"GENERALSHIP."

Otago Witness, Issue 285, 16 May 1857, Page 8

"GENERALSHIP."

A TALE. ( Continued from our last.)

When Mrs. M'lntyre took her departure, I proposed to John that we should hae a kin' o* haunlin' by way o' hcatin' the hoose ; sac John agreed till't in a moment — I never before saw him sac willin' for onything o' the pairty kin. What the new sideboord had to do in bringin' aboot this change, I canna tell, but, as I said, John agreed in a moment ; sac we sent bits o' invitation cairds, an' a' oor frien's cad, an' signified their willingness to be present at oor pairty, an' aye expressed their admiration o' oor new sideboord. Sac the nicht o' the pairty comes, an' I had a' my bits o' niceties laid oot on the tap o' the new piece o' furniture. John had come hame raither suner than usual, just to gi'e a bit ban' ; sac just when a' thing is arranged to John's taste, there comes a ring to the door, an' there's a very neat note handed in, sealed, an' addressed to oor John. Sac he took the note, opened it, read it, and lookin* very queer, withoot sayin' a word, handed the note to me. Sac I took it ; an', as if I had nae idea o' its contents, read it alood. This was a letter frae the cab'netmaker, to the effec' that he had that day got what he thocht a very reasonable offer for the sideboord, which offer he intended to accept ; an' askin' if it wad be convenient to remove the sideboord that nicht? ' What are we to do, guidwjfe ?' quo' John to me. Quo' I, ' I'm sure, John, I dinna ken ; but if that sideboord gangs oot o' here this nicht, we'll be a spekilation baith far and near. But,' quo' I, * John, its my opinion that ye're just as able to pay for the sideboord as the ' man that's offered for't — an' maybe the ablest o' the twa ; sac I wad sen' for the cab'netmaker an' see if ye couldna come to an understandin'.' John was quite agreeable ; sac doon went the servant, an' up cam' the cab'netmaker ; sac I took speech in han\ When I had tauld him the haill partic'lars, he said it was a very peculiar set o' circumstances ; an' seem' that it happened sac, he was perfectly willin' to let oor John keep the sideboord at prime cost, namely, nineteen poun's. When John heard this— (ye ken he was aye fond o' a bargain) — he gaed awa' ben for his pocketbook, coonted oot the nineteen poun's, put it into the man's han\ and. said he was muckle

obleeged to him. Noo, ye see> in place o' thinkin' that I had wheedled him oot o' his nineteen poun's, oor John's o' opinion that his clever wife, wi' her gude tongue, saved him six poun's in the purchase o' his sideboord. We had a very pleasant pairty. Ac thing leads to anither, especially ac pairty to anither. It was aboot a fortnicht after oor party that we received an invitation frae a Mrs. M' Arthur, a very stylish personage, that had been at oor pairty, to a pairty in her hoose. I kent the leddy that weel that I knew she meant her pairty was to throw oors entirely into the shade— to be conducted on a much grander scale a'thegither. At ony rate we accepted the invitation ; sac I was in Stewart an' Macdonald's warehoose buyin' several bits o' trifles that a body will need for buskin' on such a gran' occasion, when ane o' the salesmen, a smairt young man, showed me a splendid arrival o' magnificent goon pieces, the richest stuff ever I saw — a bricht gowden grun', wi' a licht blue floor rinnin' up throo't. Sac before I kent what I had done, I had said I wad tak' ane o' them ; sac its packed up an' addressed to me, an' I'm comin' awa' doon the stair, when I thinks to myseF, what'll oor John say aboot my extravagance. Sac I turned awa back, an' socht a sicht o' their silk velvet waistcoat pieces — an' a splendid assortment they had ; sac I selected what I thocht the finest silk velvet waistcoat piece in Stewart and Macdonald's warehoose for oor John. Sac, when I got hame, I put my am goon i' the drawer, an' lockit it, an' laid John's waistcoat on the table ; sac when John cam' hame, I let him see what I had bocht for him. He said it was a' nonsense flingin' awa sac muckle siller for a waistcoat for him — he could just a gane in his auld ane ; but John was like a' the lave o' the men folk, he was very easily consoled aboot the cost o' finery that was to gang on his am back ! Sac John's waistcoat's made, the nicht o' the pairty comes, an' there's ne'er a word aboot my goon. Just at the moment that John was a' ready, a triflin' circumstance occurred that wad prevent me frae gettin' to the pairty at the proper time; sac John bein' the very speerit o' punctuality, I got him advised to gae awa himsel', an' I wad follow as soon as I could. Sac awa went John in a very good humour wi' his braw new waistcoat, an' whatnot. Weel, the pairty was just what I thocht it wad be — a won'erfu' display o' vulgar finery, every ane grander than anither. There was naething but satins an' brocades, velvet polkas an' lace polkas, rings, chains, and bracelets in abundance. As oor John lookit on the surroondin' splendour, he began to think, that when his gudewife arrived in her antedeluvian goon, she wad cut a puir flourish beside thae swells. John lookit doon to his new waistcoat wi' a remorse o' conscience. He wished I had keepit the price o't, an' bocht a goon to mysel'. John was very uneasy, for he kent fine there wasna a man in the company that could better afford to busk his wife than he could, if he had only ta'en the heart. Sac at last I'm announced, an' John's heart's comia 1 to his mooth. He had keepit a place for me in a corner, sac as I michtna be observed — mm' ye, I took care that ac dud shouldna mak' a Me o' anither ; I had a' thing to correspond wi' my new dress ; sac when I walkit in, in such handsome style — for although I say't, I was the maist magnificently dressed woman in the company — whene'er John got his c'en on me, he's no dull in the uptak', he understood matters in a moment ; an' risin' wi' a face like an illumination, he said, 'Come awa, gudewife; ye're neither sac young nor sac bonnie as ye hae been, but yell hae to dae yet — here's a seat to ye,' an' he shiftit into the corner himsel', an' set me doon to the best possible advautage. I took the first opportunity o' gien' John a bit dunsh in the side, an' quo' I, ' I kent your taste, guidman, an' I didna want to mak' a fule o' your new waistcoat.' John was that weel pleased wi' my goon, he said it was the bonniest goon ever he saw in this world ; the decent man ne'er speer't the price o't. Weel, the next mornin' after the pairty, John an' me were lyin' ha'in' a crack aboot things in gen'ral, an' John was raither divertin' me wi' some o' his observations on what had occurred at the pairty— for, though ye wadna think it, oor John's a real droll man for noticin' things. John bein' in very good humour, I thocht this was a very good time to broach a subject that I had been thinkin' on for some time. Oor lassie, Mary Ann, was twal' years o' age, an' had a decided taste for music, sac I thocht it was time that we should be sendin* her to get a few lessons on the piany'; but I was aye feared to mention the matter to her faither— for John was greatly against bringin' up bits o' lassocks as leddies, as he cad it. Sac, as I thocht, noo was my time; but whenever I mentioned Mary Ann's name in connection wi' the piany, John turned richt roun' wi' his back to me, an' quo' he,. 'You're gaun

fairly to the mischief wi' extravagance, betwixt ac thing an' anither ;'• an' there he lay, gruntin' awa to himsel' aboot it bein' wiser like to I learn her to wash a sark to her back; or to \ scrub a floor, an' the like o' that — sac I just let him get his breath oot. Aboot a fortnicht after this, I — thinkin' it was nonsense in me to be overruled in what was richt by aheidstrong fuleish man, made arrangements for Mary Ann gettin' lessons in music, bindin' her doon to keep the matter a secret frae her faither. Mary Ann made great progress ; for, as I said, she had a decided taste for music. It wad be aboot six months after this, that ac day when oor John was talkin' a walk wi' Mary Ann in his han', he met a very stylish acquantance o' oors, a Baillie Monro ; an' very unexpectit to either John or me, we were invited to a pairty in the Baillie's hoose — ye see the Baillie's folk move in a circle, or mak' half a circle aboon I vs — an' mair nor that, John was bidden be sure an' bring Mary Ann, for there wad be a number o' young persons present, an' they wad be maist happy o' Miss Young's company. Weel, we went of coorse to the pairty ; a quiet cozey pairty it was — no great display o' finery, just a hamely company o J decent folk, the chief portion o' the ev'nin's entertainment bein' the young leddies playin' on the piany, an' the auld anes admirin'. Ac young leddie after anither was called on for her bit tune ; an' its wearin' roon', an' wearin' roon', like as if it was comin' to oor Mary Ann's turn. I was aye takin' anither glint hooher faither was lookin'. He was very uncomfortable like ; gey an' red aboot the luggs, an' let me dae what I like I couldna get John to look me i' the face. I kent fine he was thinkin' to himsel' — ' If I had ta'en my guidwife's advice, my bairn wad a been able to acquit hersel' like her neebors.* At last Mrs. Monro comes up to Mary Ann. an' says, ' Noo, Miss Young, will ye favour us wi' a tune ?' Quo' Mary Ann, l I'm afraid I canna.' ' Come,' quo' I, ♦ye monkey ! I'm sure if ye canna its no yer faither's fau't ; he's spair't nae pains to learn ye. Gae awa,' quo' I, ' an' let's hear what ye can do.' Oor John lookit at me as if he could a swallowed me at ac mouthfu' — I never saw him sac angry like in his life ; he lookit as if he were sayin*, ' O guidwife, ha'e ye fairly forgotten yersel', toaffront me sac afore sic a company.' 'Gae awa,' quo' I, ' an' do yer best.' As Mary Ann yielded obedience to me, her faither played claucht at her ; ye see he thocht she was gaun awa to mak' a fule o' hersel' — thocht she was gaun to be like the man that didna ken whether he could write or no till he tried ! But Mary Ann raither jinket her faither ; an* afore he kent whare he was, Mary Ann was seated at the piany, makin' it gae in a style that no ane o' them that had gane afore could touch at, for she played beautifu'. When she had played a tune or twa, she struck up Sandy Rogers' favourite — " My rnither wad ha'e me weel merrit, My mither wad ha'e me weel merrit :*'

an' oor John lookit at me as if he didna ken whether he was sleepiu' or waukin'. He was that weel pleased wi' his dochter's accomplishments, that the very neist day he not only cad on the teacher an' pay't the half-year's teachin*" that was due, but cad at a music warehoose an' sent hame a piany — ane o' the finest instruments in Glasca'. What he pay't for I dinna ken — its my opinion he thinks shame to tell onybody the price o't. Noo, ye see, that's a bit sma' specimen o' my gen'ralship ; an' thebeauty o' ony bit sma' vict'ries that I ha'e: gained is, that they were gained withoot ony fechtin', just by pure, ingenious, womanly stratigem. I ne'er saw a man yet that I didna think could be managed if he were ta'en in the richt way, that is, if he were, a sober manGuid keep you or me, or ony o' this company,, from ha'in' onything to dae wi' the management o' either man or woman that's no, sober ;, for when folk tak' to the likin* o' whisky, its. my opinion the deevil himsel' tak's the management o' them, an' it's no easy takin' a job oot o' his han's.

Inedited Poetry by Burns.— When Buraawas in Edinburgh he was introduced by a friend to the studio of a well-known painter,, whom he found engaged on a representation* of" Jacob's Dream." After minutely examining the work, he wrote the following verses on the back of a little sketch, which is still preserved in the painter's family. The verse is so very characteristic of the man, that I venture to< send it to " N. and Q." for embalmment : —

« Dear , lil gi'e yoxt some adTice, You'll tak' it no uncivil ; You shouldna paint at angels, man, But try and paint the deevil. ' To paint an angel's kittle wark, Wi' auld Nick there's less danger ; You'll easy paint a weel kent face, Bat no sac weel a stranger." — Notes and Queries.