Part 13

Let folk bode weel, and do their best.

Let him cool in the skin he het in.

Let him drink as he has brewen.

Let by-ganes be by-ganes.

"'Hout, ay,' said Elliot, 'just let by-ganes be by-ganes, and a' friends again; deil ane I bear malice at but Westburnflat, and I hae gi'en him baith a het skin and a cauld ane.'"—The Black Dwarf.

Let him haud the bairn that's aught the bairn.

Let him ride his ain horse wi' his ain hauding.

Let him tak a spring on his ain fiddle.

Let him tak his fling, and he'll find oot his ain weight.

Let him that's cauld blaw the ingle.

Let him that pays the lawin' choose the lodging.

"'I dinna ken, sir,' she replied in a dry revêche tone, which carried me back twenty years, 'I am nane of thae heartsome landleddies that can tell country cracks, and make themsells agreeable; and I was ganging to pit on a fire for you in the red room; but if it is your will to stay here, he that pays the lawing maun choose the lodging.'"—The Highland Widow.

Let his ain wand ding him.

Let ilka ane roose the ford as they find it.

That is, let every one speak of a thing as he finds it.

Let ilka ane soop before their ain door.

Let ilka cock fight his ain battle.

Let ilka herring hing by its ain head.

Let ilka man soop the ice wi' his ain besom.

Let ilka sheep hang by its ain shank.

Let ilka tub stand on its ain bottom.

Let na the plough stand to kill a mouse.

Do not quit or neglect an important matter to look after trifles.

Let ne'er your gear owergang ye.

Never let your wealth make you give way to pride, or forget your old friends.

Let never sorrow come sae near your heart.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

Let that flee stick to the wa'.

"'Hout tout, man! let that flee stick in the wa',' answered his kinsman; 'when the dirt's dry it will rub out.'"—Rob Roy.

Let the eird bear the dike.

"Eird and dike" are earth and stone wall. The proverb means that heavy or important undertakings should have a solid basis.

Let the horns gang wi' the hide.

The horns bearing but insignificant value in comparison with the hide, they should be thrown into the purchase of the latter free of charge.

Let the kirk stand i' the kirkyaird.

That is, let everything be in its proper place.

Let them care that come behint.

Let the morn come and the meat wi't.

Let the muckle horse get the muckle windlin.

Let the tail follow the skin.

Let the tow gang wi' the bucket.

Let your meat dit your mouth.

Liars should hae gude memories.

Lick and lay down.

A proverbial form of expression of a man's being able to pay his way.

"And what for suld I no have a corpus delicti, or a habeas corpus, or ony other corpus that I like, sae lang as I am willing to lick and lay down the ready siller?"—St Ronan's Well.

Lick your loof and lay't in mine, dry leather jigs aye.

"This signifies no more but kiss your hand and give it. Spoken facetiously upon some good fortune unexpected."—Kelly.

Lie in your bed and lippen to that.

Life's life ony gate.

"'And now we're settled ance mair,' said Cuddie to his mother, 'and if we're no sae bein and comfortable as we were up yonder, yet life's life ony gate, and we're wi' decent kirk-ganging folk o' your ain persuasion, mither; there will be nae quarrelling about that.'"—Old Mortality.

Light burdens break nae banes.

Light lades mak willing horses.

Lightly come, lightly gang.

Light maidens mak langing lads.

"Light's heartsome," quo' the thief to the Lammas mune.

Lightsome sangs mak merry gate.

"Ratcliffe, speaking apart to Madge, asked her 'whether she did not remember ony o' her auld sangs?' 'Mony a dainty ane,' said Madge; 'and blithely can I sing them, for lightsome sangs make merry gate.'"—Heart of Midlothian.

Light suppers mak lang days.

Like a sow playing on a trump.

"Trump," a Jew's harp. Typical of extreme awkwardness.

Like Bauldy's wedding, there's nae meat but muckle mirth.

Like blood, like gude, like age, mak the happy marriage.

Like butter in the black dog's hause.

That is, a dangerous position, as butter in the embrace of a dog certainly is.

Like Cranshaws kirk—there's as mony dogs as folk, and neither room for reel nor rock.

"In a remote pastoral region, like that of Cranshaws, lying in the midst of the Lammermoor hills, it is or was usual for shepherds' dogs to accompany their masters to the church; and in times of severe stormy weather, few people except the shepherds, who are accustomed to be out in all weathers, could attend divine service; and in such circumstances, it may have occurred that the dogs may have equalled in number the rational hearers of the Word. We have heard the saying applied by bustling servant girls to a scene where three or four dogs were lounging about a kitchen hearth, and impeding the work."—G. Henderson.

Liked gear is half-bought.

"When wares please, a bargain is soon made."—English.

Like draws aye to like, like an auld horse to a fell dike.

Persons of similar tastes draw towards and sympathize with each other. "Like will to like—a scabbed horse and a sandy dike."—Danish. "Like will to like, as the devil said to the coal-burner."—German.

Like hens, ye rin aye to the heap.

Spoken jocularly to those who help themselves to what there is most of on the table.

Like Hilton kirk, baith narrow and mirk, and can only haud its ain parish folk.

"Hilton kirk was a very small edifice in Berwickshire, and it would seem from the saying not very well lighted. When any number of strangers came as hearers, the accommodation was deficient; the saying is used when many persons assemble in a small house, and there is little room to stir about."—G. Henderson.

Like Lamington's mare, ye break brawly aff, but sune set up.

Likely lies i' the mire, and unlikely gets ower.

Meaning that many undertakings which promise favourably at first often fail; while those of which no great hopes are entertained are successfully carried through.

Like maister, like man; like priest, like offering.

Like Moses' breeks, neither shape, form, nor fashion.

Like Orkney butter, neither gude to eat nor creesh woo.

"A minister having in these words compared the covenant, made it a proverb. Applied to a thing that is useful no way."—Kelly.

Like paddy's ghost, twa steps ahint.

Like's an ill mark amang ither folk's sheep.

Like the bairns o' Falkirk, they'll end ere they mend.

"This is a proverbial saying of ill-doing persons, as expressive of there being no hope of them. How the children of Falkirk came to be so characterized, it would be difficult now to ascertain. The adage has had the effect of causing the men of Falkirk jocularly to style themselves 'the bairns;' and when one of them speaks of another as 'a bairn,' he only means that that other person is a native of Falkirk."—Robert Chambers.

Like the cat, fain fish wad ye eat, but ye are laith to weet your feet.

"The cat is fain the fish to eat, but hath no will to wet her feet."—English.

"Letting 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would,' like the poor cat i' the adage."—Macbeth.

Like the cowts o' Bearbughty, ye're cowts till ye're best's by.

Like the cur in the crub, he'll neither do nor let do.

A Scottish version of the dog in the manger.

Like the dam o' Devon, lang gathered and soon gane.

Like the fiddler o' Chirnside's breakfast, it's a' pennyworth's thegither.

"This is said of people who buy very small quantities of any article. Fiddlers are proverbially poor, and the one of Chirnside was no exception to the rule. One morning he sent his boy for materials for breakfast, and the order was delivered to the shopkeeper in the following measured terms:—

"'A pennyworth o' tea, A pennyworth o' sugar, Three penny loaves, And a pennyworth o' butter; And a pennyworth o' he herring, For my faither likes melts!'"—G. Henderson.

Like the gudeman o' Kilpalet, ye're ower simple for this warld, and hae nae broo o' the next.

Like the laird o' Castlemilk's foals—born beauties.

Like the lassies o' Bayordie, ye learn by the lug.

Like the man o' Amperly's coo, she's come hame routin', but no very fu', wi' the tow about her horns.

"The cow came home unsold; and the rhyme is applied to a young woman who comes home from a fair or market without a 'jo' or sweetheart."—G. Henderson.

Like the man wi' the sair guts—nae getting quat o't.

Like the smith's dog, sleep at the sound o' the hammer, and wauk at the crunching o' teeth.

Like the tod's whalps, aye the aulder the waur.

Like the wabster, stealing through the warld.

Another insult to the weaving profession. The reply of a person who is asked how he is getting on.

Like the wife that ne'er cries for the ladle till the pat rins o'er.

That is, never asks for an article until it is too late.

Like the wife wi' the mony dochters, the best's aye hindmost.

Or, at least, she would have the lover of the last believe so.

Like the wife's tongue, aften better meant than timed.

Like the witches o' Auchencrow, ye get mair for your ill than your gude.

"That is, people sometimes grant an individual a favour through fear of malevolence, or to get rid of his importunity."—G. Henderson.

Like to like.

"I'll tell ye, Ratton, blithe will Nicol Muschat be to see ye, for he says he kens weel there isna sic a villain out o' hell as ye are, and he wad be ravished to hae a crack wi' ye—like to like, ye ken—it's a proverb never fails; and ye are baith a pair o' the deevil's peats, I trow—hard to ken whilk deserves the hettest corner o' his ingleside."—Heart of Midlothian.

Like water to leather—the langer the tougher.

"Although my mither has been, past the memory o' man, in a complaining condition, I ken nae odds o' her this many a year; her ail's like water to leather, it makes her life the tougher."—The Entail.

Lippen to me, but look to yoursel.

Lips gae, laps gae, drink and pay.

"If you put your lips to the cup to drink, put your hand to your lap to take out your purse."—Kelly.

Listen at a hole, and ye'll hear news o' yoursel.

List to meat's gude kitchen.

Little and aften fills the purse.

Little can a lang tongue layne.

Little does the puir gude, and as little get they.

Little dogs hae lang tails.

Little folk are soon angry.

A frequent addition gives the reason—for their heart gets soon to their mouth.

Little gear, little care.

Little Jock gets the little dish, and that hauds him lang little.

"Poor people are poorly served, which prolongs their poverty."—Kelly.

Little kens the auld wife, as she sits by the fire, what the wind is doing on Hurley-Burley-Swire.

"Hurle-Burle-Swire is a passage through a ridge of mountains that separate Nithsdale from Twadale and Clydsdale: where the mountains are so indented one with another that there is a perpetual blowing. The meaning is that they who are at ease know little of the trouble that others are exposed to."—Kelly.

Little kent, the less cared for.

Little may an auld horse do if he maunna nicher.

Little meddling maks fair pairting.

Little mense o' the cheeks to bite aff the nose.

It is bad policy for a person to injure another with whom he is intimately connected, or upon whom he is depending.

Little odds between a feast and a fu' wame.

Little said is soon mended, little gear is soon spended.

Little's the light will be seen far in a mirk night.

"'But the flame!' demanded Ravenswood; 'the broad blaze which might have been seen ten miles off—what occasioned that?' 'Hout, awa! it's an auld saying and a true, "Little's the light will be seen far in a mirk night"—a wheen fern and horse litter that I fired in the courtyard, after sending back the loon of a footman.'"—Bride of Lammermoor.

Little to fear when traitors are true.

Little troubles the ee, but less the soul.

Little wats the ill-willy wife what a dinner may haud in.

Although a wife be very angry and "ill-willy" with her husband in private, still in public she should be cautious for obvious reasons, one of which is, Kelly says, "That a handsome treat may secure good friends and great interest."

Little winning maks a light purse.

Little wit in the head maks muckle travel to the feet.

People of few resources, or poor imagination, are apt to be put about by trifles.

Little wit in the pow that lights the candle at the lowe.

Live in measure, and laugh at the mediciners.

Live upon love, as laverocks do on leeks.

Living at heck and manger.

To live at "heck and manger" is to fare sumptuously every day, even beyond our income.

Lock your door, that you may keep your neighbours honest.

Lo'e me little an' lo'e me lang.

Look before ye loup, ye'll ken better how to light.

"Luke quhair thou licht befoir thou lowp, And slip na certainty for howp, Quha gyds thee but begess."—Cherrie and the Slae.

Loud coos the doo when the hawk's no whistling; loud cheeps the mouse when the cat's no rustling.

That is, subordinates take advantage when superiors are out of the way. "When the cat's away, the mice will play."—English.

Loud i' the loan was ne'er a gude milk cow.

Noisy people, or those who are always boasting of what they can do, are seldom so clever even as their neighbours. Kelly says this is "a reprimand to noisy girls."

Love and jealousy are sindle sindry.

Love and lairdship's like nae marrows.

"Marrow," that is, an equal, match, or antagonist.

Love and light winna hide.

Love has nae lack, be the dame e'er sae black.

Love has nae law.

Love is as warm amang cottars as courtiers.

"The rose blooms gay on shairney brae, As weel's in birken shaw; And love will lowe in cottage low, As weel's in lofty ha'."—Tannahill.

Love ower het soon cools.

Love your friend and look to yoursel.

Maidens should be mild and meek, quick to hear, and slow to speak.

Maidens should be mim till they're married, and then they may burn kirks.

"Spoken often, by way of reflection, when we say that such a one is a good-humoured girl, as if you would say, 'Observe how she'll prove when she is married.'"—Kelly.

Maidens' tochers and ministers' stipends are aye less than ca'd.

Maidens want naething but a man, and then they want a'thing.

Mair by luck than gude guiding.

That is, a person has been successful by mere force of circumstances, and by no particular merit of his own.

Mair hamely than welcome.

"Mair haste the waur speed," quo' the tailor to the lang thread.

Mair nice than wise.

Mair pride than pith.

Mair than enough is ower muckle.

Mair than the deil wear a black manteel.

"Mair whistle than woo," quo' the souter when he sheared the sow.

The saying, "Great cry and little wool," is common to all nations; the Scottish version, however, is the most expressive and humorous we have met with.

Maister's will is gude wark.

For the master himself is sure to be pleased with it.

Maistry maws the meadows doun.

"The captain's a queer hand ... he keeps a high hand ower the country, and we couldna deal with the Hielandmen without his protection, sin' a' the keys o' the kintray hings at his belt; and he's no an ill body in the main; and maistry, ye ken, maws the meadows doun."—Heart of Midlothian.

Mak ae wrang step and down ye gae.

Mak ae pair o' legs worth twa pair o' hands.

"He freed Rashleigh from my hold, and securing me, notwithstanding my struggles, in his own Herculean gripe, he called out, 'Take the bent, Mr Rashleigh—make ae pair o' legs worth twa pair o' hands; ye hae done that before now.'"—Rob Roy.

Mak a kiln o't, and creep in at the logie.

We surmise that this is intended as an advice to a person who has become possessed of an article, and does not know what to do with it, like the old lady who won the principal prize in the lottery, said prize consisting of a live elephant! A "killogie" is, says Jamieson, "a vacuity before the fireplace in a kiln for drawing air."

Mak a kirk or a mill o't.

Similar to the preceding proverb. Equivalent to saying such a thing is entirely in your own control; you may do what you please with it.

Mak friends o' fremit folk.

Mak hay while the sun shines.

Mak nae bauks in gude bear-land.

To "bauk" is to leave small strips of land unturned in ploughing. Kelly says of this proverb that it is "spoken when it is proposed to marry the youngest daughter before the eldest."

Mak nae orts o' gude hay.

Literally, do not throw aside good hay.

Mak nae toom ruse.

"Toom ruse" means empty praise, and the proverb signifies that we should not praise indiscriminately, or without knowledge of the subject.

Mak the best o' a bad bargain.

Mak your wife a gowdspink, and she'll turn a water-wagtail.

That is, if you indulge a person freely to a certain extent, the probability is he will exceed the limits.

Malice is aye mindfu'.

Man proposes, God disposes.

Man's twal is no sae gude as the deil's dizzen.

No, because "man's twal" is twelve, while the "deil's dizzen" is thirteen.

March comes like a lion and gangs like a lamb.

March comes wi' adders' heads and gangs wi' peacocks' tails.

March dust and March win', bleaches as weel as simmer's sun.

March dust and May sun mak corn white and maidens dun.

March water and May sun makes claes clear and maidens dun.

The explanation of this saying, which belongs to the Mearns, is, that water in the month of March is supposed to be of a more cleansing quality than in any other month. The same idea is also expressed in the following saying:

March water's worth May soap.

March whisquer was ne'er a gude fisher.

Marriage and hanging gae by destiny.

Married folk are like rats in a trap—fain to get ithers in, but fain to be out themsels.

Marriage wad tame the sea, if a match could be got for her.

"Of all comforts I miscarried, When I played the sot and married: 'Tis a trap, there's none need doubt on't; Those that are in would fain get out on't."—Tea-Table Miscellany.

Marry abune your match, and get a maister.

Marry for love, and work for siller.

Marry in haste, and repent at leisure.

Marry your son when you will, but your dochter when you can.

Maun-do is a fell fallow.

"Necessity is a hard master."—German.

May-be's are no aye honey bees.

"An answer to them that say, 'Maybe it will fall out so or so.'"—Kelly.

May-be's flee na at this time o' the year.

Maybe's a big book.

Maybe your pat may need my clips.

Perhaps some day you will be glad of my assistance, although you despise it just now.

May birds are aye cheeping.

This refers to the popular superstition against marrying in the month of May, the children of which marriages are said to "die of decay."

May he that turns the clod ne'er want a bannock.

Mealy mou'd maidens stand lang at the mill.

Measure twice, cut but ance.

Meat and mass ne'er hindered wark.

"'Happy will I be to serve you, my gude auld acquaintance,' said the clerk; 'but sit you down—sit you down—sit you down, Mrs Dods,—meat and mass never hindered wark. Ye are something overcome wi' your travel—the spirit canna aye bear through the flesh, Mrs Dods.'"—St Ronan's Well.

Meat and measure mak a' men wise.

Meat feeds, claith cleeds, but breeding maks the man.

Meat is gude, but mense is better.

Men are no to be mete by inches.

Men speak o' the fair as things went there.

Mettle's kittle in a blind mare.

Michaelmas mune rises nine nights alike sune.

Mills and wives are aye wanting.

Mind me to a' that ask for me, but blad me in naebody's teeth.

Mind thysel, the warld will mind the lave.

Mint before you strike.

Minting gets nae bairns.

Mischief's mother's but like midge's wing.

Mister makes a man o' craft.

Misterfu' folk maunna be mensefu'.

"Beggars should not be choosers."—English.

Mist in May and heat in June mak the harvest right soon.