Part 34

Better plays the fu' wame than the new coat.

A man may be well dressed but still have a hungry belly, and vice versa. He that has the "fu' wame" is the more likely to be in good spirits.

Better rough an' sonsy than bare an' donsy.

It is better to be rough in manners, if coupled with prosperous circumstances, than be "genteel" and at the same time poverty stricken.

Better rue sit than rue flit.

Better not remove at all than do so and then regret it.

"Didna I see when gentle Geordie was seeking to get other folk out of the Tolbooth forby Jocky Porteous? but ye are of my mind, hinny--better sit and rue, than flit and rue--ye needna look in my face sae amazed. I ken mair things than that, maybe."--Heart of Midlothian.

Better saucht wi' little aucht than care wi' mony cows.

Better comfort and peace of mind with little, than care and contention with much.

Better saut than sour.

Better say "Here it is" than "Here it was."

Better short and sweet than lang and lax.

Better sit idle than work for nought.

Better sit still than rise an' fa'.

Better skaith saved than mends made.

Better that offence should not be given than committed and then apologized for.

Better sma' fish than nane.

Better soon as syne.

"I tell'd your honour a while syne, that it was lang that I hae been thinking o' flitting, may be as lang as frae the first year I came to Osbaldistone Hall; and now I'm o' the mind to gang in gude earnest--better soon as syne--better a finger aff as aye wagging."--Rob Roy.

Better spared than ill spent.

Better speak bauldly out than aye be grumphin'.

If a complaint requires to be made, make it openly and straightforwardly, instead of continuing to fret about it in an indirect manner.

Better the barn filled than the bed.

Because a full barn denotes prosperity, a full bed trouble.

Better the end o' a feast than the beginning o' a fray.

Better the mother wi' the pock, than the faither wi' the sack.

"The mother, though in a low condition, will be more kindly to, and more careful of, orphans, than the father can be, though in a better."--Kelly.

Better the ill ken'd than the gude unken'd.