It's hard to keep flax frae the lowe.
It's hard to sit in Rome and strive wi' the pope.
It's ill ale that's sour when it's new.
It's ill baith to pay and to pray.
It's ill bringing but what's no ben.
The meaning of this proverb is, that it is ill to produce what we are not possessed of.
"'Swith roast a hen, or fry some chickens,
And send for ale to Maggy Pickens,'—
'Hout I,' quoth she, 'ye may weel ken,
'Tis ill brought but that's no there ben;
When but last owk, nae farder gane,
The laird got a' to pay his kain.'"
—Allan Ramsay.
It's ill limping before cripples.
It's ill meddling between the bark and the rind.