Selections from Tales of the Borders and of Scotland - Softcover
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1885. Excerpt: ... WILLIE WASTLE'S ACCOUNT OF HIS WIFE.--0--"Sic a wife as Willie had! I wadna gic a button for her.' BuKNS.--0--'TT was a very cruel dune thing in my neebor, Robert JL Burns, to mak a sang about my wife and me,' said Mr. William "Wastle, as he sat with a friend over a jug of reeking toddy, in a tavern near the bridge-end, in Dumfries, where he had been attending the cattle-market; 'I dinna think it was neebor-like,' he added; 'indeed it was a rank libel upon baith her and me; and I took it the worse, inasmuch as I always had a very high respect for Maister Burns. Though he said that I " dwalt on Tweed," and that I " wag a wabster," yet everybody kenned wha the song was aimed at. Mr. Allan Cunningham, in his "Life of Burns," states the following particulars respecting Willie-s wife:--viz., that "He was a farmer, who lived near Burns, at Ellisland. She was a very singular woman; tea, she said, would be the ruin of the nation: sugar was a sore evil; wheaten bread was only fit for babes; earthenware was a pickpocket; wooden floors were but fit for threshing upon; slated roofs, cold; feathers good enough for fowls. In short, she abhcrred change, and whenever anything new appeared--such as harrows with iron teeth--'Ay! ay!' she would exclaim, 'yell see the upshot!' Of all modern things she disliked china most; she called it 'burnt clay,' and said 'it was only fit for haudin' the broo o' stinkin' weeds,' as she called tea. On one occasion an English dealer in cups and saucers asked so much for his wares, that he exasperated a peasant, who said, 'I canna purchase, but I ken ane that will. Gang there,' said he, pointing to the house of Willie's wife, 'dinna be blate, or burd-moothed; ask a guid penny--she has the siller!' Away went the poor dealer, spread out his w...
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- PublisherGeneral Books LLC
- Publication date2012
- ISBN 10 1150159960
- ISBN 13 9781150159961
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages110
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