Page:History of John Cheap, the Chapman (7).pdf/20

20 fu' o' them.' Dear goodwife, said I, they were very good when I left them, though I didna prie them, and I wished them as much good of them as I got, but certainly they’re not witched, but a blessing in them when they are so multiplied. 'Gae awa,' cried she in a passion, 'ye'se no canny, ye'se ne'e be here again.' I need not value that, said I, for I have nothing to thank you for, but for my dinner supper and breakfast, and for a night of your barn, I'll pay it when I come back; 'Ay, ay,' said she, 'ye needna thank me for what ye didna get;' that's no my fault goodwife, said I, prosperity to you and your witcht sowens.

The next little town I came to, and the very first house that I entered, the wife cried out, 'Plague on your snout, sir, ye filthy blaekguardblackguard [sic] chapman-like bh it ye are, the last time ye came here ye gart our Sandy burn the gude bane kame it I gid a saxpence for in Falkirk, ay did ye, ay, sae did ye een, and said ye wad gie him a muckle elearclear [sic] button to do it:' Me, said I, I never had ado with you a' the days of my life, and do not say that Sandy is mine. A wae worth the body, am I saying ye had ado wi' me, I wadna hae ado wi' the like o' you, nor I am sure wi' them I never saw. But, what about the button and the bane kaim, goodwife? SannoekSannock [sic] is na this the man? Ay is't, cried the boy, gie me my button, for I burnt the kame, and she paid me for't; Gae awa, sir, said I, your mother and you arcare [sic] but mocking me; it was either you or ane like you, or some other body. O goodwife, I mind who it is now, 'tis just ane like me, when ye secsee [sic] the tane ye see the tither, they ca' him Jock Jimoither. A wae worth him, quoth thcthe [sic] wife, if I dinna thrapple him for my good bane