Racey of the Soil

Bruce Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 2409, 16 September 1892, Page 4

Racey of the Soil

Frora the Dumferliue Saturday Press of August 6 we extract oue of Gabrial Ha.rigal's delightful letters, rich in its Doric, and full of humour. Ib is headed TWA WEEKS AT cu'itoss and proceeds: Maister Editor, — I see frae the newspapers and hear frae my neebors, that the ootgangers ab the coast; hae spent, as usual, a maisb wearifu' holiday, and hae been clean dung down wi' ilka mornin's considerations of hoo tae spend the hours of the day. It's a' necessary, of course, and in the way o' fashion, that folk should hire during the season a bit packin' box o' a room doon at Aberdour or Kinghorn ; or wast by at Newmilns or Valley field, an' struggle through a fortnight's existence there. That's gran ye ken, jisfc: to think aboofc, an' mak' up your mind that fche fourteen days are to be a' sunshine, (that the ripples o' the sea will aye bs dancin' up on a sandy beach; an' that a' your packin'-box neebors will be comin' oot ilka mornin' smirkin' and smilin', an' sayin' — " Hoo are ye, this mornin', Mr Harrigals, and hoo are you, Mrs Harrigals, and hoo's a' youi' boys and girls since last niebb's paidlin' i' the saut watter ?" A' this is fine material for colourin' the skies o' imaginashun an' makin' ane jist lonpin* daft tae get awa to the sea shore, Bub ifc's a different thing, let me tell yon, when you get there. You're no twa hours out o' your bed on the first day o' your sojourn when you begin to mak discoveries. Mrs Clinkscales, her man, an' her bairns, were in next door to the place we had engaged for twa weeks at Kinghorn last year ;- and Mrs Clinkscales' braw man widna even look at me; she hersel' widna speak tae Mra Harrigals, an' the nursery maid wi' a' the bairns were strictly forbidden to hae ony intercoorse wi' the butcher folk next; door, to wit, oorselves ye ken. And then their dresses were a' oot o' sichfc o' oors for fashion an' grandeur, no tae speak o' their parasols, an' their perambulators, an' their gew-gaws, an' kick-shaws, ilka item of which fairly pu l : puir Mrs : Harrigals an' her bairns i' the shade. An' then boo wearifu' to an active man like mysel' to get up ilka mornin' an' drag fche bairns doon to the sands, an'bouk holes with a wooden shool for twa boors, an' then fill them a' in again ; or to doze an' sleep after denner among the lang bent grass, listenin' every twa seconds to the grumbling voice of my better- half bannin' the flees for bitin' her nose, or cryin' to the bairns, or makin' remarks on the dresses o' tha ladies wi' their long skirts, their flips an' their loops an' their suspenders, as they gaed sailin' past. Thafc wasna very edifyin', Mr Editor ! nor rauckle better was it when i* the afternoon, when tea was finished, I gob on my besb bat, and Mrs ££, her hew alhambra oo3fcume, an' a' the bairns their besfc mariue ootflts, an' we, as n body, walked oot in oor maist impoain' style along the harbour afc Pettycur. Naebody that I saw paid the least attention to either me or Mrs Harrigals, an' I made up my mind that if ever I should gang again to the sea shore, I would spend my time in some ither and qwr natural fashion. '•' Weel, ye see, here we are this ye w at the ancient city of Cu'ross. Mysel', Gj-eorgie Whifcsandj Sandie Smacast, an { oor friend, ]?eter Mupklewee, a' get doon for the last twa weeks o' July, *-/i' oor wives an' olives, under the shadow p' Dunimarlp. W e begafl. the seasou just ip. the ordinar' \yay — dauuderiu' doon to the staney shore i' the mft>min', oot to the pier head i' the forenoon ? . ctyshroagjayerfq. amoqg the sands rqad aftpr tea, an tumblin into bed gapin an gaunfcin an raxin 1 oor airrua wi very wearinesa a fc the close q the dreich c|»y*

Bufc as I tel't ye before, this kind o lifo wadna suit me. I jaloused frae the first I wadna be able to pit up wi 6, an as I had seen fche bits o\ addles an hssies at Kinghorn turnin oor leaden hours into golden periods o sixty minutes each, by pnrsuin' a simple an natural course o' life, an' can n naething ava' for the fashion o' the thing, I had provided for a change o' life, if the warst should come to the warst. On the third day, therefore, o oor sojourn afc Cu'ross, we four auld chaps, alter a lang Hame Rule debate, determined to be like the laddies ; in fact to be laddies oorsels for ac week at least. It micht bo the means o' subbractin' something frae oor characters as fdosofers ; but if ib added to oor enjoyment, I wa'ud like to ken whaur the objection comes in ; an' if you were alarg here, Mr Editor, an' saw Geordie, Sandy, j Peter an' mysel', a' as keen an' busy a<3 ' we could be playin' afc " kittlecour," an'^ "hie apy," yqu wad admit, sir, for a' your wisdom, that we had gotten the richt end o' fche string in the matter o' ppendiu' oor seaside holidays. The wives laughed at us at first, an' said we were a parcel o' auld fools, au' the barms screamed wi' delight when they saw Peter was " tig-jit," or fat Gc-.ordie hurried prisoner into the "den-" bufc fchey werna lang when they took to copyin' oor example, an' returning to a state of natural enjoyment. We were juist in the very heart o' a game at the "bools" up i' the back walk, when we were surprised to notice thafc tbe auld lassies, oor wives, ye ki.ui, were busy at fche "chucks." They had brocht up frao the shore five ".chuckie-stanes" fche piece, an' here they were practisin, fche " anes " the " twas " the "threes" the " four*-," the " upcast," and the "pinkie" wi' a' the zest o' lassies at fif ten. We had tho laugh on oor side noo, bnt they bad got so sharp set on the business* that tbey juist played on, an' paid nae mair attention to oor derision than if we had been a sefc o' auld roubin' sfcots. We played awa' at " damager " and " plunkers " in' " curl i up " till the gloamin' began to cast a ! grey mantle o'er the Firth, an' lads an' lassies were beginnin' to come up fco the trystin' place beneath the shadows o' the trees., We resigned the *' bools," an' the wives abandoned the "chuckies" an' we finished up the day wi' a divertin' half-hour at ** through the needle cc boys." Man ! hoo the wives an' lasses sang an' held their hands archways o'er oor heads, while the chosen pair went sweepin' up an' doon the double raw o' guards. We hooohed and hurrahed till we were fairly tired, got then awa doon to oor landlady, and near hand, cleaned out her aumrie ere wo got through wi' oor supper. lean tell ye we sleepifc sound enough that nicht, and we had neither time to guanb nor gowl when we were a' aff fast asleep i' the land o' Nod. Geordie and Sandie were a wee stiff next mornin', an' as Peter an' mysel' worena free o' tbe same complaint, we agreed to start canny. I had managed to instruct the chief joiner o Cu'ross in the art and mystery o makia a " tod an' lamb brod," an' wi' this Peter an| Sandie set fco work— the ano to catch a' the lambs be could, an' the ither to jamb up tho tods. It was wonderfu' to see hoo fast the twa auld^ carles wrought themselves into the quirks o' the game, an' though Geordie an' mysel! were busy handlin' the " cleckin' brods," oor twa neebors were a' ower keen on their am game to mind us. " Hide-an'-seek" was a relief to us a', for ilka ane — bairns, wives, an' men took part in it; au' whuppib roun' the auld houses till we were as supple as eels. Thia wa3 followed by a spell o' the " penny stanes," everybody takin' a hand, till we thocht it time to "split an' gie ower." "Ducks" and pitch-an'* toss" keepit us busy till the denner hour cam' roun', when alacg the braes we gade like the break at Dunbar. The denner was pleasant that day, an' proved to us a' that a good stomach is before good meat. We stuffed oor, sels rather foo in oor hurry, however, an' had just to sic doon by the door cheek an' wait till we slaoken'd a wee. But we coudna be idle. Peter was the only snuffer among U3— the rest o' us iudulgin' in the weed by smoke, wi' a plentifu' supply o short cutties and lang shanks. Oor puff was soon oot in moro ways than ane, an' it neoded only the suggestion of a hint to see us chagiu' oot the dottals an' a tar tin' to the hlawin* o " soap bubbles," Weel -Mr Editor, thera's many a bubble blown, especially aboob eleotion times ; bub there never were bubbles so rich iq tint, so glorious in fabrication, as these hubbies o Ouross. The wives watohod ao we blew, fchey notioed whether the floating spheres sailed into separate lines o beauty, or,, ooming together, collided, burst, and were reduced to smash. Rummers couldua be played sitfcin, so -ye rose to oor fqqt an made the spales speak, aot wi a strength o dro,ne they never had before. \ can hardly tell you noo hoo it was 4 but some hoo or ither we got kites an dragons patched up, an as we had brocht oot a clew o cornmoQ harness twine, we asto^shed, even, the Chief Magistrate a**, Belies a the auld place when they viewed the heic_\t art distance we could make th.e**n, $cc, We couldna ride the r^w fu ngied cycles, bub we hadna foregotten the airt a rowin girrs, an if Cuross folk didna set us on the tap o a girr, they savf us p,ft.en enough t ahiat Hfle, driven, lifce furies alang t\e foregate, while the auld wives an the lassieswere up on the high wallj* wi their jumpin ropes. When we carles had gotten tired wi the girr business ? wa clauib. lip the brae, an joinin

tha female forces there, finished tbe sports for that duy wi a birl round at jingo ring. The last times the catchin time was, of course, Mr Editor, the maist euticin pairt o the game, for then it was a case o wha was quickest or slowest to miss the chance, or hae the good fortune to catch the ioj unction — Kiss your lassies. The next day we spent among the chuckies on "the beach, or wadin' through the shallow watter, or paicllin' about iv a cockle shell o a boat, or loiterin' here and there dissipatin' the time wi' a yellow cover novel. "Weel, weel, that's a sample of how We spent our twa week's time afc Cu'ross. It's needless to rm on ony langer wi the description, but I can tellye I am here the day at Thrapple Ha better pleased wi this year's outin than wi ony ither stay-frao-hame business I ever had before. Our last nicht in Cu'ross, however, I manua pass o'er. We hired Lucky Mucklebacket's biggest room, an/ invited a squad o the neebors an' visitors aboot the place to male' up a guidly company. We had a real set to o a vsupper — three coorses an the tipple afte-*, mind ye, and that was nae sma' drink as yell say yersel'. Well, after the viands were a dispossed of, tho floorhead was cleared, and auld and young made a dead set for the games any rhymes o oor school days. Some o the younger lasses got eot their lottery books an airmed wi prins, ane o them cries oot: — Dab a piin i' my lottery book ; Dab ane, dab tw», dab a' your prins awa'. A nice we photo being the prize o her whoso prin gaed in atweeu the richt leeves. Then we a sat roun in a circle, and decided wha was to begin the game by sendin roun the rhyme — a word to ilka mouth — Ainery, twaery, sickery, seven, A'iby, orickaby, ten, or eleven, Fin-pan, muakidan, Tweedlum, twadlum, twenty-one. An this one going across to auld Peter Mucklewee cried out : As I gaed' up the Brandy hill I met my farther wi' quid will ; He had j.wel., he had rings, He had mony braw things ; He had a cat wi' niue taib, He'd a hammer wantin' nails. Up Jock, doon Tarn, Blaw the bellows, auld man. An Peter had just to stap up an blaw the bellows as best he could. An he wasna long about it, for ower he comes to Mrs Harrigal's, an in a maist plausible style exclaims — Gie's a prin to stick i' my thoomb To carry my laiy tae Londou toon. An takin her by the airm he had her up i the floor head in a minute, an afore ye say sax the hail company were after him an her a grippin ane auither's coat-tails an fleein roun the house like Jehns chariots. Then in a moment a stood still, an Peter, takin the lead, repeats :— Brither Jock, if ye were mine I would give you a glass o' wine. A glass o' wine ia good an' due Through the needle cc, boys. Then roun they ran through anearh ilka ithers airms till we were a tied up in one solid knot, aud there was nae apperance o gettin dot o ane anithers grips till some ane ahint me began to sing London Bridge ia broken down, Grand ! says she. We're a y maidens here but aue s Grand, says she. Then the knot began to unwind itsol, au in a wee while we wero a standin in a ring an dabbin oor hands up an doon, kept yeilin oot — This is the way the ladies bake, Grand, says she ; Ta.B is the wav the geutry shake, Grand, says she. Then, hand in hand, we reeld roun the room till we were tired, to the inspiring strains o B», ba, bobbity bawster, Bjbbity bowster brawly. But we were noo gettin worn oot, an we sat doon, gled enough to get a rest an tak a wee bit refreshment before we finished up the nights fun wi John says waggle' thoombs, aud the mysteries o the Americau Post. Au noo, Mr Editor, dinna ye be sittin there laughin at oor silly nonsense as ye wad cad. Te ken well enough that a little nonsense noo an theu is relished by the wisest men ; and as a judicious writer in Blackwood ance observed, wha kens but Alexander the Great played at the bools when a laddiei and maybe Mark Antony or Julius Ca_sar dozed their taps an piries as we did at Curo,ss. There can be nae doot that Wallace an Bruce would often play at tig, and dae ye know think it likely that Malcolm Canmore an& Qneen Margaret would occasionally hae a game at hie spy doon, in the glen, wi the buoka and maiden's that made love an haiyered nonsense aneath the was o oor auld palaoe in the days o bonnie Hn.g* syne? Te ken o that well enough, an I needna tell ye ; but I would hae your readers tae understand that wh©n we gang back to Ou roaa *ae_{. year— that is Geordie, an {-"andie^ an Peter, an mysel — well m>k the auld place ring ower again \\i tiie daCßh o> oor school days. — I am. feb^ yp-UirSj etcoteria, .■'•'■•' Gabriel H__it:R.aAi&_