[1] A custom not uncommon in Scotland at the present day among the working classes. Boys, when making a bargain, wet their thumbs and place them on each other as a token of good faith. Something of this kind may be found in the old song:—

[2] In Scotland, in the olden time, forty days were allowed to elapse after the proclamation of the banns, during which time objectors to the marriage might come forward. The session clerk had placed in his hands a sum of money as security for the solemnisation of the marriage; and one had to be found to stand as surety that the parties would not cohabit before they obtained the sanction of the church.

[3] The ‘providing’ has always been regarded as an important item of the marriage arrangements. Perhaps the earliest account of the possessions of contracting parties is to be found in the song, ‘The Wowing of Jok and Jynny,’ supposed to have been written before the Reformation.

[4] In modern editions of this chap-book the first part ends with the sentence:—‘So this disturbed a’ the diversion at Jockey’s bedding, and the sky was beginning to break in the east before the hurly-burley was over.’

[5] The usual name for the village bellman throughout Scotland.

[6] Jockey had been guilty of an offence which, had he lived a century earlier, might have brought about imprisonment by the civil power, in addition to his seat on the ‘cock-stool.’ Even about the middle of last century the penalties were severe, and the disgrace was considered great. Feeling in the matter, however, seemed to be more prompted by a fear of consequences than by true morality. Dr. Rogers, in Scotland Social and Domestic, p. 311, thus explains the legal position of presbyteries and kirk-sessions in regard to such matters—‘At the Reformation, Presbyterian judicatories proceeded to occupy the position of Consistory Courts. They took cognisance of offences precisely similar, with the exception of such as “speaking evil of saints” and “the non-payment of offerings,” or those which bore direct reference to the Catholic faith. Under the Presbyterian system, the kirk-session exercised the functions of the Archdeacon’s Commissary, and Presbyterian Synods and the General Assembly formed an appellate jurisdiction similar to that which was exercised by the Archdeacons and Bishops and the Archbishops of St. Andrews.’

[7] The stool was placed in front of the pulpit, in full view of the congregation. In some parishes the culprits were allowed to sit, but in most cases they had to stand.

[8] The ‘sacken sark’ had a variety of names, such as ‘the harden gown,’ ‘the sack gown,’ ‘the harn gown,’ and ‘the linen.’ Each parish was supposed to have one of these habits: and in 1655 the sum of £4 4 6 Scots was expended by the kirk-session of Lesmahagow in the purchase of one. A specimen of the ‘sacken sark’ may be seen in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh.

[9] A fine paid to the Kirk-Session, who distributed it, with the other moneys in their possession, among the poor of the parish. See the second part of The History of Buckhaven, where the culprit is made to pay ‘four pound and a groat,’ probably Scots money, equal to about seven shillings sterling.

[10] The following paragraph concludes the second part in modern editions:—‘Now Jockey and his mither went into the little byre and held a private meeting, nane present but auld Bruckie and the twa Brutes, the bits of couties, that she might give him counsel how to behave when he appeared before Mess John, to answer for his bastard; which concludes the third and last part.’ The ‘third and last part’ in these editions, however, fails to carry the story to its proper issue, and only gives a very summary account of Jockey on the cutty-stool.

[11] Ante-nuptial fornication—‘on the terms of marriage’—was lamentably common, but in such cases the law of the church, while duly put in force, was considerably relaxed in its severity, if marriage followed.

[12] The civil authorities were frequently called upon to give effect to church censures. In the seventeenth century sentence of excommunication practically carried with it all the pains of civil outlawry; but in 1690 an Act of the Estates abrogated the civil consequences of the sentence.

[13] Milled oats, or oats with the husks taken off.

[14] This is rather an original account of the rise and progress of the black-stool: but it would be difficult to say how far history supports it. In a chap-book printed in 1776 under the title of ‘An Account of the General Assembly’s Invention for the final Extirpation of the Black-stool of Repentance and the Sackcloth Gown out of the Kirk of Scotland: proposing a new and easy method of punishing sporting ladies,’ a similar account is given of the stool.

[15] The Church rule on the point here brought out by Mess John may be illustrated by an enactment passed by the Kirk Session of Glasgow in 1591, which bore that those desirous of entering the conjugal state had to repeat the ten commandments, the articles of faith, and the Lord’s prayer. If the candidates could not pass the examination they were declared unworthy of being joined in marriage, and were liable to censure. A few days after this decree had been issued, the Session prohibited a marriage until the bridegroom had learned his task. The Presbytery of Glasgow, in 1594, prohibited a marriage because the bridegroom was ‘in greit debt.’

[16] Suspension from church privileges for a time, until they showed signs of repentance.

[17] The beginning of the New Year, or Yule, festivities.

[18] The ordinary mode of travelling long distances. Country women were then good horse-women.

[19] A superstition long prevalent, and scarcely yet eradicated in some parts of Scotland. The mother was not safe from the power of fairies until she had been ‘kirk’t,’ and the child, until baptised, was in danger of being carried away by them, a changeling being substituted in its stead. Jockey’s mother seems to have had a touch of the same superstition when she spoke of the difference between a child and a dog—‘A dog is a brute beast, an’ a wean is a christen’d creature.’

[20] The custom in Scotland was to have a number of the neighbours along with the members of the family.

[21] Young women, besides providing their bridal clothes before their marriage, frequently spun their winding sheet immediately after that event. Flora Macdonald carried about with her, throughout all her wanderings after her liberation in 1747, the sheet in which Prince Charles had lain at Kingsburgh’s house in Skye, with the intention that it should be her shroud. And so it was.

[22] These were not the days of hearses. The common people never thought of a carriage, and, indeed, it was only at the funerals of the nobility that hearses were to be seen. Usually the coffin was taken to the grave on wooden bars, called ‘spaiks,’ borne by the mourners, who, if the journey were long, relieved each other.

[23] The eating and drinking long prevalent at funerals was something marvellous, and on more than one occasion it is recorded that mourners separated in confusion and ill-feeling. At the funeral of Sir Hugh Campbell of Calder, in March, 1716, nearly £70 sterling were spent in meat and drink alone, and when the difference in the value of money is taken into consideration the sum must appear large. In 1704, Lord Whitelaw, a Senator of the College of Justice, was buried at the expense of £5189 Scots, or £432 8s. 4d. sterling, which meant more than two years’ salary as a judge.

[24] At births it was customary—and still is under a modified form—to hand round ‘blythe-meat’ to all visitors.

[25] Another name for the stool of repentance.

[26] A colloquialism. The meaning is—‘You must not kiss any woman other than your own wife.’

[27] A witticism for whitings or haddocks. Dunbar has from an early period been one of the leading ports on the east coast fishing grounds.

[28] It would be difficult to say how the herring caught in Loch Fyne came to be called ‘Glasgow Magistrates.’ The name is still applied to them.

[29] One way of putting an old Scottish proverb. Henderson’s reading of it is:—‘There ne’er was a silly Jockey but what there was a silly Jenny.’

[30] In some modern editions the word ‘jaw’ is inserted instead of ‘jamf,’ or, as it is sometimes spelled ‘jamph.’

[31] Probably Prestonpans, famous for fishers and potters, and for its battle-field.

[32] In Morren’s edition of this chap-book, published in Edinburgh in the early years of the present century, the word here used is ‘keckling,’ meaning to laugh, or, more properly, to ‘smirk.’ ‘Keckling’ seems the more likely word.

[33] Another reading of the old saying—‘The deil catch the hindmost.’

[34] This can hardly be taken literally. Possibly what is meant is ‘powsee,’ a small fresh haddock.

[35] In some later editions the description of Sawny is made more complete by the insertion, in this place, of the following:—‘and an auld creeshy hat, mair like a fryingpan than any thing else.’

[36] Taverns and eating-houses were frequently, in east-coast towns, on the ‘sunk-flat,’ access to them being gained by a flight of steps down from the foot-pavement. Several such shops may still be seen in the old town of Edinburgh, in the vicinity of the High Street and Canongate.

[37] The women about fishing communities differed, and do still, from their sisters further inland, regarding house-work, or ‘husband-work.’ Matty’s opinion is a fair reflection of the ideas of her class. A further expression is given to this feeling in The History of Buckhaven, where Graham, describing the people about whom he was writing, says:—‘They kept but little communication with the country people, for a farmer, in those days, thought his daughter cast awa if she married one of the fishers in Bucky-harbour, and Witty Eppie the ale-wife wad a sworn, be go’ laddie, I wad rather see my boat and a’ my three sons upset against the Bass, or I saw are o’ them married on a muck-a-byre’s daughter, a wheen useles taupies that can do naething but rive at a tow rock [spin], and cut corn; they can neither bait a hook nor red a line, hook sandles nor gather periwinkles.’

[38] An old stocking leg, in which it was the custom of old women to sew up whatever savings they might have been able to make, and generally hidden away in some odd corner. Some of these ‘hoggers’ have been known to be very substantial. Even yet, now that banks are everywhere, the simile is kept up, though the stocking leg has fallen into disuse for banking purposes. Some persons speak about ‘laying by for a sair fit.’

[39] The beginning of the paragraph reads this way in Morren’s edition:—‘On this Sawny paid their spout and parted.’ That seems the more likely way of it, for later on Sawny speaks of courting being ‘a curst wark and costly.’

[40] Sawny’s mother, besides showing herself well acquainted with the wise saws of her native country, further exhibits her belief in witchcraft. In this she was not singular. After a long crusade against witches, the minds of the better educated classes became somewhat enlightened on the subject, and Parliament, in 1735, revoked the penal statutes against sorcery. Many of the ministers regarded this act as a national sin, and said it was contrary to the express law of God. John Wesley, it may be remembered, said that to give up belief in witchcraft was, in effect, giving up the Bible.

[41] Morren’s edition reads ‘milk cows’ here; while a later issue has ‘cow’s milks.’ The only satisfactory one is Morren’s.

[42] One of a set of Scottish proverbs showing the disregard of Scots in bygone days for all sanitary considerations. Two proverbs having a similar bearing are—‘The clartier the cosier,’ and ‘The mair dirt the less hurt.’

[43] In some editions the word ‘crust’ is substituted for ‘cufe.’ Certainly it is more likely.

[44] Penny weddings have been immortalised by Semple of Beltrees in his song The Blythsome Bridal. Originally, pennies were contributed by those present, and any overplus, after providing for the wedding feast, went towards assisting the young couple in their furnishing. Latterly, the neighbours sent in eatables of various kinds, the bride’s friends only preparing one dish, the ‘bride’s pie,’ the equivalent to the ‘bride’s-cake’ of modern days. As with the cake, so with the pie, every one present received a piece. The marriage ceremony was generally celebrated at the manse, and the wedding festivities took place in the bride’s house. These festivities some times lasted several days—see, for example, Ramsay’s addition to Christ’s Kirk on the Green, by James I.—and were productive of serious irregularities. Ultimately the Church made an effort to regulate them, but with little effect.

[45] That is, by failing to pay the Kirk dues. There was the money for the ‘cries,’ or banns, which was in itself a respectable sum, and a variety of other payments, which made marriage an expensive affair. The minister was given a small acknowledgment for his services; but now-a-days it is usual, instead, to make a present of a satin hat, a pair of gloves, a comforter, or such like.

[46] A ‘magg’ is a synonym for the cant term ‘maik,’ a halfpenny; but in the text it is used in the sense of ‘a gratuity,’ such as has been referred to in the previous note.

[47] Portion of an old song, long popular among the Scottish peasantry. It bore the name of ‘For the Sake of Somebody,’ and is believed to have suggested Burns’ song with the same title. The old song is to be found in The Tea-Table Miscellany; and there the last four lines of the first double stanza are:—

[48] An indication of the derivation of the word ‘spinster.’ Kate, like most Scotch women, had the idea that her marriage could hardly take place until she had her ‘providing.’ There was something more than mere sentiment about this, for owing to the hard struggle married couples had to exist in a poor and undeveloped country, such as Scotland then was, it was probable that the bride would have little chance of getting such a complete set out after, as before, marriage.

[49] Sawny seems to have been guided in his wooing by the old Scotch proverb:—‘Happy is the wooing that’s no lang o’ doing.’

[50] In Edinburgh, during last century, there was occasionally to be found some worthy in the ministerial profession available for such purposes, and whose character would be fairly indicated by the coarse but forcible language of Matty. They were, however, outwith the pale of respectability, and were not recognised by their clerical brethren. Such individuals were not altogether peculiar to Scotland, but might also be found in London about the same period.

[51] In Morren’s, M‘Kenzie & Hutchison’s, and other editions, there is here this parenthesis:—‘Ta’en ane anithers word, a kiss, and a hoddle, at the hillock side.’

[52] The Scotsman’s grace has passed into a proverb, on account of its inordinate length and its theological tinge. The story is often told of the servant girl who, after leaving a family in which she had once served, returned to stay a night with them. At supper the grace was the same as she was wont to hear before she went away, and she complimented her late master and host upon his ‘guid memory.’

[53] A little wooden trough such as is used for the feeding of sheep or swine. In an edition of this chap-book printed in Stirling by C. Randall, in 1801, the reading is:—‘Into a little tub or trough.’ It is the same in several later issues, but in Morren’s edition it reads:—‘Into a little tub or cogboin.’

[54] The Scotch ‘girnel,’ to be found yet in most country houses, especially among ‘bein’ or well-to-do people, who purchase their meal in larger quantities than is usual in towns.

[55] The story of the chase after the ‘poor dominie’ is omitted in Morren’s edition, but the following new matter is inserted in its stead:—‘Tom came running home all besmear’d with blood, at the sight whereof his father cry’d, what’s the matter Tom? To which he made no answer: searching him, the trick was discovered and poor Tom received a severe chastisment. Tom, to be revenged on his father, rose in the night time and broke the fauld and let out the cattle amongst his father’s corn, and goes to bed again, this he did unperceived. Next morning, the neighbours observing the cattle lying amongst the corn, came running, and told his father how they had destroyed all his victual, for they had eat till they had like to burst. All the time Tom lay in his bed, and his father much vexed at his laziness, and told him that he would never have the benefit of more schooling as his master had so many grievious complaints against him; at which Tom rejoiced within himself as he did not value learning, nor put it in balance with his designed tricks; Tom then scampered away, and meeting with an egg cadger coming to Edinburgh, desired him to alight from his horse, and he would give him a dram at the Fallow kirk, at which, the poor man was glad, and went in with him. Tom called for two drams and bade the cadger drink hearty, in the mean time Tom slips out and mounts the cadger’s horse, and puts a foot in each creel, and made the eggs all caddle, and then he dismounted and ran; so that the poor cadger lost his eggs, and had the drams to pay for.’

[56] In Morren’s edition this story is told in a very different way. As has already been explained, the first and second parts in that edition are run into one, and the following paragraph immediately succeeds the story told in the preceding note:—‘Tom was always playing tricks to his grandmother, as he knew she was rich, and would part with nothing to him; he lays in wait one night, and conceals himself in a corner until all was at rest, Tom rises and takes the keys of a drawer, and slips out about forty shillings, and slips off to Dalkeith on a Thursday where his grandmother’s servant girl came that day. Tom was spending largely, and the girl who knew that Tom had no money, came home and told his grandmother that Tom had taken away her money, this so enraged him, that he lashed her buttocks with his wheep in so unmerciful a manner, that what with the smart and shame together she had not the least inclination to sleep the remaining part of the day.’ The narrative then proceeds:—‘Tom being grown up to the years and age of a man,’ etc.

[57] It was customary among country folks, and is so still in some districts of Scotland, to kill a fat animal at Martinmas of each year, and salt it for the winter’s provision. Even people in urban districts, though they had not a cow nor an ox, had a pig which they had been fattening for a year, and which was then considered ready for the sacrifice. Hence the term ‘winter mairt.’ The word ‘mairt,’ or ‘mart,’ ultimately came to denote a person who lived in ease and prosperity.

[58] In all other editions we have seen the reading is ‘three pounds.’

[59] This ends Number I. of the edition of Lothian Tom from which the text is here taken. It finishes at the foot of the page. The next number has a title page similar to what is on the first, and the narrative continues on the back of the title as if there had been no break. The folios run right through the three numbers, the whole chap-book occupying twenty-four pages.

[60] The old jail in the Canongate of Edinburgh is still an object of interest. Jailers in the past occupied a very different position from what they do now. They acted more in the capacity of taverners than their brethren of the present day. In English plays and novels of last century their position is fully shown; and in the same period a similar state of matters existed in Scotland. In Glasgow, after the erection of the Tolbooth at the Cross, in 1627, the jailer was given a yearly salary of 40 merks (£2 4s. 5½ sterling), and he was to receive from every burgess or inhabitant of the city who should be committed to his care 2s. Scots (2d. sterling) for entry and booking fee, and the same sum for every twenty-four hours during which the person should be incarcerated. Outsiders, however, had double fees to pay their host. On account of ‘having only thiefes and lounes as prisoners,’ and getting no profit from them, the jailer of 1661 received from the Town Council of Glasgow a grant of £20 Scots (£1 13s. 4d. sterling). The Privy Council Records show that in 1696 the keeper of Canongate Tolbooth was allowed 2s. Scots per night, with one penny sterling for the servants—in all 3d. sterling—for every recruit he kept.

[61] This clause is added in some modern undated editions:—‘and so Tom gained his end.’

[62] In the Stirling (1801), and other editions the reading is:—‘So the butcher got but fun for his trouble.’

[63] ‘Madam,’ in some later editions.

[64] A fair indication of the opinion Englishmen had of their Scottish neighbours. Could any good come out of Scotland? It is only fair to admit, however, that the contempt was not all on the one side.

[65] The old woman, by her remark about witchcraft and her belief in Tom’s proposal, discovers the presence of superstitions in her mind. The belief in witchcraft was then in a transition stage. Many people firmly believed in it; others were doubtful; while not a few, like Tom, played the rogue on the strength of the superstition in others. It is more than probable that the tricks of such as Lothian Tom did more to enlighten the people than anything else. As for the clergy, they were a hindrance, and rather fostered the belief in witchcraft.

[66] This concludes the second number. The third number, like the others, had a title-page, and the narrative was continued on the back of it.

[67] The modern undated Glasgow editions end here with the words:—‘for it is fashious to lead and heavy to carry.’ All that goes before of this part is added to part five, so that in them there are only five parts. In the Stirling (1801) edition, however, the story is carried on to the end of the scene with the lawyer.

[68] It was quite a common conclusion of a law-suit for the lawyer and his client to ‘drink a bottle’ or even get ‘fou’ together, especially if they were on the winning side. Consultations were generally held in some tavern in the vicinity of the court, and the whole aspect of a case was discussed under the stimulating influence of a ‘tappit hen.’ Sir Walter Scott in the text and notes to Guy Mannering gives a most interesting account of the convivial habits of the Scottish bar during last century.

[69] Nearly four pages are here inserted in the edition from which this text is taken, but they do not belong to Lothian Tom, but to Pady from Cork. They consist of ‘Pady’s New Catechism,’ ‘Pady’s Humble Petition,’ and ‘Pady’s Creed for Irish Believers,’ and they will be found in their proper place in a subsequent part of this volume.

[70] Vide Introduction, vol. i. p. 45.

[71] Dogs and chapmen were proverbial enemies. The tradition regarding the feud will be found in the answer to the question—‘What is the reason that dogs are worse on chapmen, than on other strange people?’—in The Scots Piper’s Queries.

[72] Chapmen were looked upon by the common people as characters whose disinclination to work led them into a lazy life. Their services to the community were acknowledged, but only under a protest that had they not been ‘haters of hard work’ they could not have gone into the business. This feeling, however, arose chiefly from the popular idea, which still finds expression, that nothing can be called work except manual labour.

[73] A most effectual weapon of defence against the physical as well as the spiritual assaults of Satan. Sinclair, in his work entitled Satan’s Invisible World Discovered, tells a most extraordinary story of the means taken to ‘lay’ the ‘devil of Glenluce.’

[74] The words, ‘very sick,’ are here added in Morren’s edition.

[75] The common people had strange notions about foreigners, as this passage shows. A somewhat similar idea is given expression to in The History of the Haverel Wives, where Janet speaks of Italy as the country ‘where the auld Pape their [the priests’] father, the de’il, the witches, brownies and fairies dwal.’

[76] There are some unimportant verbal differences between the text here and what is to be found in Morren’s edition. At the asterisk there is inserted:—‘thrawing my face terrible at her.’

[77] Morren has here:—‘And thou, O monsieur Lucifer, Satan Diable,’ etc.

[78] A very fair indication of the unnecessary ceremonies gone through by wizards and witches. Lothian Tom used some ‘enchantment’ under equally interesting circumstances. See vol. ii. p. 81.

[79] Before the introduction of the present complex Poor Law system, each parish in Scotland, through its kirk session, gave relief to its own poor. The strictness of the authorities passed into a proverb. Many parishes had barrows on which the infirm poor not belonging to them were wheeled outside the boundaries and left to do for themselves as best they could. We have read of a case in which relief was refused to a sickly stranger, and the village joiner was employed to make a barrow for the person’s removal. Before the work was done the poor unfortunate had died.

[80] In Morren’s edition there is here added:—‘and give us a proper drubbing.’

[81] Possibly this practice—for the frequency with which it is mentioned in this and other chap-books indicates that it was so—may have given rise to the proverbial expression still common in Scotland:—‘I’ll tak a sup out your cog for that,’ used when a person wishes to convey a vague threat.

[82] The suggestion from this passage seems to be that the lads did not sleep in the house, but in a ‘bothy’ in the vicinity. The arrangement in many farm houses in some parts of Scotland is—and it was much more common a century ago—that the maid servants slept in the house, while the men were accommodated in an out-house. During harvesting operations, shearers from a distance lived in a wooden ‘bothy’ erected on the farm. The system was not quite satisfactory, and often gave rise to serious irregularities.

[83] Now-a-days it may seem strange that John Cheap, after his first night’s experience in the stye, should have cared to have had it a second time. Travelling on Sunday, however, was a thing not to be thought of a century ago. It was doubtful, even, if a hen did not break the commandment by laying an egg on the Sabbath. Dean Ramsay tells the story of a Highlander who gave the following instance in support of the ‘God-fearin’’ character of the people of the village in which he resided:—‘Last Sabbath, just as the kirk was skailin’, there was a drover chield frae Dumfries comin’ along the road whustlin’, an’ lookin’ as happy as if it was ta muddle o’ the week; well, sir, our laads is a God-fearin’ set o’ laads, an’ they were just comin’ out o’ the kirk—’od they yokit upon him, an’ a’most killed him.’ A similar fate might have befallen John Cheap had he travelled for a change of lodgings. Certainly he would have been taken before the Session and rebuked.

[84] The Covenanters had their great stronghold in the West of Scotland, especially down Ayrshire way, and the ‘Westland Whig’ was regarded as a man of extra strictness in religious ordinances.

[85] Our Lord’s miracle of the casting out the legion of the devils from the man amongst the tombs, and their subsequent entrance into a herd of swine, seems to have made a strong impression on the Scottish mind. John Cheap’s remarks on the subject are fairly representative of the ideas of many country people in Scotland even of the present day.

[86] A proverbial expression. Allan Ramsay’s version of it is:—‘Better belly burst than good meat spill.’

[87] This and other references in the course of the present narrative point to an extensive trade in human hair; and show that the country lasses were not averse to gaining a little money by parting with their flowing tresses.

[88] Disrespect for all sanitary considerations was for centuries an unfortunate feature in Scotland, and was the main cause of the frequent plagues—or ‘visitations’ as they were piously termed—which depopulated the country and crippled its resources. Refuse of all sorts was thrown into the ‘midden-dub’ in front of the door of each house. In the Trongate of Glasgow, in 1655, the gutters had become so blocked up that the inhabitants had to place stepping stones in them before they could obtain access to their houses. In Edinburgh, a century later, ashes, foul water, etc., were thrown over the windows at night, the only warning the belated pedestrian received being the melodious Gardez l’eau; and happy was he if he escaped.

[89] An official who went about to see that the orders of the ‘birley-court’ were obeyed. This court consisted of certain parties in the barony who looked after local affairs, and were, in fact, a sort of local authority or town council.

[90] The ‘evil eye’ was a most terrible thing, according to Scottish superstition; and a variety of ‘freits’ or charms were had recourse to as shields against it. In the Justiciary Records, of 1661, it is stated that Beatrix Leslie entered the house of one Agnes Young ‘in ane great fury and anger, and pluckt away a pock belonging to her, which the said Agnes had in keiping, without speaking ane word to her, bot gieving her ane terrible look; and that same verry night, the said William Young [her husband] awakened out of his sleep, in a great affrightment and sweat, crying out, that she with a number of catts wer devouring him.’ Many similar instances are on record. Of course they were simply due to perverted imagination.

[91] John Cheap seems here to have been credited with possession of the ‘evil eye,’ while he was really only guilty of a very questionable practical joke.

[92] That is, his mother gave him a good thrashing for it.

[93] In the edition here followed, the heading is ‘Fun upon Fun,’ but the one given above is more distinctive, while its use is sanctioned by the precedent of 1820 edition. The edition of 1816 has—‘The Comical and Merry Tricks of Leper the Taylor.’

[94] The custom of the common people, when the ‘goodman’ required a suit, was to have a tailor working in the house for a day or two, during which time he had his board and lodging, with a small money payment. Sometimes a week’s work might be given the tailor in this way, when the ‘callans,’ as well as their father, were in need of new clothes. When the goodwife and her daughters were similarly situated, the dressmaker was brought in on the same principle. This custom is not yet dead; though it is fast disappearing.

[95] In a modern Glasgow edition the reading here is:—‘In her own bedroom.’ That, however, seems to be a suggestion of a later time. The probability is that the reference is to a press-bed enclosed in front with wood, with a door which was closed during the day-time. Round these beds were shelves.

[96] Under the old system of apprenticeship the master had a fatherly care over his apprentice in addition to the obligation to learn him his trade.

[97] In some of the later editions of this chap-book the reading here is:—‘Wonderful fire! Wonderful fire!’ This is probably a misprint, the old fashioned ‘s’ beginning the word ‘sirs’ in the older editions having caused confusion.

[98] An apt illustration of the relations of the clergy of that period towards the common superstitions.

[99] In this case the feeling of the relatives was satisfied by the death—or supposed death—having been ‘fair o’erseen’ ‘before good neighbours;’ the want of which caused Jockey, the hero of Jockey and Maggy, considerable anxiety. See note on that chap-book.

[100] Old women, whose privilege it was, in respect of their age, to perform such duties.

[101] A peculiar Scotticism meaning that the face of the corpse bore a pleasant expression. On such a melancholy occasion as a funeral in Scotland, an Englishman would hear many remarks which would surprise him, possibly, shock him, by their seeming irreverence. No such feeling, however, has any place in the mind of the native. The expression, ‘the corpse’s sister,’ to be found in the text in this page, may be taken as an instance.

[102] A funeral pall. The kirk session frequently provided one for the use of the parish.

[103] Ray, in his Itinerary through Scotland, gives the following form of announcement as having been commonly made by the ‘deid bellman’ in Scotland in the sixteenth century:—‘Beloued broothrin and susters, I lat you to wot that thir is an fauthful broothir lautlie departed awt of this present warld, awt thi plesuir of almoughti Good; his naum is Volli Voodcok, third son to Jimmoy Voodcok a cordinger; he ligs at thi sesct door vithin the nord gawt, close on the nawthuer rawnd, and I wod ya gang to hus burying on Thursdau before twa a clock.’

[104] The second part, in the edition followed here, has a separate title-page, containing the same matter as the first, altering, of course, the number of the part.

[105] Another illustration of the expression used as a safeguard against the power of witches, warlocks, and all that race, when speaking of them. See notes to John Cheap and The History of Haverel Wives, in the present volume.

[106] This seems to be the only story in any edition of Leper the Taylor that has come under our notice to which the following lines from an elegy on Peter Duthie, a chapman worthy who lived between 1721 and 1812, could possibly bear any reference:—

[107] The presence of cattle in the houses of the common people, or small farmers, was too often seen, but this is just a further instance of the disrespect for sanitary matters evinced by the Scots before the present century. A great change has taken place within the last eighty or a hundred years.

[108] Sunday observance has long been, and still is, a remarkable feature of the Scottish national life. In former times the utmost care was taken that there should be no Sabbath breaking. The old Jewish idea of a ‘Sabbath-day’s’ journey was kept to the letter, and no one was allowed to walk on the streets except going to or coming from the church. Any person found taking a walk ran the risk of being taken to the guard-house by the ‘civileers,’ who were inquisitors appointed conjointly by the Town Council and the kirk session. The average Scotsman would rather let his crops go to ruin than take them in on a fine Sabbath.

[109] In the 1816 edition, here followed throughout, the chap-book begins—‘This taylor;’ but in the 1820 edition the opening sentence runs thus:—‘Leper in his life-time,’ etc. That reading has been taken here as it makes a better beginning than the other.

[110] The English edition has a very different reading, as follows:—‘A farthing Roll, half a pint of Ale, and a pipe of Tobacco.’

[111] The word ‘nearest’ is given instead of ‘former’ in the other editions.

[112] ‘Half,’ in the English edition.

[113] ‘Sixty-two,’ in the English edition.

[114] ‘Three-half-pennys’ in the English edition.

[115] A reference to a similar event is made in R. Braithwaite’s Penitent Pilgrim, 1641, reprinted by Pickering, of London, in 1853. At p. 109 of the reprint the following passage will be found:—‘Nay, hast thou not seen the very corpse of thy departed brother arrested, and uncharitably stayed; who, though he had paid his debt to nature, yet must receive no burial till his corpse has discharged his debt to his creditor? and hast thou sought to satisfy his hard-hearted creditor that those due funeral rites might be performed to thy brother?’

[116] Romans ix. 27.

[117] In the English edition the reading here is:—‘and had the above mentioned Legacy, so went weeping home for the loss of so good a Master.’

[118] ‘Simon Suckegg,’ and ‘Mrs. Lucy Longstitch’ in the English edition.

[119] ‘Like a first rate beau in the fashion,’ in the edition of 1820.

[120] Whether the chap-book was written by Dougal Graham or not, certainly no one can claim for him the authorship of these lines. They were written by Allan Ramsay on Lady Somerville’s Book of Scots Sangs. The complete inscription is thus given in Fullarton’s edition of the works of the poet, vol. iii. p. 13:—

[121] Monday, the 29th March, 1652, when an eclipse of the sun took place, there being complete darkness for about eight minutes. Law, in his Memorials, says:—‘The like, as thought by astrologers, was not since the darkness at our Lord’s Passion. The country people, tilling, loosed their ploughs, and thought it had been the latter day.... The birds clapped to the ground.’ According to the Burgh Records of Peebles, the people began to pray to God. This was how the day came to be named ‘the mirk Munonday.’

[122] Historically a true description of the manner in which the Sabbath day was observed immediately before the Reformation. Janet, however, must surely have been speaking more from tradition than personal knowledge.

[123] The popular, but mistaken, notion of the mercheta mulierum. Cosmo Innes, in his Lectures on Scottish Legal Antiquities, pp. 52-53, gives what seems to be the true meaning:—‘Mercheta is the older form of the maritagium or marriage-tax, in the charters of Robert I., and not only the servile class, but the free tenants also paid a maritagium on the marriage of their daughters.... Some learning has been brought to show that, on the Continent, this tax—mercheta mulierum—represented an ancient seignorial right—the jus primae noctis. I have not looked carefully into the French authorities; but I think there is no evidence of a custom so odious existing in England; and in Scotland, I venture to say that there is nothing to ground a suspicion of such a right. The merchet of women with us was simply the tax paid by the different classes of bondmen and tenants and vassals, when they gave their daughters in marriage, and thus deprived the lord of their services, to which he was entitled jure sanguinis.’ The reader may also find the matter very learnedly discussed in the appendix to Lord Hailes’ Annals of Scotland. It need only be remarked that prelates, being spiritual peers, and holding lands from the Crown on the same footing as their brethren of the civil estate, were entitled like them to levy the maritagium.

[124] See text and first note on p. 94 of the present volume.

[125] A reference to Episcopacy.

[126] This paragraph in itself contains an almost complete commentary on the superstition of which it treats. According to the legend of Thomas the Rhymer the devil levied tribute from the king of Fairy-land.

[127] A scriptural veneration for old age was long a characteristic of the common people of Scotland; but this remark betrays one of the tenets of the belief in witchcraft hardly consistent with the outward profession of the people. In a curious and interesting work, entitled the History of the Devil, the author says:—‘I think it was a mean, low-priced business for Satan to take up with; below the very Devil: below his dignity as an angelic, though condemned creature; below him even as a Devil, to go to talk to a parcel of ugly, deformed, spightful, malicious old women; to give them power to do mischief, who never had a will, after they entered into the state of old womanhood, to do anything else.’

[128] Another illustration of the ignorance of the common people of the time about foreigners, or the manners of life among the upper classes. This is not exaggerated, and could find parallels from more recent times. Janet’s answer is more enlightened, but she is shown all through the narrative as a well-informed woman.

[129] Any one who wishes to see compressed within one volume an account of the opinions of the human race all through time regarding Satan, will find it in The History of the Devil, Ancient and Modern, already mentioned. The second part of the work deals more particularly to the line of thought suggested by Janet. An edition of the work, published in London in 1793, lies before us; and the following verse on the title-page, referring in a slight degree to the remark in the text, may be quoted:—

[130] It would be difficult to find so much folk-lore compressed into so few lines. The passage is a valuable representation of the popular belief.

[131] Illustrations of the use of the advice here given may be found in a note to John Cheap the Chapman, at p. 104 of this volume.

[132] See first note on p. 95 of the present volume.

[133] In the Edinburgh reprint of 1820, all after the word ‘Paepery’ in this paragraph is left out here. After Janet’s reply, beginning—‘But Maggy, an ye be a mind to marry,’ etc, it is inserted as a separate speech by Margaret, all between ‘Paepery’ and ‘O woman, but a man,’ etc., being omitted altogether, the paragraph opening with the last quoted words.

[134] The ‘duket,’ or dove-cot, would be one of those large stone structures only occasionally to be found in Scotland now.

[135] In the edition of this chap-book, published in 1807, by J. & M. Robertson, Saltmarket, Glasgow, there is here a break in the narrative, and the following paragraph, with its accompanying heading, is inserted:—

‘Janet’s Advice to Maggy concerning Marriage.

‘While these two old Haverels were thus discussing together at their rocks, amongst other things Maggy told Janet, that although she was now above a hundred years of age, she had a great desire for a husband, but that she would be obliged to use some methods and enticements to make the young men fall in love wi’ her. Upon which, Janet gave her the following witty advice.’

The dialogue then proceeds as given in the edition re-produced in these pages. The interpolation here quoted seems to be by a hand other than that of the author, for it in some respects goes back upon Maggy’s previous statements, and makes an unnatural break in the dialogue.

[136] In an undated edition of the Haverel Wives, published by J. Morren, of the Cowgate, Edinburgh, the story is here brought to a close with the following lines:—

This ending, however, is hardly so consistent as the one given in the text.

[137] All that follows in this paragraph is left out in the Edinburgh reprint.

[138] A nick-name to the wife’s daughter that no man will marry, because stuff’d full of laziness, self-conceit and stinking pride; or if she be married, she’ll ly like stinking butter on his stomach while she lives.—Original Note.

[139] This paragraph is thus abridged in an edition published in 1824—‘4thly, concluding with an advice to young men and women.’

[140] A common name for a cow.

[141] A literal description of whale-bone stays.

[142] ‘Witless wanton waster,’ in 1820 reprint.

[143] The fabulous story of Fortunatus was known to every hind in the country through chap-books editions of his adventures.

[144] In the 1824 edition all that comes between the words ‘cannot help’ and ‘until they disdain now to ride upon pads,’ as in the text above, is omitted. The reading in that edition is:—‘The last prevailing evil that I see, all men may hear, but none strive to help; women now disdain to ride on pads, as of old,’ etc.

[145] Probably Carlisle.

[146] Scotch people have always had the idea that the use of carriages was a sign of effeminacy. Innovations tending towards ease and luxury in any direction were discountenanced; and the story is told of an old Highland chieftain who was highly mortified when he found that his son, on an expedition with the clan, used a stone for a pillow when sleeping on the hills. The use of a pillow of any kind seemed to him a symptom of declension.

[147] The Scots generally consider their native dialect as different from the English. They acknowledge a common origin, but argue for a different development. A look over the glossary at the end will give the reader some idea of the material divergences that have arisen in the growth of the Anglo-Saxon tongue in England and Scotland.

[148] In the 1824 edition, all between this and the paragraph beginning, ‘Another grievance of the female offenders,’ is left out.

[149] The rest of this paragraph in the 1824 edition reads:—‘I mean the flyers, who have got more silver than sense, more haughtiness than gold, and value themselves as treasure incomprehensible, their whole body as if set about with precious stones, and the solemnity, or their marriage, is like a peace after a bloody war.’

[150] There has always been in Scotland a tendency to make the celebration of a marriage the occasion of great festivity. The Church for a time tried to keep this within proper bounds, and generally allowed an expense of six shillings Scots (six pence sterling) for each guest. This was, however, often exceeded, and the parties had to answer to the Kirk Session for doing so. Even elders of the Kirk, when their daughters were being married, sometimes overstepped the limit, and had to make their repentance for it.

[151] This paragraph ends as follows in the 1824 edition:—‘as the skimings of a pot of green kail, and the poor husband has to return at ten o’clock to his fore-noon’s wark, without his breakfast, hanging his head like a brewer’s horse at the ale-house door.’

[152] The 1824 edition ends here, with the sentence:—‘That such a wife may be the lot of every young lad, is the earnest prayer of Grannie M‘Nab.’

[153] In Morren’s edition the order of the first three stories is different. In it the second story as above is first, the third second, and the first third.

[154] This ‘joke’ is left out in Morren’s edition; and the story about the drover, to be found at p. 161, is inserted before the one of the three merry companions.

[155] Perhaps other three miles. The Scottish ‘bittock’ is rather an elastic expression.

[156] Although the Scots have always been more or less of a military nation, the common people have generally had a sort of pitying contempt for mercenary soldiery, as opposed to the old feudal system of raising an army. It would be difficult to account for this feeling, but it is still the fact that even now service in the army is regarded as the last resource of a respectable tradesman or countryman.

[157] ‘Brucket’ in Morren’s edition.

[158] ‘Danger,’ according to Morren.

[159] This biographical preface was, according to Motherwell, given in an edition published in Glasgow in 1779, probably after Graham’s death.

[160] In Morren’s edition the following lines precede the title:—

[161] Properly Milngavie, in the neighbourhood of Glasgow. The common pronunciation of the word is phonetically given as ‘Milguy’ in Morren’s edition. In the modern Glasgow copies the spelling is ‘Mullgay.’

[162] ‘Or the Hottentot gibberish,’ is added in the modern Glasgow editions.

[163] Randall’s and Morren’s editions end here, the former with the lines quoted in p. 168 as preceding the title of Morren’s edition. What follows in the text appears in undated editions published in Glasgow within the last fifty years.

[164] Suggested, apparently, by Proverbs, vi. 26.

[165] Red-headed.

[166] ‘In his teeth,’ according to a modern undated edition.

[167] I.e., off the Mull of Galloway.

[168] A custom which has not yet fallen into disuetude in Irish communities. The popular idea of the use of these articles is simply that the brogues are for the accommodation of the dead man on his journey heaven-wards; the candle to light him on the way; the ‘good hard-headed old hammer’ to raise St. Peter, the venerable porter at the celestial gate; and the money is to pay for tolls. To many persons this explanation may smack somewhat of irreverence, but we are not aware of any more satisfactory explanation of the custom. Divested of its ‘bulls,’ the narrative of Teague is a fair outline of the proceedings at an Irish funeral.

[169] i.e. or a devil in its stead.

[170] The text up till this point has been published separately under the title of ‘The Miseries of Poor Simple Innocent Silly Tam.’ The ‘Misfortunes’ are not given in that chap-book. In all the other editions of Simple John which have come under the notice of the editor, each of the ‘misfortunes’ is given a separate numerical title, as ‘Misfortune I.,’ etc.

[171] The inhabitants of Buck-haven have always been acknowledged to be a peculiar people. An account of their origin is to the effect that they are the descendants of the crew of a ship from the Netherlands, which stranded on the coast of Fifeshire in reign of James IV. The village of Buckie, mentioned in the text, is on the Moray Firth, in the parish of Ruthven, county of Banff.

[172] This paragraph is omitted in the modern and Randall’s editions. The narrative in them begins with the next paragraph.

[173] In Randall’s and the modern edition this paragraph begins:—‘Again, these people are said to have descended from one Tom, and his two sons,’ etc.

[174] ‘Other hand,’ instead of ‘fishers of Bucky-harbour,’ in abridged editions.

[175] The sentence reads thus in abridged editions:—‘The Lord o’ the manor decided all disputable points, and wise Willie,’ etc.

[176] The word ‘mancoes’ is substituted for ‘mutches’ in the two abridged editions. They seem to have the same significance.

[177] The people of Buckhaven seem to have been free from the old superstition regarding the horse-shoe charm. A horse-shoe nailed to a stable door kept the four-footed inmates free from the power of ‘uncanny’ beings. The custom still lingers in the country, but it is due more to use and wont than any active belief in its virtues.

[178] A similar circumstance is related in the History of John Cheap the Chapman. See text and note at p. 93, vol. ii.

[179] Christening was looked upon by the people of Scotland as almost necessary to salvation. That doctrine held by a large section of the Christian church, was here largely mingled with superstition, and the powers of evil were thought to have a malign influence on the body and soul of an unchristened person. The popular ideas on the subject may be found fairly well brought out at p. 34 of the present volume.

[180] ‘Herd laddies,’ in the two abridged editions: but ‘ill-bred laddies’ in Morren’s edition.

[181] All this part, with the exception of the paragraph given in a subsequent note, is omitted in the two abridged editions.

[182] See note at p. 102 of the present volume. ‘My Lord,’ as feudal superior would have the appointment in his gift, in the same way as, prior to the year 1636, the prelates of Glasgow, had the power of presentation to the Provostship of the city.

[183] Probably a stupid synonym for crutches.

[184] In the olden times the lord and lady moved out and in among their people, and took an active interest in their every day concerns. This intercourse was generally productive of good, and the relationship between a superior and his vassals or tenants was of the most pleasant kind.

[185] This and other names in the chap-book give examples of the need there was in a community, consisting really of one large family, with the same surname common to almost all, for nicknames to distinguish between several persons who also bore the same Christian name. A more interesting account of such a circumstance is given by Cosmo Innes, in his work on Some Scottish Surnames.

[186] The coarse language here used is in no way an exaggerated account of what may have actually occurred at the period with which the author is dealing. Great laxity of morals and of speech prevailed; but vice, it must also be stated, came more to the surface than now. The people were uncultivated, and did not seek to cast a veil of prudery over their failings, however much these were to be reprobated. Swearing was then considered fashionable among the ladies of England: what could be expected from the peasantry of Scotland?

[187] Belief in dreams and omens was almost universal, and was fostered by the chap dream-books, whose modern successors may be found in Napoleon’s Book of fate, etc.

[188] The foregoing paragraph was thus given in the abridged editions:—‘There was a custom in Bucky harbour, when they got a hearty drink, that they went down to dance among the boats, two or three of the oldest went into a boat to see the rest dance, and when they admitted a burgher, there was always a dance. One day they admitted gly’d Rob, who was a warlock, and made them all stop their dancing, for which he was carried before wise Willie to answer for that, for which he was banished to the isle of May, to carry coals to the Light House.’

[189] Willy Thomson must have been guilty of some serious offence, when he was condemned to slavery. In comparatively recent times actual property in the persons who worked in coal-mines in Scotland was to be found, and the old records bear ample testimony to the existence of serfdom, and to the punishment of subjection to slavery being considered a part of the judicial system of the country.

[190] The third of May, when many superstitious observances were made. The first of May was Beltane, and has been traced to the fire-worship of the ancient Caledonians. Rood-day superstitions, however, were of more recent origin. Great precautions were taken against the power of witches and fairies, and if these should be neglected ill-luck would follow. Jamieson, in his Dictionary of the Scottish Language, under the word ‘Rude-day,’ gives a most interesting account of the ceremonies gone through on the yearly return of the festival.

[191] The ‘mauken,’ or hare seems to have occupied a most important position in the folk-lore of all countries, but notably of Scotland. Sir Walter Scott, in his work on Demonology and Witchcraft, tells how Isobel Gowdie, one of the witches of Auldern, disguised herself as a hare and after being hunted by hounds for some time, took refuge in a house where she found opportunity to say the disenchanting rhyme:—

That is her own story. A most valuable and interesting article, on ‘The Hare in Folk-Lore’ was contributed to a recent number of the Folk-Lore Journal by Mr. William George Black, F.S.A. Scot., and should be consulted by those who wish to know more about this subject.

[192] The statement contained in the text gives an excellent account of what was believed to be the attributes of the water-kelpie. In many old ballads references, such as the following, may be found:—

[193] Frequent reference has been made to the supposed power of fairies over unchristened children and their mothers. ‘Changelings’ were greatly feared. If a child developed a strong and uncontrollable temper there arose a suspicion that it was a ‘changeling,’ the meaning being that the fairies had slipped away the mother’s own child and substituted a little fiend in human form in its stead. It was believed that the best way to set the suspicion at rest was to submit the little unfortunate to the test of the fire. We have not, however, noticed any case where the test was actually carried out.

[194] The ‘mauken’s fit’ was particularly feared by the fishers on the east-coast of Scotland. Very recently, and it may be so still, it was sufficient to raise the ire of a fisher woman to wish she had a hare’s foot in her creel. The wish was regarded as equivalent to a malediction.

[195] That is, a maker of shallow baskets such as are used by fishers for carrying their fish.

[196] ‘Maids of honour,’ instead of ‘Maries,’ in the more recent editions. Jamieson, under the word ‘Maries,’ says:—‘The designation given to the maids of honour in Scotland.... This Queen [Mary Stuart] had four maids of honour, all of the name of Mary. There were Mary Livingston, Mary Fleming—Seaton, and—Beaton. Hence it has been supposed, that the name passed into a general denomination for female attendants.... From analogy, I am much inclined to think that the term is far more ancient than the period referred to. For we learn from Lye [Dictionarium Saxonico et Gothico-Latinum], that the O. E. [Old English] called the queen’s maids, the Queen’s Meys. Hence it is highly probable that our term Marie is an official designation, and allied to Isl. [Icelandic] maer, a maid, a virgin.... Thus the Queen’s Maries, a phrase still common among the vulgar, may be exactly synonymous with the Queen’s Maids.’

[197] This story is not given in Randall’s edition; but it has been inserted here from the Falkirk 1799 edition. A similar story is told of ‘Tom Tram,’ an English chap-book hero, and of Sancho Panza, in Don Quixote.

[198] In the later editions the dispute is said to have arisen about ‘education,’ not ‘religion,’ and it is stated of George that ‘he blanked the bishop remarkably.’ While this story undoubtedly presents an exaggerated picture of the educational virtues of Scotland, it must be remembered that owing to the system of parochial schools instituted by Knox the lower classes in Scotland had facilities for instruction, especially in the classics, which the otherwise more favoured English people did not possess.

[199] A similar story will be found in Bacon’s Apothegms. See Essays and Historical Works, Bohn’s edition, p. 189.

[200] Properly ‘Kinbot.’ The law or custom is much older than the reign of James VI., as the story here indicates. Jamieson derives the word from Anglo-Saxon cin, kindred, and bot, compensation. The present editor, in his History of Glasgow, p. 114, gives an account of an interesting case which occurred in Glasgow in the sixteenth century.

[201] ‘One hundred crowns,’ in the later editions.

[202] This story, and the one immediately following it, are not in Randall’s edition, but have been inserted from the 1799 Falkirk edition.

[203] Also to be found among Bacon’s Apothegms, Bohn’s edition, p. 168.

[204] This and the preceding story are from the Falkirk edition.

[205] This story has been inserted from the Falkirk edition. It is not in the one by Randall.

[206] Auchterarder.

[207] From the Falkirk edition.