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understood, and formerly their sowns had been too thin; so the goodman, being a sworn birlyman of that barony, eame to survey the sowens before they went on the fire, and actually swore they were o’er thin; and she swore by her conscienee they would be thick enough, if ill hands and ill een bade awa frae them. A sweet be here, mither, said he, do you think that I’m a witeh? Witch here, or witeh there, said the wife, swearing by her saul, and that was nae banning, she said, they’ll be gude substantial meat;—a what say you chapman? Indeed, goodwife, said I, sowens are but saft meat at the best, but, if you make them thick enough, and put a good lump of butter in them, they’ll do very well for a supper. I trow sae lad, said she, ye ha’e some sense: so the old woman put on the pot with her sowens, and went to milk the cows, leaving me to steer; the goodman, her son, as soon as she went out, took a great cogful of water, and put it into the pot amongst the sowens, and then went out of the house and left me alone: I considering what sort of a pish-the-bed supper I was to get if I staid there, thought it fit to set out, but takes up a piteher of water, and fills up the pot until it was running over, and then takes up my paek, and comes about a mile farther that night, leaving the honest woman and her son to sup their watery witched sowens at their own pleasure.
