NORTHERN MEMOIRS. 191 



swear for the guid awd wife, that the cow drank 

 the ale brewed for them to drink : and it's thought 

 they would have sworn through a double deal- 

 board, they seem'd so enraged for the loss of their 

 ale. This you must conceive warm'd the wo- 

 man's counsel, so that they moved the Court for 

 satisfaction, and prayed a more strict examina- 

 tion of the matter. Upon which the records of 

 the Court were called for, but no precedent was 

 found to punish a cow for drinking of ale, sit- 

 ting or standing. Besides, it was adjudged be- 

 yond the practice of the Court to determine any 

 thing wherein the laws were silent. Yet not- 

 withstanding all this, and a great deal more ; the 

 woman's counsel moves again for satisfaction, 

 which proposal was quash'd by sentence of the 

 Court, almost as soon as it was propounded, be- 

 cause to refer it to the provost of Forfar. 



Theoph. Why so ? 



Arn. Can you think him a man of that capa- 

 city, to decide a controversy so foreign and in- 

 tricate, that all the law in Scotland could not 

 then determine ? 



TJieoph. Why so ; was the nature of the thing 

 so rare and difficult ? 



Arn. Was it not, think you, to take all the 

 proofs, to swear all the witnesses ; and as near 

 as possible to ultimate the difference, with this 

 proviso to both parties satisfaction ? 



