J. F. Campbell Collection > Popular rhymes of Scotland

^ RHYMES UPON NATURAL OBJECTS. 169
In fir tar is, in oak none is, _ ._,
In mud eels is, in clay none is. "^S, i. ' fl
Can a mare eat oats ? K. '>*^f €/( .
THE FLOUNDER.
Fishes are the only other order of vertebrate animals on
which the boys of Scotland have exercised their rhyming-
powers. The wry mouth of the flounder has given rise to
the following-, which is popular in Kincardineshire : —
Said the trout to the fluke,
When did your mou' crook ?
My mou' was never even,
Since I cam' by John's Haven.
John's Haven being a fishing-village in that county.
THE HADDOCK.
A semi-metrical proverb expresses the season at which
the haddock and some other articles of aliment are supposed
to be at their best—
A Januar haddock,
A Februar bannock,
And a March pint o' ale.
This, however, as far as the haddock is concerned, would
appear questionable, as there is an almost universal notion
that the young of this fish, at least, are best after a little of
May has gone. Thus in the Mearns —
A cameral haddock's ne'er guid,
Till it get three draps o' May flude.
In Northumberland they say —
The herrings are na guid,
Till they smell the new hay.
THE EEL.
Boys, finding an eel, will say to it —
Eelie, eelie, ator,
Cast a knot upon your tail,
And I'll throw you in the water.
So in Peeblesshire ; but in the Mearns —
Eelie, eelie, cast your knot.
And ye'U get back to your water-pot.