Scotland/Scots > Licht frae the smiddy o' Saunders Dinwuddie

MACHINE FOR INCORRIGIBLES.
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said to write his laws in blood. To the
freaks o’ fun or frolics o’ nonsense—to the silly,
the simple, and the tavert, wha hardly ken
whether their brains be in their heads or else¬
where, I would be mercifu’—vera mercifu’ to
them, poor souls. But to the man wi’ the laigh
brow, the far-ben whittret’s een, the corduroy
visage, the snout-like nose, the clenched upper
lip—the man wi’ the cobbler-like elbows, ever
ready for a faught or for a murderous onslaught
on aneibour—the man o’brutish fierceness that de¬
lights in outrage—the man wha would lay violent
hands on ony helpless woman that came in his
way—the man wha’s soul was made up o’ every
kind o’ unsocial and devilish elements—the man
wha would spill the life’s-blood o’ his brother as
he would pour cauld water out o’ a pitcher—that
man I would tak’ and teach the meaning o’ the
words ‘ A rod for the fool’s back. ’ ”
“ The law, Saunders, would have an immensity
of hard work on hand, if it were to thwack the
whole tribe of sinners, who seem, from some
diabolic instinct, unable to keep themselves from
acts of violence.”
“ I say again, Sir, ‘ A rod for the fool’s back,’
and if the law be in a quandary as to where the
rods and the agents are to be found to carry on
the laborious wark o’ thrashin’ bloody-souled
ne’er-do-weels—ha’e ye no plenty o’ steam-power,
and abundance o’ men able to draw out a plan o’
a thrashin’ mill that could be so made, so
tempered, and so regulated, that it would thrash
frae the sma’est to the greatest o’ malefactors wi’
a maist astonishin’ scientific nicety ?”