Produced by David Clarke, Anne Storer and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Wilson's Tales of the Borders AND OF SCOTLAND. HISTORICAL, TRADITIONARY, & IMAGINATIVE. WITH A GLOSSARY. REVISED BY ALEXANDER LEIGHTON, _One of the Original Editors and Contributors._ VOL. II. LONDON: WALTER SCOTT, 14 PATERNOSTER SQUARE, AND NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. 1884. CONTENTS. A WIFE OR THE WUDDY, (_John Mackay Wilson_), 1 LORD DURIE AND CHRISTIE'S WILL, (_Alexander Leighton_), 33 RECOLLECTIONS OF BURNS, (_Hugh Miller_), 65 THE PROFESSOR'S TALES (_Professor Thomas Gillespie_)-- THE CONVIVIALISTS, 122 PHILIPS GREY, 144 DONALD GORM, (_Alexander Campbell_), 155 THE SURGEON'S TALES, (_Alexander Leighton_)-- THE CURED INGRATE, 188 THE ADOPTED SON, (_John Mackay Wilson_), 220 THE FORTUNES OF WILLIAM WIGHTON, (_John Howell_), 247 MY BLACK COAT; OR, THE BREAKING OF THE BRIDE'S CHINA, (_John Mackay Wilson_), 276 WILSON'S TALES OF THE BORDERS AND OF SCOTLAND. THE WIFE OR THE WUDDY. "There was a criminal in a cart Agoing to be hanged-- Reprieve to him was granted; The crowd and cart did stand, To see if he would marry a wife, Or, otherwise, choose to die! 'Oh, why should I torment my life?' The victim did reply; 'The bargain's bad in every part-- But a wife's the worst!--drive on the cart.'" Honest Sir John Falstaff talketh of "minions of the moon;" and, truth to tell, two or three hundred years ago, nowhere was such an order of knighthood more prevalent than upon the Borders. Not only did the Scottish and English Borderers make their forays across the Tweed and the ideal line, but rival chieftains, though of the same nation, considered themselves at liberty to make inroads upon the property of each other. The laws of _meum_ and _tuum_ they were unable to comprehend. Theirs was the strong man's world, and with them _might_ was _right_. But to proceed with our story. About the beginning of the seventeenth century, one of the boldest knights upon the Borders was William Scott, the young laird of Harden. His favourite residence was Oakwood Tower, a place of great strength, situated on the banks of the Ettrick. The motto of his family was "_Reparabit cornua Phoebe_," which being interpreted by his countrymen, in their vernacular idiom, ran thus--"We'll hae moonlight again." Now, the young laird was one who considered it his chief honour to give effect to both the spirit and the letter of his family motto. Permitting us again to refer to honest Falstaff, it implied that they were "gentlemen of the night;" and he was not one who would loll upon his pillow when his "avocation" called him to the foray.