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was another form of the pl. formed straight from the sing., cu-en =kine. In the Romance of Alisaunde apud Weber kuyn is used; 1. 760:

"Oxen, schep, and eke kuyn

Mony on he dude slen."

In Vis. P. P. 4076, ed. Wright is kyen. The old Frisian pl. is kij.

114. 68. youngster. The termination ster is said to be properly fem., as still in spinster; thus younger or younker would puer, youngster = puella. But this feminine force seems to have decayed at a very early period.

69. blate, also written blait, bleat = bashful. It is from Oldest Eng. bleáð gentle, slow, sluggish (Bosworth). Layamon uses it.

sense.

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laithfu' loathful reluctant, unwilling, shy. We use loath in a much stronger

72. lave is from the Oldest Eng. laf=what is left (from leave, 66 A. S." læfan, as reliquus from relinquo, λοῖπος from λείπω).

80. in others' arms. Comp. 1. 38.

93. soupe (or, sup), here means the milk, the liquid element in the entertainment. The word is used generally for "spoon-meat." The Oldest Eng. supar is akin to Germ. saufen Sup, supper, soup, sop, are all ultimately connected.

hawkie denotes properly a cow with a white face. So in Northumb. Bawsand was used of an animal with a white spot on its forehead. Crummie for a cow with crooked horns.

94. hallen. See note on ben, 1. 64. The word is said to be connected with haell, "the stone at the threshold."

96. weel-hain'd = well-spared, carefully kept. Primitively hain perhaps to hedge or enclose. See haining and hainite in Jamieson.

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In the general

kebback = cheese, from Gael. cabag. So mattock from Kel. madog. fell tasty; strictly, biting, in which sense it is used in Northumb. Eng. usage fell has only a bad sense, and is applied only to living things and to feelings and actions, or to other things with a moral reference.

99. towmond = tolmond or tolmonth = twal-month, twelve-month.

made into one word, viz. towmondall = a yearling. (Jamieson.)

Towmond auld is

sin' lint was the bell since flax was in flower. She means that the cheese was a year old last flax blossoming, as we might say. Strictly sin' should be when; but it is easy to see how sin' was employed. Obs. how, conversely, in Latin quum sometimes in Greek how èneí, as in Æsch. Agam. 40.

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since, and

103. ha'-Bible, strictly the hall-Bible, i. e. the Bible kept in the hall or chief room (not what we call the hall), was used generally for what is called in England the Family Bible. 104. bonnet. See note to Lycid. 104.

105. lyart = grey, or mixed grey, Hamlet's "sable-silvered." Liard is used for a grey horse in Old Eng.

haffets = temples; = perhaps the middle of the head, lit. half-heads, from "A. S" healf-heafod, the fore part of the head' (Bosworth).

115. 107. wales = chooses. M. G. waljan; Germ. wählen. The word is found in Old Eng. 109. [What does he mean by guise here?]

Poet:

113. beets the flame = supplies the flame with fuel. See Burns' Ep. to Davie, a brother

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Betan fyr is found in Oldest Eng. in this sense.

So in Chaucer, C. T. 2255:

"I wol do sacrifice and fyres beete."

Originally, betan = to better, to mend, &c. The root appears in better, best, boot, &c.
Piers Pl. VI. 239, Clar. Press, ed. Skeat.

117. [Find the passages referred to in these two stanzas?]

135. See Revelations xviii.

126. [What is the meaning of theme here? What is its more common use?]

133. [Where is Patmos?]

138. See Pope.

143. society =social enjoyment, not company.

144. [What is meant by sphere here?]

116. 149. The Power. So Dryden, Pal. and Arc. iii. 267, of Diana:

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182. Wallace. Burns' admiration for Wallace was profound. The feeling was partly local perhaps, for Wallace was an Ayrshire hero, but it was also national.

THE TWA DOGS.

This piece was written in 1786.

In

Here Burns gives his humour play. The tables are turned, and a couple of dogs discuss with fine discernment and powerful moral sense the lives and fortunes of their masters. sincerity and depth the dialogue is certainly superior to that by Cervantes between Scipio and Berganza "dogs of the Hospital of the Resurrection in the city of Valladolid, commonly called the dogs of Mahudes." (See Cervantes' Exemplary Novels.) In this latter work there is much shrewd observation, and worldly knowledge; but the true pathos that underlies Burns' poem is wanting. Perhaps in no one of his works are Burns' breadth of sympathy, upright manliness, and practical wisdom better shown. Even like Saint Francis, he sees in all creation his fellows; or, as Wordsworth of himself in a certain mood, Burns might say; "To her fair works did Nature link

The human soul that through me ran."

He was the "poor earth-born companion and fellow-mortal" of the mouse; in the fate of the Daisy, down-turned by the plough, he saw his own; and so here, these canine critics, are they not dogs and brothers? Does he not shew that in lives beyond the outwardly human all there may be humanity?

"My heart has been sae fain to see them,"

says Luath, after most genially describing the New Year's merry-making:

"That I for joy hae barkit wi' em.'

There is no affectation in the picture he gives of cottage life; there is neither any littleminded discontent, nor yet any over-strained laudation. He sees keenly enough the distresses

that beset the humble tenant; but he sees with equal clearness compensating happinesses. His eyes are not dazzled by rank or riches.

Regem non faciunt opes,

Non vestis Tyria color
Non frontis nota regiæ,
Non auro nitidæ trabes.'

All that can really brighten and ennoble life may be found, he thinks, in the cottage; for mere tinsel and trappings he does not care:

"To make a happy fire-side clime

To weans and wife;

That's the true pathos and sublime

Of human life."

Thus Burns, whilst a national and a universal poet, is yet in a special sense the poet of the peasant.

117. 1. The place meant here is a part of Ayrshire-elsewhere Burns calls it Coila; see Globe Ed. p. 79. There are several Kyles in Scotland, e. g. Kyle Akin, Kyle of Bute, Kyle Durness, Kyle Rea, Kyle Shin, Kyle Sutherland, Kyle Tongue. The word properly signifies a sound, a strait. Jamieson mentions in connection with it the Gael. caolas, and the Isl. Kyll "gurges." With regard to its use in Ayrshire, perhaps it originally denoted the strait between Arran and the opposite mainland, now called the Firth of Clyde, and then became attached to that mainland. Then the name so given to the Ayrshire shore was popularly explained as derived from some old King, just as Britannia from Brutus, Italia from Italus, &c. &c. Coil is mentioned in The Black Book of Caermarthen:

"Whose is the Grave on the slope of the hill?

Many who knew it do not ask.

The grave of Coel, the son of Cynvelyn."

(M. Arnold quotes a neighbouring verse in his Study of Celtic Literature.) 'Boece tells us : "Kyl dein proxima est vel Coil potius nominata, a Coilo Britannorum rege ibi in pugna cæso," and a circular mound at Coilsfield, in the parish of Tarbolton, on the highest point of which are two large stones, and in which sepulchral remains have been found, is pointed out by local tradition as his tomb. The name of "Auld King Coil" is also perpetuated in the crags of Kyle, the burn of Coyl, and the parish of Coylton.' (Glennie's Essay on Arthurian Localities.) So Buchanan says of Coila (which he places between Glottiana and Gallovidia), that the British king, Coilus, overthrown by the Picts and Scots, "regionem in qua pugnatum est de suo nomine celebrem fecit," (Rerum Scot. Hist. Lib. iv.). This name occurs also in Geoffrey of Monmouth's List of old British Kings, chap. xix., after "Catellus Coillus." He makes another Coillus, son of Marius, and father of Lucius, the first Christianized king of Britain. A third is mentioned as the father of the famous Helena, whom Constantius married, of which wedlock came Constantine. This last monarch Spenser mentions in his Chronicle of Briton Kings, in F.Q. 11. x. 58 and 59, deriving the name Coylchester from him. It is by no means intended to suggest that this so common an old Keltic (it would seem Gaelic) king's name is really derived from Kyle, but only that that derivation was the reason for localizing him in Ayrshire. In the old days chroniclers and tradition-mongers were the mere victims of any similarity of names.

'Twas in, &c. See note to Alex. Feast, 1.

4. [With what subst. does the part. wearing “agree?"]

5. thrang busy. So in Lancashire, where is used the form throng also. Lite

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rally pressed, crowded (from A.S. thringan). Of course the common Eng. throng=a crowd is closely cognate. Comp. the secondary sense of oxλos, as in Eur. Med. 337:

“ ὄχλον παρέξεις, ὡς ἔοικας, ὦ γύναι- ”

and how the Lat. turba is used.

6. forgather'd. This prefix-for- was once very common in Eng.; see the instances given by Stratmann. It answers to the Germ. ver.

8. keepit. So in the Brus: redressyt, governyt, enbuschyt, &c.

9. lugs ears; so in North Eng. It also auperis, and the use of aurts in Georg. i. 172.

the handles of pitchers. Comp. Gr. ous, Lug, according to Wedgwood, is properly "the flap or hanging portion of the ear." "To lug a thing along is probably to pull it along by an ear or any loose part employed as a handle, but it might be to trail, or drag along the ground, as Swiss lugger." Luggage, lug-sail, lugger, are all connected with lug.

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11. whelpit:

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whelped. [What part of the verb is it here?]

12. [What place is meant?]

14. [What is the force of the here?]

16. the fient a pride = perhaps, the "devil a bit" of pride. Or does it mean "the devil take pride," as the negative is so sufficiently given by the following "na"? A is very common for have. Were the former the sense, perhaps the phrase, would rather be "fient a bit," or "fient hait," or "deil hait" (as in the Anitquary, chap. 44, when Edie Ochiltree is asked what he hopes to get from Lovel for his services: "Deil haet do I expect.") But, of course, that sense is possible enough—perhaps it is preferable; a= of, and the fient fiendish, or devilish little not a whit. Comp. Twelfth Night, II. iii., where Maria says of Malvolio: "The devil a puritan that he is, or anything constantly but a time-pleaser." In this and such uses the phrase, the devil, denotes excess, and so may be used either as a violent intensive, or a violent negative. Thus, "Thou most excellent devil of wit,” in Twelfth Night, II. v. end, thou superlative wit, &c. The negative sense is common in the old plays, &c. With this twofold use springing out of that idea of excess, comp. the use of male in Latin, and duo- in Greek-e. g., see what the commentators say of "male pinguis Georg. i. 105. Comp. "male metuo" in Ter. Hec. III. ii. 2="I am terribly afraid," and "male raucus," Hor. Sat. I. iv. 66, on the one hand, with "male sanus, ""statio male fida carinis" (Æn. ii. 23), on the other. Observe the two senses of dvoépws. Usually when this very strong English phrase is used in a negative sense, it is placed first in its clause, or sentence.

in

18. messin, "a dog of mixed breeds." Gloss. Burns, Globe Ed. Jamieson suggests two derivations: (i.) from Messina, "whence this species was brought;" (ii.) from the Fr. maison. Halliwell gives "messet"= a cur, as used by Hall in his poems, 1646, and “still in use."

18. smiddie. Obs. the German form Schmiede.

20. tawted shaggy, unkempt, Other forms are tawtie and tatty. Jamieson connects

it with the Islandic word for to tease wool.

duddie, ragged. Dudds = garments, strictly rags. So dudes in North Eng. 21. stan't stand it go on standing. In this use of it, on which see note to trip it,

L'Alleg. 33, there is often the idea of continuance.

22. stroan't. So Launce's dog Crab, when he had "thrust me himself into the company of three or four gentleman-like dogs under the duke's table." Two G. of V. IV. iv. beg.; only in Cæsar's case there was no offence.

23. the tither. Tither, the prov. Eng. tother, is a crasis of the other: so tae of the one. In course of time the meaning of the initial t was forgotten, and the words used as primitive. Thus, Old Mortality, chap. xiii.: "Wi' the pistol and the whinger in the tae hand, and the Bible in the tother," &c. It is possible, however, that the tother that other, &c.

collie a country dog. A word of Gaelic descent, according to Jamieson.

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24. billie companion, good fellow. See Minstrelsy of the S. B., passim. North of Eng.

27. Luath was the name of Cuchullin's dog in Ossian's Fingal.

So in

28. When he adds Lord knows how long, he is no doubt thinking of the doubts that prevailed of the genuineness and the authenticity of Macpherson's Ossian. Certainly it might well be questioned whether there was more Ossian or Macpherson in them.

29. gast sagacious. Perhaps derived from Old Fr. gas, which Roquefort and also Burguy connect with gab. Could it possibly be derived from sagacious, sagax, by decapitation? Comp. centum from decem-tum, van from avant, drake from ened-ric, tent from attend, &c., &c.

30 lap. The old strong pret. Mause uses the corresponding part. in her famous quotation: "Through the help of the Lord I have luppen ower a wall." (Old M., chap. xiv.) sheugh trench. Another form is seuch.

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118. 31. sonsie is from sons or sonce, a word of Gaelic origin, meaning prosperity, good luck, &c.

baws'nt. See note on hawkie, Cotter's S. N. 93. See Wedgwood s.v.

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35. gawcie large, thick.

In the Holy Fair it means plump, comfortable-looking: "In comes a gaucie gash guidwife,

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38. pack. The idea is the same as in thick, and in our "close familiarity."

unco. See note L'Alleg. 5.

39 whiles. This is an old noun-case used adverbially; so needs, whilom, seldom; so often in Greek and in Latin.

snowkit. The Prompt. Parv. gives "snokyn or smelling, K. P. nicto." Mr. Way quotes from the Ortus; "Nicto, to snoke, as houndes dooth when following game," and from Goulman: "Indago to snook, to seek or search, to vent, to seek out as a hound doth." In this sense snook is used in Lincolnshire.

40. moudieworts moles. Other forms are mowdiewarks, modywarts. These forms are mere variations, and mole is in fact but a corruption of the first syllable of mould-warp= mold or earth thrower or caster. Shakspere has moldwarp once, 1 Hen. IV. III. i. For the dropping off of the warp, comp. map for mappe-monde = mappa mundi), canker for canker-worm, &c.

howkit holked digged. The root is seen in hole, hollow.

43. daffin = fun, folly, &c. The word is used in Northumb. Daft occurs in various dialects for foolish, stupid. See Piers the Plowman, I. 138, ed. Skeat:

"Thou doted daffe, quod she, dulle arne thi wittes."

Chaucer's Clerke's Tale:

"Beth not bedaffed for your innocence."

Daffe in Prompt. Parv. is defined as = " dastard, or he that spekythe not yn tyme." Mr. Skeat, in his Clar. Press P. P. Glossary, points out that deaf is cognate

44. [What is the common Eng. form of knowe? Quote, or find, similar instances of liquefaction.]

50. ava = av-a' = of all, much in the sense of the common Eng. at all. This phrase, from its very nature, is used only in questions (direct and indirect), in conditional, and in negative sentences; comp. the use of the indef. quid in Latin, du tout in French. For the form the Scotch and the French approach each other most nearly. of all, used with certain restrictions; comp. Lat. omnino, Gk. employed to form adverbs, as at length, at last, at first, &c.

At all is an adverbial form Távτws. At is frequently so With at all comp. especially

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