at he is, his whinger in a leather tashe swingin'
ahint him. It's a queerie thing that for a' sae often as I hae telled
the curate aboot him, he has never steered him. There maun be something
no very thorough aboot the curate, an' he none so great a hero wi' the
pint stoup either, man!

"Aweel, as the forenicht slippit on, an' the lassies cam' in frae the
byre, an' the lads frae the stable, it was just as I expected. They drew
up their stools aboot the hearth, got oot their Bibles an' warmed their
taes. Lord preserve me, to see them sittin' sae croose an' canty ower
Effectual Callin' an' Reason Annexed, as gin they had been crackin' an'
singin' in a change-hoose! They're a queer fowk thae Whigs. It wad hae
scunnered a soo! An' twa-three neebours cam' in by to get the benefit o'
the exerceeses! Faith! if Clavers had chanced to come by the road, he
wad hae landed a right bonny flaucht o' them, for there wasna yin o' the
rive but had grippit sword at either o' the twa risin's. For a' the auld
carles had been at Pentland an' a' the young plants o' grace had been at
Bothwell--ay, an' Auld Anton an' twa-three mair warriors had been at
them baith. An' gin there had been a third he wad hae been there too,
for he's a grim auld carle, baith gash an' steeve, wi' his Bible an' his
brass-muntit pistols an' his Effectual Callin'!

"Then bywhiles, atween the spells o' the questions, some o' the young
yins fell a-talkin', for even Auld Anton canna haud the tongues o' the
young birkies. An' amang ither things what did the loons do but start to
lay their ill-scrapit tongues on me, an' begood to misca' puir Birsay
for a' that was ill!"

"'Listeners hear nae guid o' themselves,' is an auld-farrant say,
Birsay," I said.

"Aweel," the suitor went on, "that's as may be. At ony rate, it was
'Birsay this' an' 'Birsay that,' till every porridge-fed speldron an'
ill-gabbit mim-moo'ed hizzie had a lick at puir Birsay.

"But at the lang an' last the auld man catched them at it, an' he was
juist the man to let them hear aboot it on the deafest side o' their
heids. He was aye a don at reprovin', was Auld Anton. No mony o' the
preachers could haud a can'le to him on the job.

"Is it no a gey queer thing," said Birsay, breaking off his story, "that
when we set to an' curse a' an' sundry, they ca' it profane sweerin',
and misca' us for awesome sinners; but when they lay their tongues to
their enemies an' curse them, it's ca'ed a Testimony an' prin