t him up at my table-head,
And feed him there wi' milk and bread.

Whereas, if the proposal is not agreeable, her reply may be:--

I'll put him on a riddle, and blaw him owre the sea,
Wha will buy [Jamie Paterson] for me?

Or:--

I'll set him up on a high lum-heid,
And blaw 'im in the air wi' poother and lead.

A refusal on either side must, of course, be atoned for by a "wadd," or
forfeit--which may consist of a piece of money, a knife, a thimble, or
any little article which the owner finds convenient for the purpose.
Then, when a sufficient number of persons have made forfeits, the
business of redeeming them commences, which may afford any amount of
amusement. He, or she, as the case happens, may be ordered to "kiss the
four corners of the room;" "bite an inch off the poker;" "kneel to the
prettiest, bow to the wittiest, and kiss the one he (or she) loves
best," or any one of a dozen similarly silly ordeals, as the doomster
proposes, may have to be gone through. When the forfeits have all been
redeemed the game is ended.

* * * * *

Similar to the foregoing, in some respects, is "~The Wadds and the
Wears~," which John Mactaggart, the writer of _The Gallovidian
Encyclopaedia_, describes as (in his day) "the most celebrated amusement
of the ingle-ring" in the south-west of Scotland. As in the "Wadds,"
the players are seated round the hearth. One in the ring (says
Mactaggart), speaks as follows:--

I hae been awa' at the wadds and the wears,
These seven lang years;
And's come hame a puir broken ploughman;
What will ye gie me to help me to my trade?

He may either say he's a "puir broken ploughman," or any other trade;
but since he has chosen that trade, some of the articles belonging to it
must always be given or offered, in order to recruit him. But the
article he most wants he privately tells one of the party, who is not
allowed, of course, to offer him anything, as he knows the thing, which
will throw the _offerer_ in a _wadd_, and must be avoided as much as
possible--for to be in a _wadd_ is a very serious matter, as shall
afterwards be explained. Now the one on the left hand of the poor
ploughman makes the first offer, by way of answer to what above was
said: "I'll gie ye a _coulter_ to help ye to your trade."

The ploughman answers, "I don't thank ye for your _coulter_, I hae ane
already." Then another offers him another article belonging to the
plough