330 REMINISCENCES OF 



saw a farmer come sailing down a large field of 

 wheat. "Ware wheat!' roared Williamson; 'what 

 the devil do you mean, man, riding over the wheat ? ' 

 ' Why, I was thinking.' ' Thinking ! what's the use 

 of thinking? you should reflect.' ' But the wheat is 

 my own.' ' So much the worse, there's the force of 

 example ! ' 



" One day he addressed his friend, Mr. Cosser of 

 Dunse, ' Hold hard, Mr. Cosser, hold hard, I tell you. 

 What the devil are you about, driving the hounds 

 before you ? The older you get, the bigger fool you 

 get.' 



" Williamson got a boy from the racing stable 

 with very big ears, a red head and very red face. 

 The other boys had nicknamed him ' Frosty '. The 

 first day he appeared with a hunting-cap Will said, 

 ' Tuck in your lugs, Frosty, tuck in your lugs ; what 

 will his Grace say ? ' (lugs = ears). 



"Jock Hutcheson, his whipper-in, was a very 

 clever fellow, but by no means sober. V\ ill said of 

 him, ' Talk of whippers-in doing what they're bid, Jock 

 anticipates every thocht ' ; and then, referring to his 

 weakness, he said, ' It's no just his ain faut ; it's they 

 birkies wi' bottles ' (meaning young swells with 

 pocket-flasks). 



" One day on going to exercise he had a new silk 

 lash on his whip. In passing a cart he flipped at the 

 horse to make it get out of the way, and the lash 

 flew off his whip. After looking for it in vain, he 

 said, ' Weel, weel, a fule like me would break the 

 Bank of England '. 



