Page:Comical history of Simple John and his twelve misfortunes (4).pdf/24

 side. Hout, tout, co' the auld wife, I'll mak o' him and he'll mend again. So John got peace made up after a', and he was easier mended than the burnt web; got all his treadles & warklooms set in order, the wife's tongue excepted, which was made of wormwood, and the rest of her body of sea-water, which is always in a continual tempest.

So John appeals to a Jedburgh Jury, if it be not easier to deal wi' tools than headstrong fashion folks; owns he has but an empty skull but his wicked wife wants wit to put judgment in't. Never tells him o' danger till it comes upon him, for his mother said he was a biddable bairn, if ony body had been to learn him wit.