his time, and that he had not met with it till he had made considerable progress in his own collection.  The book is now extremely rare, and fetches a high price.  By the great kindness of the learned librarian, I have been permitted to see the copy belonging to the library of the Writers to the Signet.  It is the first edition, and very rare.  A quaint little thin volume, such as delights the eyes of true bibliomaniacs, unpaged, and published at Edinburgh 1641—­although on the title-page the proverbs are said to have been collected at Mr. Fergusson’s death, 1598[85].  There is no preface or notice by the author, but an address from the printer, “to the merrie, judicious, and discreet reader.”

The proverbs, amounting to 945, are given without any comment or explanation.  Many of them are of a very antique cast of language; indeed some would be to most persons quite unintelligible without a lexicon.

The printer, in his address “to the merrie, judicious, and discreet reader,” refers in the following quaint expressions to the author:—­“Therefore manie in this realme that hath hard of David Fergusson, sometime minister at Dunfermline, and of his quick answers and speeches, both to great persons and others inferiours, and hath hard of his proverbs which hee gathered together in his time, and now we put downe according to the order of the alphabet; and manie, of all ranks of persons, being verie desirous to have the said proverbs, I have thought good to put them to the presse for thy better satisfaction....  I know that there may be some that will say and marvell that a minister should have taken pains to gather such proverbs together; but they that knew his forme of powerfull preaching the word, and his ordinar talking, ever almost using proverbiall speeches, will not finde fault with this that he hath done.  And whereas there are some old Scottish words not in use now, bear with that, because if ye alter those words, the proverb will have no grace; and so, recommending these proverbs to thy good use, I bid thee farewell.”

I now subjoin a few of Fergusson’s Proverbs, verbatim, which are of a more obsolete character, and have appended explanations, of the correctness of which, however, I am not quite confident:—­

A year a nurish[86], seven year a da[87].  Refers, I presume, to fulfilling the maternal office.

Anes payit never cravit.  Debts once paid give no more trouble.

All wald[88] have all, all wald forgie[89].  Those who exact much should be ready to concede.

A gangang[90] fit[91] is aye[92] gettin (gin[93] it were but a thorn), or, as it sometimes runs, gin it were but a broken tae, i.e. toe.  A man of industry will certainly get a living; though the proverb is often applied to those who went abroad and got a mischief when they might safely have stayed at home—­(Kelly).

All crakes[94], all bears[95].  Spoken against bullies who kept a great hectoring, and yet, when put to it, tamely pocket an affront—­(Kelly).