I used whiles to won'er whether he fully un'erstude what he was sayin'-- but troth! hoo cud there be ony sense in sic havers ?" "Was there ony mair o' the ballant ?" asked Cosmo.
"Gien there was mair; I h'ard na't," replied Grannie.

"An' weel I wat! he was na ane to sing, the auld captain .-- Did ye never hear tell o' 'im, laddie ?" "Gien ye mean the auld brither o' the laird o' that time, him 'at cam hame frae his sea-farin' to the East Indies--" "Ay, ay; that's him! Ye hae h'ard tell o' 'im! He hed a ship o' 's ain, an' made mony a voyage afore ony o' 's was born, an' was an auld man whan at len'th hame cam he, as the sang says--ower auld to haud by the sea ony more.

I'll never forget the luik o' the man whan first I saw him, nor the hurry an' the scurry, the rinnin' here, an' the routin' there,'at there was whan the face o' 'm came in at the gett! Ye see they a' thoucht he was hame wi' a walth ayont figures--stowed awa' somewhaur--naebody kent whaur.

Eh, but he was no a bonny man, an' fowk said he dee'd na a fairstrae deith: hoo that may be, I dinna weel ken: there WAR unco things aboot the affair--things 'at winna weel bide speykin' o'.

Ae thing's certain, an' that is,'at the place has never thriven sin syne.