Page:History and comical transactions of Lothian Tom (7).pdf/8

 8 Comical Tranfaction of Lothian Tom. the brutes, a cowper of horfes and cows, &c. and even wet ware amongft the brewers and brandy fhops, until he cowped himfelf to the toom halter; and then his parents would fup- ply him no more. He knew well, his gran- mother had plenty of money, but fhe would give him none, but the old woman had a good black cow of her own, which Tom went to the fields one evening, and catches, and takes her into an old wafte houfe, which ftood at a diftance from any other, and there he kept her two or three days, giving her meat and drink when it was dark at night, and made the old woman believe fomebody had ftolen the cow for their winter’s mart, which was grief enough to the old woman, for the lofs of her dearly beloved cow. How- ever, fhe employs Tom to go to a fair that was near by, and buy her another, gives him three pounds, which Tom accepts of very thankfully, and promifes to buy one as like the other as poffibly he could get; then he gets a piece of chalk, and brays it as fmall as meal, and fteeps it in a little water, and therewith rubs over the cow’s face and back, which made her baith brucket and rigget: So Tom in the morning, takes the cow to a public houfe within a little of the fair, and left her till the fair was over, and then drives her home before him ; and as foon as they came home, the cow began to rout as fhe ufed to do, which made the old woman to rejoice, thinking it was her own black cow,