Blair Collection > Mackintosh's collection of Gaelic proverbs, and familar phrases

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103. The man who puts not a knot on his thread,
loses the first stitch.
1 04. The man who will not till at home, will not till
elsewhere.
1 05. The ousel, the club-footed ousel ! I gave him the
sheltered grassy wood, and he gave me the black
barren heath, (z)
106. When All-Saints'-Tide falls on a Wednesday,
worldly men are querulous.
107. The man who would put his finger in my eye, I
would put my knee on his chest.
1 08. The feast that is soonest ready, sit we all down to
share it.
109. The grass that appears in March, disappears in
April.
110. The hand that gives, is the hand that gets.
111. The thing that is destined is inevitable.
112. What the ear hears not, the heart stirs not. {a)
113. How comely the countenance were the behaviour
judicious.
1 1 4. Say to me ere I say to thee.
115. A pack-saddle in place of a [proper] saddle.
116. The reproach of the one twist on the other twine.
117. It is at the utmost need that a true friend is
proved. {b)
(z) Some say that this alludes to the Roman invasion, and
others refer it to the Scandinavian incursions, when the Gael
left the more sheltered spots and pasture ranges, and fled to the
fastnesses of the Grampian hills.
(a) " What the eye sees not, the heart rues not." — Kelly' t
Scotch Proverbs.
(è) " Prove thy friend ere thou have need." — Kay's Pro v.
" A friend in need is a friend indeed." — ib,
*♦ Many kinsfolk, few/72>7ic/5.''-— ib.