Where the scythe cuts, and the sock rives, hae done wi' fairies and bee-bykes.
"Meaning that the ploughing, or even the mowing, of the ground tends to extirpate alike the earth-bee and the fairy. In various places, the fairies are described as having been seen on some particular occasion to gather together and take a formal farewell of the district, when it had become, from agricultural changes, unfitted for their residence."—Robert Chambers.
When the tod preaches tak tent o' the lambs.
"When the fox preaches, take care of the geese."—English.
When the tod wins to the wood he caresna how mony keek at his tail.
When the wame's fu' the banes wad be at rest.
When the wame's fu' the tongue wags.
"Wi' spirit bauld they work, I trow,
And mony a strange tale they tell now,
Of ilka thing that's braw or new,
They never fag;
Auld proverb says, 'When wames are fu'
The tongues maun wag.'"
—The Har'st Rig.
When the will's ready the feet's light.