur's, cures for corns, +Pomades to gar hair grow on horns, +He'd stuff for healin' beelin' lugs, +He'd stuff for suffocatin' bugs, +He'd stuff for feshin' up your denners, +Against your wull an' a' gude menners, +A' kin' o' queer cahoochy goods +To suit the system's varyin' moods, +Wi' navvies' operatin' peels, +Sookers for bairns an' fishin' reels, +In fac'-but losh! I'd better stop, +The mannie kep' a druggist's shop! +An' in his bauchles an' his breeches +Cam' grum'lin' doon to get the leeches +While, nearly scunnert wi' their squirmin', +Aff hirples Girsie wi' the vermin. + +VII. +An' noo, my billies, draw a veil, +Till mornin's licht, owre Tam Macphail, +Till aince again the doctor cam' +To see what cheenge was wrocht in Tam. +'Twas nine o'clock he stapt in-bye, +Relieved to hear nae waesome cry. +"Well, well, Macphail!" the doctor says, +"My treatment's worthy of all praise! +I left you-why 'twas like a riot! +I see you now, contented, quiet. +Far, very far, our knowledge reaches! +How did you get on with the leeches?" +Tam ne'er replied, but turn'd his back, +Wi' tearful een 'twas Jean wha spak, +"Eh, Doctor! -Sic an awfu' cure +I ne'er saw gi'en to rich or puir, +For when we saw the ugsome beasts +It gart the herts rise in our breists! +But Tam, wha tak's your word for law, +Juist swalla'd doon the first pair raw! +Yet try's he micht, an' sair he tried, +He had to hae the last four fried!" +The doctor turn'd him on his heel, +An' though puir Tam looked rale no-weel, +He couldna trust himsel' to speak, +The tears were rinnin' doon his cheek, +An' a' that day was sair forfaughen +Wi' tryin' to haud himsel' frae lauchin'! + +VIII. +Whate'er wi' Tam ye chance to crack on, +There's ae thing ye maun ne'er gang back on. +Freely he'll talk on politics, +The weather an' its dirty tricks, +On wages an' the price o' coal +Or things conneckit wi' the soul, +On hoo the meenister's a leear +An' medical advice owre dear, +But if the crack warks roond to leeches, +Puir Tam pits doon his pipe an' retches! + + +THE HOWDIE. + +'Twas in a wee bit but-an'-ben +She bade when first I kent her, +Doon the side roadie by the kirk +Whaur Andra was precentor. + +An' a' the week he keepit thrang +At's wark as village thatcher, +Whiles sairly fashed by women folk, +Wi' "Hurry up an' catch her!" + +Nae books e'er ravel't Tibbie's harns, +Nae college lear had reached her, +An' a' she kent aboot her job +Her ain experience teached her. + +To this cauld warld in fifty year +She'd fosh near auchteen hunner. +Losh keep's! When a' thing's said an' dune, +The cratur' was a won'er! + +A' gate she'd traivelled day an' nicht, +A' kin' o' orra weather +Had seen her trampin' on the road, +Or trailin' through the heather. + +But Time had set her pechin' sair, +As on his way he birled; +The body startit failin' fast +An' gettin' auld an' nirled. + +An' syne, to weet the bairnie's heid +Owre muckle, whiles, they'd gie her; +But noo she's deid-ay, mony a year- +An' Andra's sleepin' wi' her. + + +DAYLICHT HAS MONY EEN. + +O! can'le licht's baith braw and bricht +At e'en when bars are drawn, +But can'le licht's a dowie sicht +When dwinin' i' the dawn. +Yet dawn can bring nae wearier day +Than I hae dree'd yestre'en, +An' comin' day may licht my way- +Daylicht has mony een. + +Noo, daylicht's fairly creepin' in, +I hear the auld cock craw; +Fu' aft I've banned him for his din, +An' wauk'nin' o' us a'! +But welcome noo's his lichtsome cry +Sin' bed-fast I ha'e been, +It tells anither nicht's gane by- +Daylicht has mony een. + +O! bed-fast men are weary men, +Laid by frae a' their wark; +Hoo thocht can kill ye ne'er will ken +Till tholin' 't in the dark. +But ere nicht fa's I'll maybe see +What yet I hinna seen, +A land whaur mirk can never be- +Daylicht has mony een. + + +THE BANE-SETTER. + +Oor Jock's gude mither's second man +At banes was unco skilly; +It cam' by heirskep frae an aunt, +Leeb Tod o' Nether Tillie. +An' when he thocht to sough awa', +He sent for Jock, ay did he, +An' wulled him the bane-doctorin', +Wi' a' the lave o's smiddy. + +A braw doon-settin' 'twas for Jock, +An' for a while it paid him, +For wi's great muckle nieves like mells +He pit in banes wi' smeddum. +Ay! mony a bane he snappit in +At elbuck, thee, an' shouther; +Gin ony wouldna gang his gait, +Jock dang them a' to poother. + +Noo, smiddy wark's a droothy job, +Sae whiles Jock wat his whustle, +When wi' a horse-shoe or a bane +He'd held some unco tussle. +But even though miracklous whiles, +It mattered nane whativer, +For whaur's the body disna ken +A drucken doctor's cliver? + +Ae nicht when Jock was gey weel on, +An' warslin' wi' some shoein', +They brocht a bane case intil him +That proved puir Jock's undoin', +A cadger wi' an auld cork leg, +An' fou as Jock or fouer, +Wha swore that o' his lower limb +He'd fairly lost the pooer. + +Jock fin's the leg, an' shaks his heid, +Syne tells the man richt solemn, +"Your knee-pan's slippit up your thee +Aside your spinal column; +But gin ye'll tak a seat owre here, +An' lat them haud ye ticht, man, +I'se warrant for a quart o' beer +I'll quickly hae ye richt, man." + +Jock yokit noo wi' rale guid wull +To better the condeetion, +While Corkie swore he had his leg +Ca'd a' to crockaneetion. +Jock banned the lamp-"'twas in his een"- +An' deaved wi' Corkie's granin', +Quo' he, "Gin ye'll pit oot the licht +I'll gey sune pit the bane in!" + +Oot went the licht, Jock got his grup, +He yarkit an' he ruggit, +He doobled up puir Corkie's leg, +Syne strauchtened it an' tuggit. +An' while that baith the twa o' them +Were sayin' some orra wordies, +Auld Corkie's leg, wi' hauf o's breeks, +Cam' clean aff at the hurdies. + +Jock swat wi' fear, an' in the dark +He crep' attour the smiddy, +For, weel-a-wat, he thocht his wark +Would land him on the widdy. +An' wi' the leg he ran till's hoose, +Just half way doon the clachan, +His cronies oxterin' Corkie oot, +An' nearly deein' o' lauchin'. + +But at Jock's door they stude an hour, +An' vainly kicked an' knockit, +Sin' Jock, in a' the fear o' death, +Had got it barred an' lockit. +An' 'twas na till the neist forenune +They fand the leg, weel hidden, +For Jock was oot afore daylicht +An' stuck it in the midden. + +This feenished Jock, an' efter han' +He buckled til his ain wark, +For sune a' owre the kintra-side +They kent aboot his bane wark, +An' hoo a law-wer fleggit Jock +At Corkie's instigation, +An' gart him pay a five-pun' note +By way o' compensation. + +Ne sutor ultra crepidam +Is gude enough for maist o's, +For aye there's wark that's bude to get +The better o' the best o's. +An' just as doctors canna shoe +Or haud a hin' leg stiddy, +Ye needa seek for surgery +Inside a country smiddy. + + +BRITHERS. + +'Twas up at the tree near the heid o' the glen +I keppit a tinkler chiel, +The cauld wind whistled his auld duds through, +He was waesomely doon at the heel; +But he made me free o' his company, +For he kent that I wished him weel. + +He lookit me fairly 'tween the een, +He cam' o' an auncient clan; +He gae me gude-day in a freendly way, +While he spak me man to man, +Though my gibbles were a' for the human frame +An' his for kettle an' pan. + +"Ye're oot i' the warst that the weather can dae, +Ye're free o' the road, like me, +I palmer aboot for kettles to cloot, +Wi' an orra-like weird to dree; +An' oor job's to men' whativer'll men', +Wi' luck to fix oor fee! + +Brithers baith o' the auld high road- +Yet the Deil hae General Wade +For learnin's the shauchle instead o' the step +Wi' the weary wark o' his spade, +Till the Jew an' the Sassenach lord it noo +Owre the hills whaur the heroes gaed!" + +"O, gang ye East," quo' I, "or Wast, +Or whither awa' gang ye? +Will ye come to a hoose whaur a gude man bides, +For a tastin' o' barley bree? +Ye can howk i' the kebbuck an' howk again +As lang as there's kebbuck to pree. + +Or seek ye a saxpence to slocken your drooth? +Ye needna be langer in doot; +Ye can hae a bit hurl to help ye on, +An' I'll get ye a pan to cloot. +I'se warrant I'll freely lat ye in, +An' as freely lat ye oot." + +A tuft o' the broom was knotted wi' tow, +An' a rag on't fluttered free, +While he shook his heid owre some ferlies there, +That I'm bathered if I could see, +Though I kent my soul was sib to his +In a queer free-masonry. + +"The wife's a mile on the road afore's, +An' the bairnies farther still; +I canna keep tryst wi' doctor folk, +But I'll borrow the price o' a gill, +An' I'll pay ye back when we've finished oor tack +O' a' that's gude an' ill." + +He spat on the siller an' pooched it syne, +An' quately winked an e'e; +"The road's a bond that we canna deny, +An' its linkit you an' me +In the kindly yoke o' the gaun-about folk, +Whauriver they chance to be!" + +On the bowl o's cutty he scartit a spunk, +An' he leggit it doon the wind; +Gin his claes would hae fleggit a bubbly-jock, +Guid Lord! he'd an easy mind! +An' oor forebears maybe were near-hand freen's +For a' that I can find. + + +THE CYNIC. + +Cauld blew the blast frae East to Wast, +A blast wi' a smirr o' snaw, +An' it took the doctor's guid lum hat +Richt owre the kirk-yaird wa'. +When he sichtit it he dichtit it, +An' he glowred wi' an angry e'e- +For says auld Jock Smairt, wha was passin' wi' his cairt: +"Ye've a gey gude crap," says he. + +Cauld blew the blast frae East to Wast, +A blast baith snell an' keen, +An' the washin' o' the clarty wife +Sailed aff the washin' green, +An' it landit on the midden-heid, +Whaur nae washin' ought to be- +An' says auld jock Smairt, wha was passin' wi' his cairt: +"Weel, hame's aye hame," says he. + +Cauld blew the blast frae East to Wast, +An' it gart the deid leaves loup, +An' it set the shoothers heicher yet +O' the gaithrin' at the roup; +An' stour filled the een o' the unctioneer, +Till the cratur' couldna see; +An' says auld Jock Smairt, wha was passin' wi' his cairt: +"Turn aboot's fair play," says he. + +Cauld blew the blast frae East to Wast, +An' the rein catched the grey mear's tail, +An' her heels to save her hin'er en' +Gaed lashin' like a flail. +An' the haill apotheck lay in spails, +As the grey mear warsled free; +An' when auld Jock Smairt saw the fashion o' his cairt: +"Wha's seekin' ony spunks?" says he. + + +THE NICHT THAT THE BAIRNIE CAM' HAME. + +I was gaun to my supper richt hungert an' tired, +A' day I'd been hard at the pleugh; +The snaw wi' the dark'nin' was fast dingin' on, +An' the win' had a coorse kin' o' sough. +'Twas a cheery like sicht as the bonny fire-licht +Gar't the winnock play flicker wi' flame; +But my supper was "Aff for the doctor at aince!" +That nicht that the bairnie cam' hame. + +Noo, I kent there was somethin' o' that sort to be, +An' I'd had my ain thochts, tae, aboot it; +Sae when my gude-mither had tel't me to flee, +Fegs, it wisna my pairt for to doot it. +Wi' a new pair o' buits that was pinchin' like sin, +In a mile I was hirplin' deid lame; +'Twas the warst nicht o' a' that I ever pit in, +That nicht that the bairnie cam' hame. + +I'd a gude seeven mile o' a fecht wi' the snaw, +An the road was near smoort oot wi' drift; +While the maister at market had got on the ba', +Sae I'd tint my ae chance o' a lift. +When I passed the auld inn as I cam' owre the hill, +Although I was mebbe to blame, +I bude to gang in-bye an' swallow a gill, +That nicht that the bairnie cam' hame. + +"Gude be thankit!" says I, at the doctor's front door, +As I pu'd like mischeef at the bell; +But my he'rt gae a dunt at the story that runt +O' a hoose-keeper body'd to tell. +The man wasna in? He was at the big hoose? +A sick dwam cam' richt owre my wame. +Hoo the deevil was I to get haud o' him noo, +That nicht that the bairnie cam' hame? + +The doctor was spendin' the nicht at the laird's, +For the leddy, ye see, was expeckin'; +A feckless bit cratur, weel-meanin' an' a', +Though she ne'er got ayont the doo's cleckin'. +It's them that should hae them that hinna eneugh, +Fegs, lads, it's a damnable shame! +Here's me wi' a dizzen, and aye at the pleugh +Sin' that nicht that the bairnie cam' hame! + +What was I to dae? I was at my wits' en', +For Tibbie the howdie was fou, +An' e'en had I got her to traivel the road +What use was she mair than the soo? +I was switin' wi' fear though my fingers was cauld, +An' my taes they were muckle the same; +Man, my feet was that sair I was creepin' twa-fauld +That nicht that the bairnie cam' hame. + +Three hoors an' a hauf sin' I startit awa', +An Deil faurer forrit was I! +Govy-ding! It's nae mows for the heid o' the hoose +When the mistress has yokit to cry! +A set o' mis-chanters like what I'd come through +The strongest o' spirits would tame, +I was ettlin' to greet as I stude in the street +That nicht that the bairnie cam' hame! + +But a voice that I kent soondit richt in my lug, +Frae my he'rt it fair lifted a load +As I tells him my story, for wha should he be +But the factor's son hame frae abroad. +"It's a brute of a night, but to doctor's my trade, +If ye'll have me, my laddie, I'm game!" +An' he druve his ain trap seeven mile through the snaw +That nicht that the bairnie cam' hame. + +Ay! an' cracked like a pen-gun the hail o' the road +An' though I was prooder than ask, +When he fand I was grewsin' awa' at his side +He filled me near fou frae his flask. +Syne when a' thing was owre an' I gruppit his han' +Says the wife, "We maun gie him the name!" +An' there's aye been a gude word for him i' the hoose +Sin' the nicht that the bairnie cam' hame. + + +HUMAN NATUR'. + +As I gang roon' the kintra-side +Amang the young an' auld, +I marvel at the things I see +An' a' the lees I'm tauld. +There's Mistress-weel, I winna say: +I wadna hurt her pride,- +But speerits hae a guff, gude-wife, +Nae peppermints can hide. + +Then there's the carle I said maun bide +In bed or I cam' back, +An' frae the road I saw him fine +Gang dodgin' roond a stack; +I heard him pechin' up the stair +As I cam' in the door- +But Faith! My lad was in his bed +An' ettlin' for to snore. + +An' here's a chap that needs a peel, +He chaws it roon' an' roon', +He's narra' i' the swalla', an' +He canna get it doon. +Yet whiles his swalla's wide eneuch, +The muckle ne'er-dae-weel, +Gin it had aye been narra'er +He hadna nott the peel. + +Ye tend them a', baith great an' sma', +Frae cradle to the grave, +An' add to sorrows o' your ain +The tribbles o' the lave, +An' yet ye find they're a' the same, +When human natur's watched, +It's no' ill deeds they haud as wrang- +The sin o't 's when they're catched. + + +ANG-BANG-PANG. + +O hae ye heard the latest news +O' Mistress Mucklewame? +Her doctor hadna pickit up +Her trouble here at hame, +Sae they took her tae a speeshalist +To fin' oot what was wrang, +An' it seems noo a' the bother +Has been ang-bang-pang. + +Faith, in the marriage market then +Her man's had little luck, +She's just a muckle creishy lump +That waddles like a juck; +But the nerves gaun through her body's +Been the trouble a' alang, +An' its complicated noo, ye see, +By ang-bang-pang. + +I've aye held oot oor doctor +Was a skeely man afore, +But I'll never lat the cratur noo +A stap inside the door! +A' up an' doon the parish +It has made a bonny sang, +That he didna ken his neebor's wife +Had ang-bang-pang. + +They've pit her in hot water baths +To lat the body steep, +They're feedin' her on tablets +Frae the puddens o' a sheep, +They're talkin' o' a foreign spaw +Upon the continang, +They think they'll maybe cure her there +O' ang-bang-pang. + +There's mony ways o' deein' that +Oor faithers didna ken, +For ae way foond in "Buchan," noo +The doctors gie us ten; +But I hope to a' the Pooers abune +Auld Death may be owre thrang +To come an' smoor my vital spark +Wi' ang-bang-pang. + + +THE SPEESHALIST. + +Saturday Night. + +Noo, ye'll no' tak' it ill o' me, Mistress Macqueen, +For ye ken ye are juist a young kimmer, +An' I am a mither that's beerit fourteen, +An' forty year mairrit come simmer; +When ye see your bit bairnie there drawin' up her knees, +Wi' grups in her little interior, +Juist gie her a nip o' a gude yalla cheese, +An' ye'll find that there's naethin' superior! + +The doctor had said that ye shouldna row'r ticht, +Ye should aye gie the wee cratur's belly scope? +Awa' wi' the lang-leggit lum-hattit fricht +Wi' his specks an' his wee widden tellyscope! +What kens he o' littlens? He's nane o' his ain, +If she greets it juist keeps the hoose cheerier, +See! THAT was the wey I did a' my fourteen, +An' ye'll find that there's naethin' superior! + +I tell ye, noo, warkin' fowk canna draw breath, +What wi' sanitries, cruelties, an' bobbies, +An' the doctors would pit ye in fair fear o' death +Wi' their blethers o' German macrobbies! +I've been at their lectures on health an' High Jean, +Gude kens that I niver was wearier! +Use your ain commonsense when ye're treating' your wean, +An' ye'll find that there's naethin' superior! + +Sunday Morning. + +She's awa'? Weel, ma wumman, I thocht that mysel', +When I saw your blind doon frae our corner, +An', says I, "I'll juist tak' a step upbye an' tell +Twa or three things its better to warn her." +'Twas the doctor's negleck o'r, the auld nosey-wax! +There's naethin' to dae noo, but beery her, +Tammy Chips mak's a kist here at seeven-an'-sax, +An' ye'll find that there's naethin' superior! + + +ISIE. + +The wife she was ailin', the doctor was ca'ed, +She was makkin' eneuch din for twa, +While Peter was suppin' his brose at the fire, +No' heedin' the cratur' ava. +"Eh, doctor! My back's fair awa' wi' it noo, +It was rackit the day spreadin' dung; +Hae Peter! Come owre wi' the lamp, like a man, +Till the doctor can look at my tongue!" + +But Peter had bade wi' her near forty year, +Fine acquaint wi' her weel-soopled jaw, +Sae he lowsed his tap button for ease till his wame, +Wi' a gant at the wag-at-the-wa'. +"Weel Isie," says he, "an' it's me that should ken, +That's the ae place ye niver hae cramp. +The lamp's bidin' here: if he's seekin' a sicht +O' yer tongue he can pull't to the lamp!" + + +THE HYPOCHONDRIAC. + +I dinna ken what is the maitter wi' Jeams, +He canna get sleepit at nicht for his dreams, +An' aye when he waukens he granes and he screams +Till he fair pits the shakers on me! + +Can ye no mak' up somethin' to gie him a sleep? +I'm tellin' ye, doctor, he gars my flesh creep, +Till I'm that fu' o' nerves that the verra least cheep +Noo juist fair pits the shakers on me! + +Wi' his meat he was aince a man easy to please, +But last Sabbath he flang the fried ingans an' cheese +That I had for his supper richt into the bleeze, +An' he fair pit the shakers on me! + +Then he sat in the ingle an' chowed bogie-roll, +An' read "Jowler's Sermons" an' talked o' his soul, +Faith! conduc' o' that sort's no' easy to thole, +For it fair pits the shakers on me! + +He's plenty o' siller, ye're sure o' your fee, +Just gie him a soondin', an' gin he's to dee, +Come oot wi' the truth-dinna fash for a lee, +It'll no' pit the shakers on me! + +What! Juist heepocondry? Nocht wrang wi his chest? +The Deil flee awa' wi' the man for a pest! +To think o' me lossin' sae mony nichts' rest +An' him pittin' the shakers on me! + +Ay, though he may rout like the bull in the park, +I'se warrant the morn he's on wi' his sark, +An' aff wi' the rest o' the men till his wark, +An' he'll no' pit the shakers on me! + + +THE AULD CARLE. + +The auld man had a girnin' wife, +An' she was aye compleenin', +For a' kin' o' orra things +The body aye was greenin'. +It's "I'll try this," and "I'll try that," +At ilka adverteesement, +She flang his siller richt an' left +An' niver got nae easement. + +The carle he led sic a life, +The haill thing was a scunner, +Sae ae braw day his birse was up, +He fairly roondit on her. +"Ye're aye gaun to dee, gude-wife- +Fowre nichts I hinna sleepit, +Gin it's to be, I wush to peace +Ye'd set a day an' keep it!" + +Wow! noo there was a tirravee! +An angry wife was she, than! +"An' is it no' my ain affair +The day I'm gaun to dee, than! +Aha! ye think ye'll tryst the wricht +An' rid him o' his timmer? +Syne haud anither waddin' wi' +Some feckless, thowless limmer!" + +Awyte, but noo she's fu' o' life +She's ta'en anither tack o't! +An' aye that she flees oot on him +His words is at the back o't! +Sae keep your tongue atween your teeth +When ettlin' to be cliver, +Ense ye'll be like the auld carle +An' en' waur aff than iver! + + +THE FEE. + +In the heicht o' the foray +Sir Raif got a clour, +Sir Raif the regairdless, +In battle sae dour. +O cleanly the saddle +They ca'ed him attour! + +Then aid for his wounds +He did sairly beseech, +An' aff to the greenwood +In shade o' a beech +They hurried auld Simon +The kintra-side's leech. + +Wi' a tow roon' his neck +Simon knelt on his knee, +An' he saw as he glow'red +Wi' the tail o' his e'e +That armed men held it +Owre bough o' the tree. + +"Noo, Simon, to heal +Is your trade, no' to kill," +Quo' Sir Raif, "An' though, mark ye, +We dootna your skill, +Grup the tow, knaves! If need be +Pull up wi' a will!" + +"But what o' my fee, +Noo I ask ye, Sir Raif ?" +"Gin I live, Master Simon, +I'll wager it's safe! +There! Laugh not, ye villains, +His neck ye may chafe!" + +O stanched was the blue blude +That ran on the grass, +Sae eident was Simon +His skill to surpass, +Sir Raif was in fair way +His foes to harass. + +An' the fee they gae Simon +The tale is aye rife- +For fittin' Sir Raif +To wield sword i' the strife? +'Twas the greatest e'er gi'en- +For they gae him his life! + + +HERE ABOOTS. + +Doon in the placie I hae my hame +We're an ill-daein' pack o' deils, +For ilk ane gangs a gait o' his ain +An the lave play yap at his heels. +It's argy-bargy-awfu' wark! +An' whiles we come to blows +Till a man's ill-natur' lappers his sark +As it sypes awa' frae his nose. + +The rizzon o't's no' far to seek, +I'll tell ye plump an' plain, +We ken oor neebours' business best- +The Deil may hae oor ain! +The wricht's a billy for settin' banes, +The meenister deals in pills, +The doctor thinks his gift's to preach +An' the pollisman mak's oor wills! + +There's whiles I think we're waur than maist, +There's whiles I dinna ken, +A raw o' neeps is no' a' like +An' why look for't in men? +Sae gin ye get your birse set up +By some dour cankert carle, +Content yersel'! For min' it tak's +A' kin's to mak' a warl'! + + +DROGGIE. + +Yersel' is't? Imphm! Man that's bad! +A kin' o' thinness o' the blude? +Gaed aff las' nicht intil a dwam? +Keep's a'! But that's rale nesty, Tam! +An' lossin' taste noo for the dram? +(An' may it dae ye muckle gude!) + +Noo! See the libel! "Thrice a day +A tablespunefu' efter food." +Drogues is nae better than they're ca'ed? +Some drumlie-like? Losh! ye're a lad! +The taste'll be byordnar' bad? +(An' may it dae ye muckle gude!) + +Weel, here's your mixtur'-auchteen pence, +I'd mak' it cheaper gin I could. +For beast or body maist fowk ken +Best's cheapest at the hin'er en', +An' on my drogues ye may depen'. +(An' may they dae ye muckle gude!) + +Forgot your siller? Hae ye though? +Ye're in a richt forgetfu' mood! +Gie't ye on tick? I ken ye fine? +An' whustle on my fingers, syne! +Lat's see that bottle! Here's your line! +(An' may it dae ye muckle gude!) + + +THE WEE DRAP. + +He's a muckle man, Sandy, he's mair nor sax fit +A size that's no' handy for wark i' the pit, +But frae a' bad mis-chanters he'd aye keepit free +Excep'in' that nicht he'd a fire in his e'e. + +He was lyin' an' holin' at wark at the face, +For the gaffer had gi'en him a gey dirty place, +Sae while i' the gloamin' I sat owre my tea +He lowsed an' cam' hame wi' a fire in his e'e. + +Ae wife says "Saut butter," ane "Sugar o' leed," + An' anither says "Poultice the back o' your heid!" +He first tried them singly an' syne tried a' three, +But sairer an' sairer got Sandy's sair e'e. + +Wi's heid in blue flannen (he couldna stan' licht) +I'se warrant he lookit a bonny like sicht, +Till dang near deleerit, as hard's he could flee, +Eck ran to the smiddy for ease till his e'e. + +The smith was a billy wha cam' frae the sooth, +An' was awful sair fashed wi' a sutten-doon drooth. +He claimed half a mutchkin as fore-handit fee, +An' syne yokit howkin' in Sandy's sair e'e. + +The p'int o' his gully, an' sleeve o' his sark +Was a' the smith's gibbles for surgical wark. +For ae fire extrackit the smith pit in three, +Till Eck was fair rackit wi' pain in his e'e. + +At last to the doctor he gangs daft wi' pain, +An' gets a gude sweerin' an' syne some cocaine. +The fire was ta'en oot then, to Sandy's great glee, +An' he spent the neist week wi' a drap in his e'e. + + +THE TRICKSTER. + +'Twas the turn o' the nicht when a' was quate +An' niver a licht to see, +That Death cam' stappin' the clachan through +As the kirk knock chappit three. + +An' even forrit he keepit the road, +Nor lookin' to either side, +But heidin' straucht for the eastmost hoose +Whaur an auld wife used to bide. + +Wi' ae lang stride he passed her door, +Nor sign he niver gae nane, +Save pu'in' a sprig o' the rowan tree +To flick on her window pane. + +"An' is this to be a' my warnin', Death? +I'm fourscore year an' four, +Yet niver a drogue has crossed my lips +Nor a doctor crossed my door." + +"I dinna seek to be forcy, wife, +But I hinna a meenute to tyne, +An' ye see ye're due for a transfer noo +To the Session books frae mine." + +"At ilka cryin' I'm handy wife, +Wi' herbs I hae trokit awa', +An' weel ye may dae's a gude turnie, lad, +That's dune ye ane or twa!" + +"At the hin'er en' Fair Hornie then! +Fair Hornie lat it be! +An' Govy-dick! ye can tak your pick +O' the ways fowk chance to dee!" + +He rattled them owre till weel on fowre +An' the cock gae signs o' life, +On ilka ill he spak' his fill- +But nane o' them pleased the wife. + +"Wi' siccan a ch'ice ye're unco nice! +Hoots! came awa woman!" says Death, +"Gin ye canna wale ane o' the fancy kin's, +What think ye o' 'Want o' breath?'" + +Noo, Faith! the auld jade was a humoursome taed, +As an auld wife weel can be, +An' she leugh sae sair at his fleechin' air +It fairly gar't her dee! + +Wi' a gey teuch sinon in your neck +Ye'll lang keep clear o' skaith, +But the craftiest carle in a' the warl', +An' the kin'liest whiles, is Death. + + + +GLOSSARY + +A +acquaint, acquainted. +ae, one. +aff, off. +afore, before. +a'gate, everywhere. +ain, own. +aince, once. +ang-bang-pang, embonpoint. +argy-bargy, argument. +attour, out, over. +auld, old. +ava', at all. +awa', away; fair awa' wi' it, fairly done for. +awyte, an affirmative exclamation. +ayont, beyond. + +B +Ba', ball; to get on the ba', to go on a jollification, to get drunk. +bade, stayed. +bairnie, child. +baith, both. +bane-doctorin', bone-setting. +banned, cursed. +barley-bree, whisky. +bathered, bothered. +bauchles, old shoes, slippers. +bedfast, bed-ridden. +beelin', suppurating. +beerit, buried. +besom, broom; a woman of loose character. +bide, stay. +biggin', building. +biled, boiled. +billy, fellow. +birled, moved quickly. +birr, vigour, force. +birse, bristle; to get one's birse set up, to get in a rage. +bit, at the bit, at the finish. +bleeze, blaze, fire. +blude, blood. +body, person; beast or body, beast or man. +bogie-roll, Irish twist tobacco. +bonnet-laird, small proprietor. +braw, beautiful. +breeks, breeches. +brithers, brothers. +brizzin', pressing. +brose, oatmeal mixed with water. +bubbly-jock, turkey. +Buchan, Buchan's "Domestic Medicine." +bude, behoved. +buits, boots. +bullerin', roaring. +buskit, dressed. +but-an-ben, two-roomed cottage. +byordnar, extraordinary. + +C +ca', call; work. +cahoochy, india-rubber. +cankert, ill-natured. +canny-like, gently. +carle, old man. +chappit, struck. +cheeky-on, sideways. +cheenge, change. +cheep, whisper, faint noise. +chiel, fellow. +chowed, chewed. +clachan, hamlet. +claes, clothes. +clarty, dirty. +cloot, mend, patch. +clour, dint caused by a blow. +cockernony, woman's hair twisted up. +cod, pillow. +coorse, coarse. +crack, talk. +craigie, throat. +crambo-clink, rhyme, doggerel. +crap, crop. +cratur, creature. +creishy, fat. +crockaneetion, smithereens, bits. +croochin', crouching. +cry, bear (a child). +cryin', accouchement. +cuits, shins. +cutty, pipe. + +D +daddin', knocking. +dae, do. +dandrin', sauntering. +dang, broke, driven. +darkenin', darkness. +daur, dare. +Daylicht has mony een, daylight reveals many things, +explains mysteries. +deaved, deafened. +dee, die. +deevil, deil, the Devil. +deid, dead. +deleerit, delirious. +denners, dinners. +devauled, ceased. +dichtit, wiped. +dingin', dingin' on, falling. +dinna, do not. +dirk, dagger. +distrackit, distracted. +dizzen, dozen. +doobled, doubled. +doon-settin', settlement, start in life. +doo's cleckin, pigeon's hatch, two of a family. +doot, doubt. +dootna, do not doubt. +dour, obstinate, hard, severe. +dree, suffer. +drogues, drugs. +drooth, thirst. +droothy, thirsty. +drumlie-like, showing a sediment. +druve, drove. +duds, clothes. +dune, done. +dunt, a stroke causing a hollow sound. +dwalt, dwelt. +dwam, faint turn. +dwinin', wasting, fading. + +E +Eck, contraction for Alexander. +e'e, eye. +een, eyes. +e'en, even. +e'enins, evenings. +efterhan', afterwards. +eident, diligent. +elbuck, elbow. +eneuch, enough. +ense, otherwise. +ettlin', inclined to. +expeckin', expecting, enceinte. + +F +fa', fall. +fand, found. +fash, trouble. +faurer, farther. +fearsome, frightful. +fecht, fight. +feckless, weak, spiritless, worthless. +fegs, an affirmative exclamation, a corruption of Faith. +fell, hot, acute. +ferlies, wonders. +fesh, fetch. +fin', find, feel. +finger't, fingered, palpated. +fire (in his e'e), a foreign body. +firin', fire-wood. +firstlins, first products. +fish-hake, a wooden frame on which to hang fish. +flang, flung. +flannen, flannel. +flee, fly; flee out on, scold. +fleechin', wheedling. +fleg, frighten. +fleggit, frightened. +forbye, over and above, besides. +forcy, forceful. +forebears, ancestors. +fore-handit, paid in advance. +fore-nune, forenoon. +forfaughen, exhausted. +forrit, forward; even forrit, straight on. +fosh, fetched. +fowk, folk. +fowre, four; weel on fowre, nearly four o'clock. +freen's, relations. +fricht, fright. +fu', full. + +G +gae, go. +gaed, went; gaed owre, went beyond the power of. +gaffer, foreman, overseer. +gait, way. +gaithrin', crowd. +gang, go. +gangrels, wanderers, tramps. +gant, yawn. +gar, make, cause. +gaun, going. +gaun-aboot, wandering. +gey, very. +ghaistly, ghostly. +gibbles, tools. +gie, give; gie him the name, name the child after him. +gillie-callum, a variety of Scots dance. +gin, if. +girnin', whining, complaining. +gloamin', twilight. +glow'red, stared. +govy-dick, govy-ding, an exclamation of surprise. +gowpin', throbbing. +granes, groans. +granin', groaning. +gree, agree. +greenin', longing for. +greet, cry, weep. +grew, shiver. +grewsin', shivering. +grup, grip. +gruppit, gripped. +gude, good. +gude-gaun, good-going. +gude-mither, mother-in-law. +guff, smell. +gully, large pocket knife. + +H +hae, have. +Hae! Here. +hail, pour down. +haill, whole; haill apotheck, whole affair. +hame, home; the nicht that the bairnie cam' hame, the night that +the child was born. +hame-owre, homely. +hantle, a considerable number. +harns, brains. +haud, hold. +hauf, half. +heedin', paying attention to. +heicher, higher. +heicht, height. +heid, head. +heidin', heading. +heirskep, heredity, inheritance. +herts, hearts; gart the hert rise, made one sick. +het, hot. +hielant, Highland. +hin'er, hinder. +hinna, have not. +hirplin', limping. +hives, bowel-trouble of children. +hoast, cough. +holin', cutting coal. +hoodie-craws, hooded crows. +hoor, hour. +hoose, house. +hornie, fair hornie, fair exchange. +howdie, mid-wife. +howk, dig. +humoursome, humorous. +hungert, hungry, starved. +hunner, hundred. +hurdies, buttocks. +hurl, a lift, a drive in a conveyance. + +I +ilk, ilka, each. +ingans, onions. +ingle, fire. +intil, into. +I'se, I. +iver, ever. + +J +joukery-pawkery, trickery. +jucks, ducks. +juist, just. + +K +kebbuck, cheese. +keepit, kept. +kens, knows. +kent, knew. +kentna, did not know. +keppit, met. +kilmarnock, a night cap. +kimmer, gossip (Fr. commere). +kin', kind. +kinkhoast, whooping-cough. +kin'liest, kindliest. +kintraside, countryside. +kirk, church, +kist, chest. +kists o' whistles, organs. +knock, clock. + +L +langer, longer. +lang-leggit, long-legged. +lappers, clots. +lat, let. +lauchin', laughing. +lave, the rest. +law-wer, lawyer. +lear, lore, knowledge. +learnin', teaching. +leear, liar. +leech, physician. +lees, lies. +leggit, legged. +leuch, laughed. +libel, label. +licht, light. +lichtsome, cheerful. +lilt, a cheerful air. +linkit, linked, united. +littlens, children. +losh, an exclamation, corruption of Lord. +losh keep's, Lord keep us. +loup, jump. +loupin', jumping. +lowsed, stopped working, loosened. +lum-hat, silk hat. +lum-hattit, silk-hatted. + +M +maist, most. +makar, poet. +mannie, diminutive of man. +mells, mallets, mauls. +menners, manners. +middenheid, top of the dunghill. +miracklous, miraculous, very drunk. +mirk, darkness. +mischanters, misfortunes. +mischeef, mischief. +morn's morn, to-morrow morning. +mou, mouth. +mows, jest; nae mows, no joke. +muckle, big. +mune, moon. + +N +naethin', nothing. +narra', narrow; narra' i' the swalla', narrow-throated. +neeps, turnips. +neist, next. +nesty, nasty. +nice, particular. +nieves, fists. +nirled, shrunken with age. +nocht, naught. +nosey-wax, a nobody (expression of contempt). +nott, needed. +no-weel, unwell. + +O +Ony, any. +orra, odd. +owre, over. +oxter, the armpit. + +P +palmer, to wander. +parritch, porridge. +pawky, shrewd. +pechin', panting. +pen-gun, pop-gun; to crack like a pen-gun, to be very loquacious. +pit, put. +pleugh, plough. +pooched, pocketed. +poopit, pulpit. +poother, powder. +precentor, leader of psalmody. +pree, taste. +puddens, bowels. +pu'in', pulling. + +Q +quate, quiet. + +R +rackit, stretched, sprained. +rale, real. +ravel't, confused. +reid, red. +reid-heidit, red-headed. +richt, right. +rife, common, widespread. +riggin', ridge of a house. +rivin', tearing. +rizzon, reason. +roondit, rounded. +roup, sale. +row, roll, wrap up. +rout, roar. +rubbin'-post, post for cattle to rub against. +ruggit, pulled roughly. +runt, an old hag. + +S +sair, sore. +sair'd, served. +sark, shirt. +sassenach, Saxon, Southron. +saugh, willow. +saut, salt. +sax, six. +scartit, scratched. +scunnert, disgusted to the verge of nausea. +shakers, pit the shakers on me, set me trembling with fear. +shauchle, shamble, walk in a shuffling manner. +shoon, shoes. +shouther, shoulder. +sib, related, like. +sic, such. +siccar, sure. +sicht, sight. +sichtit, sighted. +siller, money. +sin, since. +sinon, sinew; wi' a gey teuch sinon in your neck, possessed of good +stamina. +skaith, harm. +skeely, skilful. +sklimmin', climbing. +slocken, quench, allay. +smeddum, spirit, mettle. +smiddy, smithy. +smirr, slight fall (of rain or snow). +smoor, smoort, smother, smothered. +snappit, snapped. +snaw, snow. +snell, piercing. +socht, sought. +soo, sow. +sookeys, suckers; sookers for bairns, children's so-called +"comforters." +soondin', sounding, examination with a stethoscope. +soopled, suppled. +sooth, South. +sough, rushing sound; to sough awa', to breathe his last. +spails, splinters, shavings. +spak, spoke. +spate, flood. +specks, spectacles. +sporran, pouch worn with the kilt. +spunks, matches. +stappin', stepping. +starns, stars. +staw'd, surfeited. +steer, disturbance. +stiddy, steady. +stoundin', aching. +stour, dust. +strae, straw; in the strae, in child-bed. +straught, straight. +stude, stood. +sutten-doon, habitual, chronic, settled. +swat, sweated. +swatch, portion, specimen. +sweer, unwilling, obstinate. +sweerin', scolding. +switin', sweating. +syne, since, ago. +sypes, oozes. + +T +tack, lease. +taed, toad (used affectionately or otherwise of a person). +tapsalteerie, head over heels, topsy-turvy. +tastin', small quantity. +tatties, potatoes. +tauld, told. +tel't, told. +teuch, tough. +thae, those. +thee, thigh. +thocht, thought, worry, care. +thole, endure. +thowless, thewless, inactive, feeble. +thrang, busy. +tick, credit. +till, to. +timmer, timber. +tinkler, tinker. +tint, lost. +tirravee, fit of passion. +tow, rope. +trailin', walking slowly. +traivelled, walked. +trampin', walking. +tribbles, troubles. +trokit, done business in a small way. +tryst, appointment, make an appointment. +tuggit, tugged. +tuilzie, quarrel, fight, skirmish. +twa-fauld, bent nearly double. +tyne, lose. + +U +ugsome, ugly. +unco, very. +unctioneer, auctioneer. +upbye, at a little distance higher. +usquebae, whisky. + +V +verra, very. + +W +waddin', wedding. +waesomely, woefully. +wag-at-the-wa', wall clock with long pendulum. +wale, choose. +wame, belly. +wark, work. +warl, world. +warsled, wrestled. +warslin', wrestling. +warst, worst. +wat, wet; wat his whustle, took a drink. +wauken, waken. +waur, worse. +wean, child. +weel, well. +weel-a-wat, I think truly. +weel-on, well on, fairly drunk. +weet, wet; to weet the bairnie's heid, to drink the health of the +new-born child. +weird, fate. +wersh, insipid. +wey, way. +whaur, where. +whiles, sometimes. +whilk, which. +whustle, whistle. +widdy, gallows. +winnock, window. +won'er, wonder. +wow! I exclamation of surprise. +wrang, wrong. +wreetin', writing. +wricht, carpenter. +wrocht, worked. +wud, mad. +wull, will. +wullin', willing. + +Y +yaird, yard. +yarkit, jerked. +yokit, started keenly. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Auld Doctor and other Poems and +Songs in Scots, by David Rorie + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AULD DOCTOR *** + +***** This file should be named 17448.txt or 17448.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/4/4/17448/ + +Produced by Richard Bruce Gordon + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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