The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-05-28

|
Scottish peasant often turn upon words
and ideas connected with Holy Scripture
This is not to be considered as in any
sense profane or irreverent but it arises
from the Bible being to the peasantry Of
an older generation than their library
| their only book. We have constant indi-
cations of this almost exclusive familiarity
with Scripture ideas. At the late ceremo-
| NAL in the North, when the Archbishop OF
| Canterbury laid the foundation of a
Bishops Church at Inverness, a number Of
persons, amid the general interest and
kindly feeling displayed by the inhabitants,
were viewing the procession from hill as
| 1t passed along. When the clergy, to the
| number OF sixty, came on, an old woman,
who was watching the whole scene with
| some jealousy, exclaimed, at sight Of the
surplices, There they go, the ,rhited sepul-
chreS'' 1received another anecdote illus.
| trative Of the same remark from minister
ofthe Free Church: mean of the hold which
Scripture expressions have upon the
minds of our Scottish peasantry. One OF
| his flock was a sick, nervous woman, who
hardly ever left the house. Bnt one fine
| afternoon, when she was left alone, she
tancicd she would like to get a little air
in the field adjoining the house. Accord
| ingly she put on bonnet and wrapped
herself in huge red shawl. Creeping
along the dyke-side, some cattle were at
| tracted towards her, and first one and
| then another gathered round, and she
took shelter in the ditch till she was re-
ieved by some one coming up to her
rcscue. She afterwards described her
| feelings to her minister in strong language,
| adding: And, eh sir when | lay by the
| dyke, and the beasts round a. glowering at
| me, | thocht what David maun have felt
when he said: Many bulls have COM
passed me; strong bulls of Bashan have
| beSct me round.'"
"The answer of the old woman under
examination by the minister to the ques-
| ton from the Shorter Catechism, 'What
are the decreeS of God p could not have
been surpassed by the General Assembly
Of the Kirk, or even the Synod of Dort-
Indeed, sir, He kcns that best Himsel.'
We have an answer analogous to that,
though not so pungent, in catechumen of
the late DR.. Johnstone, of Leith. She an
swered his own question, patting him on
the shoulder: Deed, just tell it yersel,
DOHhV bOStoi kHC hao d fSiy iahuSOhiN
MANI; naebody can tell it better
"Frequcnt mention is made of class
| of old ladies, generally residing in small
towns, who were peculiarly Scotch, and
| who retained till within the memory OF
many now living the special characteris-
| tics | have referred to. Owing to local
connection, brought forward those chiefly
who lived in MontroSe and the neighbor-
hood. But the race is extinct; you might
as we'll look for hoops and tarthingaleS in
| society as for such characters now. You
can scarcely imagine an old lady, how
ever quaint, now making use Of some OF
the expressions recorded in the text, or
saying, for the purpose of breaking up a
rd-party of which she was tired, from
holding bad cards, We'll stop now, BARNS,
| I'm no cnterteened ,; or urging more haste
| in going 10 church on the plea, Come
ava, or I'll be over late for the wicked
man.
Scottish dialects are peculiarly rich in
terms Of cndearmcnt, more so than the
pure Anglican. Without at all pretending
10 exhaust the subject, | may cite the fol-
lowing as examples of the class of terms |
speak of: Take the names for parents
.Daddic' and Minnie names for chill
drcn, my wee bit lady or laddy,' 'my
| wee bit lamb; of general nature, 'my
ain kind dearie.' 'Dawtie,' especially
used to young people, described by jamie
son a darling or favorite, one who is
dQlrtca--i. G., fondled or caressed. Ny
| Zoe expresses affection with familiarity,
evidently drived from joy-an easy transi-
ton, as my joe, Janet; John Anderson,
nv Joe, John OF this character is Burns's
address to Il wife, MY winsome II. e.,
charming, engaging-wce thing; also to
| a wife, 'my winsome marrow the latter
| word signitying a dear companion, one of a
| pair closely allied to each other; also the
| address Of Rob the Ranter to Maggie Lauder,
| NV bonnie Bird Now, we would remark
| upon this abundant nomenclature of kindly
expressions in the Scottish dialect that it
assumes an interesting position as taken in
connection with the Scottish life and cha
racter, and as a set-otf against the frequent
short and y1anpy manner. 1t indicates
how often there must be current of ten
dernesS and affection in the Scottish heart,
which is so frequently represented to be,
| like its climate, stern and Wild There
| could not he such terms were the feelings
they express unknown. | believe it often
| happens that in the Scottish character
there is a vein of deep and kindly feeling
| lying hid under a short and hard and some
what stern manner. Hence has arisen the
Scottish saying which is applicable to
such cases His girn's waur than his
bite his disposition is of softer nature
than his words and manner would often
lead you to suppose"