Part 24

As ye brew weel ye'll drink the better.

"'So ye hae gotten your auld son married? I hope it's to your satisfaction.'

"'An he has brewed good yill, Mr Keelevin, he'll drink the better,' was the reply; 'but I hae come to consult you anent a bit alteration that I would fain make in my testament.'"--The Entail.

As ye mak your bed sae ye maun lie on't.

A's yours frae the door out.

"A jest upon those who pretend that such and such things in the house are theirs. As if you would say, all the household goods without the doors are yours."--Kelly.

A taking hand will never want, let the world be e'er sae scant.

A tarrowing bairn was never fat.

A child that refuses or is slow in taking its food. People who will not take advantage as opportunities offer, cannot expect to prosper so well as those who do.

A tale never tines in the telling.

A' that's said in the kitchen shouldna be tauld in the ha'.

A' that's said shouldna be sealed.

A' that ye'll tak wi' ye will be but a kist and a sheet, after a'.

In allusion to the death of persons who may be proud of their possessions.

A' the claes on your back was ance in clues.

A' the corn's no shorn by kempers.

To kemp, to strive. All do not strive alike. All cannot equally excel in work. This proverb supports the claims of those who do not excel, by suggesting that even the "kempers" cannot overtake all the work that is to do.

A' the keys of the country hang na in ae belt.

All the influence or power is not in one man's possession.

A' the men i' the Mearns can do nae mair than they may.

No man can do more than he has strength to do. There is an Aberdeenshire saying of similar import, "I can dee fat I dow: the men in the Mearns can dee nae mair."

A' the speed's no in the spurs.

A' the winning's in the first buying.

A' the wit o' the world's no in ae pow.

A'thing angers ye, and the cat breaks your heart.

A' things thrive at thrice.

A'thing wytes that no weel fares.

A thoughtless body's aye thrang.