[45] That is, by failing to pay the Kirk dues. There was the money for the ‘cries,’ or banns, which was in itself a respectable sum, and a variety of other payments, which made marriage an expensive affair. The minister was given a small acknowledgment for his services; but now-a-days it is usual, instead, to make a present of a satin hat, a pair of gloves, a comforter, or such like.
[46] A ‘magg’ is a synonym for the cant term ‘maik,’ a halfpenny; but in the text it is used in the sense of ‘a gratuity,’ such as has been referred to in the previous note.
[47] Portion of an old song, long popular among the Scottish peasantry. It bore the name of ‘For the Sake of Somebody,’ and is believed to have suggested Burns’ song with the same title. The old song is to be found in The Tea-Table Miscellany; and there the last four lines of the first double stanza are:—
‘I am gawn to seek a wife,
I am gawn to buy a plaidy;
I have three stane of woo;
Carling, is thy daughter ready?’
[48] An indication of the derivation of the word ‘spinster.’ Kate, like most Scotch women, had the idea that her marriage could hardly take place until she had her ‘providing.’ There was something more than mere sentiment about this, for owing to the hard struggle married couples had to exist in a poor and undeveloped country, such as Scotland then was, it was probable that the bride would have little chance of getting such a complete set out after, as before, marriage.
[49] Sawny seems to have been guided in his wooing by the old Scotch proverb:—‘Happy is the wooing that’s no lang o’ doing.’
[50] In Edinburgh, during last century, there was occasionally to be found some worthy in the ministerial profession available for such purposes, and whose character would be fairly indicated by the coarse but forcible language of Matty. They were, however, outwith the pale of respectability, and were not recognised by their clerical brethren. Such individuals were not altogether peculiar to Scotland, but might also be found in London about the same period.