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him, ye wadna speak about him he's useless no worth the keeping in a house, but to ca' him to die like an auld beast at a dykeside. Hout, tout, co' the auld wife, we'll mak o' him and he'll mend again. So John got peace made up after all, and he was easier mended than the burnt web, got all his tradles and warklooms set in order, the wifes 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 apeals to a Jedburgh Jury if it be not easier to deal wi' fools than headstrong fashious fouks; owns he has but an empty skull, but his wicked wife wants wit to pour judgement into it, 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.