The Proverbs of Scotland. Alexander Hislop
—Cherrie and the Slae.
A' owers spills.
A party pot ne'er plays even.
An interested or prejudiced individual cannot be an impartial judge of both sides of a question.
A penny hain'd's a penny clear, and a preen a-day's a groat a-year.
A penny hain'd's a penny gained.
A penny in my purse will gar me drink when my friends winna.
A penny in the purse is a gude friend.
A penny in the purse is better than a crown awa.
A pennyweight o' love is worth a pound o' law.
A pickle's no miss'd in a mickle.
A poll parrot thinks weel o' itsel.
A poor man is fain o' little.
A poor man's debt maks muckle din.
A pound o' care winna pay an ounce o' debt.
Care here means sorrow, or trouble of mind, and must not be associated with care in the sense of frugality or economy, which has paid many an ounce of debt.
A pound o' woo' is as heavy as a pound o' lead.
A primsie damsel maks a daidlin' dame.
A proud heart in a poor breast has muckle dolour to dree.
A proud mind and an empty purse gree ill thegither.
"A true proverb! and the worst is, they meet often."—Kelly.
A raggit coat was ne'er a mote in a man's marriage.
A raggit cowte may be a gude gelding.
An uncouth, unpromising colt may turn out a fine horse. An ignorant, dull boy may ultimately prove a very clever man.
"Yet aft a ragged cowte's been known
To mak a noble aiver;
So, ye may doucely fill a throne,
For a' their clish-ma-claver."
—Burns.
A reckless house maks mony thieves.
A red nose maks a raggit back.
A reeky house and a girnin' wife, will lead a man a fashious life.
A reproof is nae poison.
"No, indeed! but a wholesome medicine, which whosoever refuseth is brutish!"—Kelly.
A rich man has mair cousins than his faither had kin.
A rich man's wooing's no lang doing.
A rough bane maks a fu' wame.
As a carl riches he wretches.
"Wretch, a covetous or niggardly person."—Jamieson. As a man becomes rich he also becomes more parsimonious.
A safe conscience maks a sound sleep.
A saft aiver was ne'er a gude horse.
As ane flits anither sits, and that keeps mailins dear.
As brisk as bottled ale.
As broken a ship's come to land.
"'I fear,' said Morton, 'there is very little chance, my good friend Cuddie, of our getting back to our old occupation.' 'Hout, stir; hout, stir,' replied Cuddie, 'it's aye gude to keep up a hardy heart—as broken a ship's come to land.'"—Old Mortality.
A's but lip-wit that wants experience.
A scabbed horse is gude enough for a sca'd squire.
A sca'ded cat dreads cauld water.
As canker'd as a cow wi' ae horn.
"As proud as a hen with one chick."—English.
A scar'd head is eith to bleed.
A scar'd head is soon broken.
A reputation already questionable is easily lost altogether.
As coarse as Nancie's harn sark—three threads out o' the pound.
A Scotch mist will weet an Englishman to the skin.
A Scotsman and a Newcastle grindstane travel a' the world ower.
Alluding to the wandering propensities of the one and the good qualities of the other.
A Scotsman is aye wise ahint the hand.
"It is too late to throw water on the cinders when the house is burned down."—Danish.
As dark as a Yule midnight.
As day brake, butter brake.
"Spoken when a person or thing that was wanting comes opportunely."—Kelly.
A seven years' maiden is aye at the slight.
As fain as a fool o' a fair day.
A's fair at the ba'.
"All's fair in war."—English.
As fause as Waghorn.
"Waghorn, a fabulous personage, who, being a liar nineteen times greater than the devil, was crowned King of liars."—Jamieson.
A's fine that's fit.
A's fish that comes to the net.
As fu' o' mischief as an egg's fu' o' meat.
As gentle as Gorman's bitch, that lap ower the ingle and ate the roast.
As gude a fellow as ever toom'd a bicker.
As gude eat the deil as sup the kail he's boiled in.
As gude fish in the sea as e'er cam out o't.
As gude gie the lichtly as tak it.
"Lichtly, an expression of contempt or insult: to undervalue, to slight, to despise."—Jamieson.
As gude may haud as draw.
As gude may haud the stirrup as he that loups on.
As gude merchants tine as win.
As gude ne'er a bit, as ne'er the better.
"Unless you make a thing the better for you, you had as good let it alone."—Kelly.
A's gude that God sends.
A shave aff a new cut loaf's never missed.
A shor'd tree stands lang.
"Men do not die of threats."—Dutch.
A short grace is gude for hungry folk.
A short horse is sune wispit.
A sight o' you is gude for sair een.
"'Wha's this o't?' again exclaimed Madge Wildfire. 'Douce Davie Deans; the auld doited whig body's daughter, in a gipsy's barn, and the nicht setting in! this is a sight for sair een!—Eh, sirs, the falling off o' the godly!—and the t'other sister's in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh.'"—Heart of Midlothian.
A sillerless man gangs fast through the market.
A silly man will be slily dealt wi'.
"He that makes himself a sheep, shall be eaten by the wolf."—English.
A sinking maister maks a rising man.
A skelpit bum breaks nae banes.
Ask the tapster if his ale be gude.
Ask your purse what you should buy.
Ask nae questions, and I'll tell nae lees.
"'What needs ye be aye speering then at folk?' retorted Effie. 'I'm sure, if ye'll ask nae questions, I'll tell ye nae lees. I never ask what brings the Laird