My aunt, Mrs.Forbes, had entertained an honest Scotch farmer at Banchory Lodge; a draught of ale had been offered to him, which he had quickly despatched.

My aunt observing that the glass had no head or effervescence, observed, that she feared it had not been a good bottle, "Oh, vera gude, maam, it's just some strong o' the aaple," an expression which indicates the beer to be somewhat sharp or pungent.

It turned out to have been a bottle of _vinegar_ decanted by mistake.
An amusing instance of an old Scottish farmer being unacquainted with table refinements occurred at a tenant's dinner in the north.

The servant had put down beside him a dessert spoon when he had been helped to pudding.

This seemed quite superfluous to the honest man, who exclaimed, "Tak' it awa, my man; my mou's as big for puddin' as it is for kail." Amongst the lower orders in Scotland humour is found, occasionally, very rich in mere children, and I recollect a remarkable illustration of this early native humour occurring in a family in Forfarshire, where I used in former days to be very intimate.