Don called his napkin a "serviette," which is just the same as in
French; and was very fond of eating "petticoat-tails" at tea-time,--a
name which you would never imagine came from the "_petits-gateaux_" of
the French, meaning "little cakes."
Also he would get very "fash," which means angry,--or "_fâché_," our
little French cousin would say,--if a boy struck him a "coochard's"
blow; that is, a cowardly blow. This word, too, seems likely enough to
be French, and to come from "_coup_," meaning a blow, though where the
coward comes in, it is difficult to see.
If Donald, while playing a game, found things growing too hot for him,
and wanted a breathing-spell, he often would call out, "barley." He did
not mean that he wanted barley at all, but to parley, which is the way
the Scotch have changed the French word "_parlez_"--speak.
Afternoons Donald and Sandy generally spent together, and very good
times they had, too, for they were very "chief," or chummy. They
played games with their little neighbours, or took long walks into
the country, which could be easily reached from Kelvin House. Often
they went fishing. At other times, Sandy's chickens took up some of
their spare hours. Sandy had an idea that he could make a lot of money
raising chickens; so he talked it all over with his father, who was
much amused, but gave him the money to buy his first chickens. Then
Sandy himself built a little house for them in the back-garden, and
fenced off a piece of ground for his three hens and one cock, and even
got his mother to subscribe for a paper which told all about "Poultry
for Beginners."
All Sandy had to show for his summer's work, however, was one little
"tewky," which is the Scotch cousin's name for a chicken. Sandy was
very proud of his one little chicken, and made quite a pet of it.
It would eat out of his hand, and even from his mouth, and would go
anywhere with Sandy, perched upon his shoulder.
[Illustration: A NEWHAVEN FISHWIFE.]
But the best holiday for Donald and Sandy was when their fathers would
take them to the beautiful golf-links along the seashore at Gullane,
not far from Edinburgh.
Golf is the great national game of Scotland, and is played both by old
folk and young people alike. Some one tells the story that it was first
played by the shepherds, who would take a small round stone and knock
it about with their sticks, as they strolled behind their flocks, over
the moors and along the seashore. All any one really knows about the
game, however, is that it has been played in Scotland for a very long
time.
Once, as a very great treat, Donald's father took him to play golf at
St. Andrews, where the links are so fine that they are known the
world over as being the most famous of all these playgrounds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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