PROVERBS AND SAYINGS

HERE are many old witty sayings used in the islands and familiar to every Shetlander. In many instances the wise saws quoted in this chapter belong to the traditions of the remote past, or are of native origin, while in the case of proverbs imported in more recent times, it will be seen that they have suffered a sea-change and acquired a local flavour.

A man whose mind is enlarged by education and the general information derived from books, and who possesses a

command of language, expresses his ideas in his own words, whereas the illiterate man uses the proverbial expressions which tradition has handed down and daily usage rendered familiar, and he justifies his action or verifies his argument with a proverb.

The following old saws were jotted down by me about 30 years ago, while I was lodging in the house of the late Mr. James Manson, of Scraefield, Unst. He was born about the beginning of the century, had a most retentive memory well stocked with folk-lore, and to him I am indebted for many of the sayings. I also received a list from the late Mr. Robert Jamieson, Sandness, which contained several proverbs that were new to

me.

The meaning of many of these old sayings is self evident, while it may be said of others that one must live in their environment in order to understand or appreciate them. Many of them throw considerable

light on the social life of our ancestors. They show that the Shetlanders were a contented people :

"Better half an egg than a töm doop."

"Better a cauld bite than nae bread."

"Better a moose i' the kale than nae kitchen."

It was

These all breathe of contentment. indeed hard for a mother to set her bairns round a "kitchenless" pot, hence the least seasoning was matter for thankfulness.

"It's a guid day that pits aff the night."

Here again the same spirit of content is manifest. The old fisherman had toiled all day without success. Night had come and he returns just "with the supper nothing for to-morrow; but he comforts himself that the wants of to-night have been met by the toils of to-day.

Perhaps he has been in grips with the baldin (halibut), and fainly hoped to feast on its barr cuts, but just as it came within sight of the boat its last desperate struggle "made up the skoag," and the fisherman

is doomed to disappointment; but he comforts himself by saying:

"There's as guid a fish i' the sea as ever wis ta'en."

"The sea bids come again."

Further:

"Better that ae heart breaks than a' the world winders"

Better patiently to bear one's own troubles alone, than to publish them abroad as material for gossip.

"When my hat is on, my family is covered." "Better loose than ill tethered."

"It's a silly hen that canna scrape for hersel'."

These are expressions of a disappointed lover, or the spinster doomed to single bliss.

"Du'll sole dy socks wi' lesser claith."

This saying is given as a rebuke to one who aspires beyond her position.

Several of these old sayings show that the Shetlanders were a people accustomed