An old lady was telling her grandchildren about some trouble in Scotland, in the course of which the chief of her clan was beheaded.
"It was nae great thing of a head, bairns, to be sure," said the good lady, "but it was a sad loss to him."
=Catechising=
The minister called in upon the gudewife at Corset Hill one night, for the purpose of catechising her.
"What is the Lord"s Supper, Peggy?" he inquired.
""Deed, sir," said the hostel wife, more intent on matters temporal than on things spiritual, "there"s nae lords come this way; but I"se tell ye what a cadger"s supper is--it"s just a groat; and what they leave at night they tak" awa" wi" them in their pouch in the morning."
=Lord c.o.c.kburn Confounded=
One day Lord c.o.c.kburn went into the Second Division of the Court of Session, but came out again very hurriedly, meeting Lord Jeffrey at the door.
"Do you see any paleness about my face, Jeffrey?" asked c.o.c.kburn.
"No," replied Jeffrey; "I hope you"re well enough."
"I don"t know," said the other; "but I have just heard Bolus (Lord Justice-Clerk Boyle) say: "I _for one_ am of opinion that this case is founded on the fundamental basis of a quadrilateral contract, the four sides of which are agglutinated by adhesion!""
"I think, c.o.c.kburn," said Jeffrey "that you had better go home."
="No Compliments"=
An aged divine had occasionally to avail himself of the a.s.sistance of probationers. One day, a young man, very vain of his accomplishments as a preacher, officiated, and, on descending from the pulpit, was met by the old gentleman with extended hands. Expecting high praise, he said, "No compliments, I pray."
"Na, na, na, my young friend," said the minister, "nowadays I"m glad o"
onybody!"
=A Sensible Servant=
A very old domestic servant of the familiar Scottish character common long ago, having offended his master extremely, was commanded to leave his service instantly.
"In troth, and that will I not," answered the domestic; "if your honor disna ken when ye hae a gude servant, I ken when I hae a gude master, and go away I will not."
On another occasion of the same nature the master said, "John, you and I shall never sleep under the same roof again", to which John replied, with much _naivete_, "Where the deil can your honor be ganging?"
=A Lesson in Manners=
William Martin was at one time a book auctioneer in Edinburgh. He was no great scholar, and occasionally made some humorous blunders during the exercise of his vocation. One night he made a clumsy attempt to unravel the t.i.tle of a French book. A young dandy, wishing to have the laugh at Martin"s expense, asked him to read the t.i.tle again, as he did not quite understand him.
"Oh!" said Martin, "it"s something about manners, and that"s what neither you nor me has ower muckle o"."
=A Magnanimous Cobbler=
At a certain country election of a member of Parliament in the Highlands, the popular candidate waited on a shoemaker to solicit his vote.
"Get out of my house, sir," said the shoemaker; and the gentleman was forced to retire accordingly. The cobbler, however, followed him and called him back, saying, "You turned me off from your estate, sir, and I was determined to turn you out of my house; but for all that, I"ll give you my vote."
=How Greyhounds are Produced=
At a certain mansion, notorious for its scanty fare, a gentleman was inquiring of the gardener about a dog which he had given to the laird some time before. The gardener showed him a lank greyhound, on which the gentleman said: "No, no; the dog I gave your master was a mastiff, not a greyhound"; to which the gardener quietly answered:
"Indeed, sir, ony dog would soon be turned into a greyhound if it stoppit lang here."
=Vanity Scathingly Reproved=
Burns was dining with Maxwell of Terraughty, when one of the guests chose to talk of the dukes and earls with whom he had drank or dined, till the host and others got tired of him. Burns, however, silenced him with an epigram:
"What of earls, with whom you have supped?
And of dukes, that you dined with yestreen?
Lord! a louse, sir, is still but a louse, Though it crawls on the curls of a queen."
=Gratifying Industry!=
In Galloway large craigs are met with having ancient writing on them.
One on the farm of Knockleby has, cut deep on the upper side:
"Lift me up and I"ll tell you more."
A number of people gathered to this craig, and succeeded in lifting it up, in hopes of being well repaid; but, instead of finding any gold, they found written on it:
"Lay me down as I was before."
=The Force of Habit=
Some years ago a Scotch gentleman, who went to London for the first time, took the uppermost story of a lodging-house, and was very much surprised to get what he thought the genteelest place of the whole at the lowest price. His friends who came to see him, in vain acquainted him with the mistake he had been guilty of.
"He ken"t very weel," he said, "what gentility was; and after having lived all his life in a sixth story, he had not come to London to live upon the ground."
=Significant Advice=
A church in the north country which required a pastor had a beadle who took an active interest in all the proceedings taken to fill up the vacancy.
One of the candidates, after the afternoon service was over, put off his cloak in the vestry and slipped into the church, in which our worthy was just putting things to rights.
"I was just taking a look at the church," said the minister.