Page:Studies in Lowland Scots - Colville - 1909.djvu/249

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
SIDE-LIGHTS
225

For him, who knows (wot) desire (lust) to turn round (Ger. drehen),
Will I but one word-ie advise (rede):
Think on Klaas Geswint his horse,
And ask (Ger. fragen) yourself, "Where is her tail?"

"Tam o' Shanter" is manifestly but an exotic on the Veldt. The Boer is out of sympathy with the characteristic humour of the situation. He lays hold of the conjugal aspect, so indispensable to the peace of his self-contained home. He emphasises the eerieness of the situation and its call for caution, but we miss the jocose familiarity and kindly humanity of Tam's relations to the witches.