"
"Hegh, sirs!" answered Ailsie Gourlay; "how bra' are we wi' our new
black coat and our weel-pouthered head, as if we had never kenn'd hunger
nor thirst oursells! and we'll be screwing up our bit fiddle, doubtless,
in the ha' the night, amang a' the other elbo'-jiggers for miles round.
Let's see if the pins haud, Johnie--that's a', lad."
"I take ye a' to witness, gude people," said Morheuch, "that she
threatens me wi' mischief, and forespeaks me. If ony thing but gude
happens to me or my fiddle this night, I'll make it the blackest night's
job she ever stirred in. I'll hae her before presbytery and synod: I'm
half a minister mysell, now that I'm a bedral in an inhabited parish."
Although the mutual hatred betwixt these hags and the rest of mankind
had steeled their hearts against all impressions of festivity, this was
by no means the case with the multitude at large. The splendour of the
bridal retinue, the gay dresses, the spirited horses, the blythesome
appearance of the handsome women and gallant gentlemen assembled upon
the occasion, had the usual effect upon the minds of the populace.
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