N ESCAPES. . CHAP. r. 



. ..^g about. He followed his mother 

 ad hid himself at the back of the entry 

 ; and p soon as she had passed in, Tom bolted 

 out, ran dc/wn the street, and immediately was at his 

 old empldyment of hunting for crabs, horse-leeches, 

 puddock^, and sticklebacks. 



His father, on coming home at night with Tom's 

 clothes in his hand, looked round the room, and asked, 

 " Is he in bed ? " " Na ! " " Far * is he ? " " Weel, 

 I left him here when I gaed to the door for milk, 

 and when I came back he was awa ; but whether he 

 gaed out o' the window or up the lum ( I canna tell." 

 "Did ye gie him ony claes?" "No!" "Most 

 extraordinary!" exclaimed the father, sitting down 

 in his chair. He was perfectly thunderstruck. His 

 supper was waiting for him, but he could not partake 

 of it. A neighbouring woman shortly after entered, 

 saying, "Meggy, he's come!" "Oh, the nickem,"^ 



* The pronunciation of the Aberdeenshire dialect is peculiar. 

 For instance, far is where ; fat, what ; tee, to ; dee, do ; feel, fool ; 

 peer, poor ; byeuk, book ; been, bone, etc. It is said that Jane 

 Maxwell, the handsome and beautiful Duchess of Gordon, was 

 in the habit of amusing George III. by repeating phrases in 

 Aberdonian doric ; and that his Majesty plumed himself on his 

 ability to interpret them. The Duchess one day tried his mettle 

 with the following : " A gangrel bodie oot o' the toon o' Stanhive 

 was i* the way o' wan'erin the kwintra wi' a bit basket owre 'er 

 gardie, crying, ' Fa'll buy my black doctors fulpit in a peel ?' " The 

 gangrel bodie was a leech-seller of Stonehaven, and of course the 

 " doctors " were "whelped " in a pool. t Lum, chimney. 



Nickem, a person given to mischievous tricks. The word is 



