THE SPEECH OF THE MOUNTAINS 175 
a content," one is told of a parcel concerning which 
the speaker is speculating. " Yes, I 've a nice chance 
of flowers," a woman modestly admits when you 
admire her little garden. Here we "aim" to do a 
thing, and "claim" that we have done it. 
When you hear one of your friends spoken of by 
a highlander as being "common" you are puzzled, 
to say the least, until you learn that the word is 
the most complimentary possible, retaining its orig- 
inal meaning as understood when we speak of 
the "common people," the "common good." The 
"commoner," you are, that is, the more you treat 
the people as though you were one of them, the 
better they like you. And to be called "homely" is 
also a fine compliment, in a land where the expres- 
sion means that the homely one makes people feel at 
home, takes good care of the home, is, in short, what 
old-fashioned people of the outside world sometimes 
call "a home body." 
Children "favor" their parents, though a peculiar 
form of the word appears when you are told that a 
certain young girl is "the likliest favored person 
that ever came down from the North." But " favor" 
in this sense is often replaced by the modern and 
more graphic "imitate"; to be told that a child 
"imitates" his father meaning that he resembles 
him in appearance. 
"We laid my pappy away yesterday, he was bed- 
fast six weeks," a young girl tells you. 
One often hears the cow or mule referred to as 
a "beastie," though the cow is also known as a 
