J. F. Campbell Collection > Popular rhymes of Scotland

74 POPULAR RHYMES OF SCOTLAND.
and Dumfries, tliroug-h the vale of the Ewes, then im-
passable by any kind of vehicle, Armstrong- of Sorbie used
to bring- out a large brandy-bottle, from which he treated
his friend the Lord Justice-Clerk (Sir Gilbert Elliot), and
the other members of the cavalcade, to a dram. Upon one
occasion, when Heniy Home (afterwards Lord Kames) for
the first time went upon the circuit as advocate-depute,
Armstrong, in a whisper, asked Lord Minto 'what lang",
black, dour-looking chiel that was they had got wi' them?'
* That,' replied his lordship, ' is a man come to hang a' the
Armstrongs.' 'Then,' retorted Sorbie dryly, and turning
away, 'it's time the Elliots were ridin^ P
FAMILY OF GORDON.
The gule, the Gordon, and the hoodie-craw,
Are the three warst things that Moray ever saw.
The gool is a sort of darnel weed that infests corn. How
far the rhyme has a general application to the family of
Gordon, would admit of question. Pennant, who prints
the stanza, says that it refers to the plundering expe-
ditions of Lord Lewis Gordon, a son of the Marquis of
Huntly, and associate of Montrose in his wars. The cha-
racter of Lord Lewis, says the learned traveller, is con-
trasted with that of his commander in another popular
verse —
If ye wi' Montrose gae, ye'll get sick and wae eneugli ;
If ye wi' Lord Lewis gae, ye'U get rob and reive eneugh.
The depredations of the hoodie-craw speak for themselves.
Sutors ane, sutors twa,
Sutors in the Back Kaw !
The trade of the shoemaker formerly abounded so much
in Selkirk, that the burgesses in general pass to this day
amongst their neighbours by the appellation of the Sutors
of Selkirk. When a new burgess is admitted to the freedom
of the corporation, a small parcel of bristles is introduced,
and handed round the company, each of whom dips it in his
wine, and then passes it between his lips. This is called
Licking the birse. When Leopold of Saxe Coburg was
made a member in 1819, the worthy folk of Selkirk were