"Alas!" exclaimed this stern woman, as her eyes began to fill with tears—"my son; why comes he not?"
"The dogs howled the lee lang night," said the wrinkled nurse, applying her apron to her eyes; "and 'twas not for nocht that yonder howlet screamed on the cape-house head yestreen."
"What mean ye, Maud?" asked the lady sharply.
"They are kenned omens of evil."
"Of evil say ye!"
"Yes—weel awat it is!"
"Havers, Kimmer!" said the ground bailie, taking another jug of ale; "just an auld wife's havers!"
"Thou art right, Westmains," added Lady Alison; "for I have believed but little in omens since Flodden Field was stricken."
"Why since then, lady?"
"On the morn my husband marched from here to join the king's host on the Burghmuir of Edinburgh, as he combed his beard—and a braw lang beard it was, Westmains"——