Page:Comical history of Simple John and his twelve misfortunes (3).pdf/3

 The History of Simple. John, &c. 3

after they’re married. He had but ae sister, and she had as little sense as himsel, she was married on Sleeky Wil- lie the wilie weaver, his mither was a rattling rattle-scull’d wife, and they liv- ed a’ in ae house, and every body held them as a family of fools. When John came to man’s state, to the age of twenty-one years, he tell’d his mither, he would hae a wife of some sort, either young or auld, widow or lass, if they had but head and hips, tongue and tail, he shou’d tak them, and weel I wat , mither, quoth he, they’ll get a lumping pennyworth o’ me, tak me wha will. His mither tells him o’ the black butcher on Ti’ot-side, who had three doughters, and every arie o’ them had something, there was Kate, Ann, and Girzy, had hundred merks the piece, Kate and Ann had baith bastards. Girzy the eldest had a humph-back, a high-breast, baker-legged, a short wry neck, thrawn mouth, and goggle-ey’d, a pertect Esop of the female kind, with as many crooked conditions within as without, a very lump of loun-like ill- nature, row’d a’ together, as if she had