I will give you work to do which will keep you busy for a time.
I'll gie ye a sark fu' o' sair banes.
A shirtful of sore bones: vulgariter, a thrashing.
I'll gie ye let-a-bee for let-a-bee, like the bairns o' Kelty.
That is, he will give as good as he gets. "Let-a-bee for let-a-bee," generally speaking, is expressive of mutual forbearance; but the "bairns o' Kelty" reversed the usual meaning.
Ill got gear ne'er prospered.
I'll haud the grip I've got.
"'When ye hae gotten the better o' the sore stroke o' the sudden removal of the golden candlestick o' his life from among us, ye'll do everything in a rational and just manner.'
"''Deed, I'll do nae sic things, mother,' was the reply; 'I'm mindit to haud the grip I hae gotten.'"—The Entail.