ON one occasion, a native of the
Emerald Isle, observing Hawkie draining off a glass of aqua, said to him:
"Don’t take any more of that vile
stuff, Hawkie, it will kill ye, man; every glass of it is just another
nail to your Norway jacket, and the carpenter will be takin’ yer length
very soon, at any rate." To which Hawkie retorted:
"Hech, man, Paddy, your coffin would
be as thick set wi’ thae nails, if ye had the bawbee’s to pay for them, as
the scales on a herrin’. Gae hame wi’ you; our hangman can scarcely get
time to tak’ his denner for you bairns o’ the Bog. Confound you, we canna
get the use o’ oor ain gallows for you nooadays."
