Page:Exploits of wise Willie and witty Eppie, the ale-wife, of Buckhaven (2).pdf/3

 3                    near Banff, called Bucky, and near the river Spey, which is now a pretty large sea-town. But among all the sea-towns in Scotland, the fishers still retain a lan- guage quite different from the people in                    the country; and always they shift the letter H, and use O instead thereof, which no country-people in Scotland do but themselves. There is a corruption of                    speech in every country over all Britain, and likewise they use different tones and ways of pronouncing words from others; even some in the south of Scotland can hardly be understood by those in the north, tho’ both pretend to speak good English, and have a liberal part of edu- cation: But since learning is now so                    easy to be obtained, ignorance and cor- ruption of speech are greatly decreased. In the county of Fife, on the sea-coast, there stands a little town, inhabited by                    few but fishers, called Bucky-barbour, because of sea-buckies and shells to                    be found so plenty on the rocks about that place. There is little mention made of this town by Historians, to                    know its original extraction and antiqui- ties, but in their own Burges-Ticket, which was partly perfect truth, but more of it by way of lampoon. This Ticket was dated the two-and-thirtieth day of                    the month of Julius Cæsar. Their Coat