Page:History of Buckhaven in Fifeshire.pdf/11

 frae my mither. Then, said he, he is with child. The deil's in the man, quo' she, for my mither bare a' de bairns before; dat's no true, sir; fegs, ye're a great liar. Hame she comes, and tell'd Willie, her father, that the doctor said he was wi’bairn. Osaesme, quo' Willie, for I hae a muckle wame, an' I fear its owre true. O plague on you, Janet, for ye're the father o't, an' I am sure to die in the bearing o't. Witty Eppie was sent for, as she was a houdie, an' she sand a' Willie's wame, to be sure about it. Indeed, quo' Eppie, ye're the first man ere I saw wi' bairn before; an' how ye'll bear it, troth I dinna ken; but I wad drink salt sea water, and drown it in my guts--for if men get ance the gate o' bearing weans themselves, they'll seek nae mair wives.

So Willie drank sea water till his guts was like to rive, and out he goes to ease himself among the kail. With the terrible noise of his farting, up starts a maukin behind him, who thought it was shot. Willie seeing her jump o'er. the dike, thought it was a child brought