THE PROVEKBS AKD TOPULAU SAYINGS OF BERWICKSUIKE. 119 



paper, I have stated tliat tlie arborescent head of tlie cloiid pointed 

 towards the quarter from wliieh the wind blew, and from which the 

 rain afterwards came. Now, if the cloud be situated in the northern 

 part of the sky, the air and aqueous vapour will in that quarter have 

 sustained an increase of temperature — becoming thus more elastic, and 

 rising up in the atmosphere, a greater or less degree of vacuum will 

 be produced — the colder air from the south will rush in to supply its 

 place — condensation of the aqueous vapour will be the effect — and 

 rain in all probability will fall. 



Tlie Troverbs and Popular !Sa//in(/s of Jjerin'clis/iirc. By Mr IIexdersox, 

 Surgeon, Chirnside. 



In laying before the Club the following proverbs, with th^ few 

 remarks thereto appended, mj' motive is to preserve, as far as possible, 

 some scattered remnants of the " rude forefathers of the hamlet " and 

 the shieling ; and I hope I will be excused in this humble attempt to 

 illustrate these faint traces of the spirit and manners of the men of 

 other times, seeing that the immortal Eay himself did not think it 

 beneath his notice, to collect the apophthegms of bygone ages. The 

 most of these sayings and proverbs may still be occasionally heard 

 among our aged peasantry, but it is probable that in the course of one 

 or two generations more, the}' will be entirely forgotten, and hence 

 the necessity of giving them a permanent form in the Transactions of 

 this Club. In other districts of the county, it is possible that other 

 sayings may still be in common use among the people, as several of 

 those noticed are of a very local nature, and seem to be confined to 

 the eastern part of the shire : they are all, however, which I have 

 been able to collect. 



1. " Jle lias a conscience as wide as Coldincjluun Common." 



Before the year 1777, Coldingham Common was an extensive and 

 undivided waste, containing about 6000 acres. Since that period, 

 some portions of it have been planted and improved, and during the 

 last ten years, several feiiars have taken up their residence upon it, 

 and there protracted an uncomfortable existence on the scanty crop 

 which it produces ; but the greater proportion still remains covered 

 with heath, interspersed with bogs and mosses. In ancient times, 

 this Common constituted part of the forest belonging to the Abbe}' of 

 Coldingham ; and it seems to have been then partially covered with 

 trees and brushwood — the roots of oak, birch, and hazel being still 

 fi-equently found in the soil, and the peat-mosses being fuU of their 

 decayed trunks and branches. This moor has a singularly wild, bleak, 

 and dreary aspect, and extends several miles in extent in every direc- 



