( you might need a Scots Dictionary )

EAGLES catch nae fleas.
Spoken of conceited people who affect disdain for petty details.
Eagles flee alane, but sheep herd thegither.
Early birds catch the worms.
Early crooks the tree, that good cammock shou1d be.
Early maister, lang servant
Early sow, early mow.
East or west, hame is best.
East and wast, the sign o' a blast; north and south, the sign o' a drouth.
Easy learning the cat the road to the kirn.
When the natural inclination tends towards any particular subject, it assists the learner greatly.
Eat and welcome--fast and twice as welcome. Eaten meat is ill to pay.
"Eaten bread is soon forgotten."-- Italian.
Eating, drinking, and cleaning need but a beginning.
Eat in measure and defy the doctor.
Eat peas wi' the prince and cherries wi' the chapman.
Eats meat, an's never fed; wear claes, an's never cled.
Of some people it may be said, that "they put their meat in an ill skin;" for, notwithstanding that they live well, they appear always thin and hungry, and not at all, to use a Scotticism, "like their meat." Some people are equally unfortunate with regard to their clothing; always amply dressed, they seem the very reverse.
Eat till ye sweat and work till ye freeze.
Eat-weel's Drink-weel's brither.
Signifying that good drinking must necessarily go hand in hand with good eating.
Eat your fill and pouch nane, is gardener's law.
E'en as ye won't, sae ye may wear't.
As you won it, so you may wear it; applied either in a good or bad sense.
E'ening grey and a morning red, put on your hat or ye'll weet your head.
E'ening orts are gude morning's fodder.
"Orts," rejected provender. Meaning that a thing which is rejected or despised at present may be acceptable or valuable at another time.
E'ening red an' a morning grey is taiken sure o' a bonnie day.
E'en pickle in your am pock-neuk.
"'Ye'll find the stane breeks and the iron garters--ay, and the hemp cravat, for a' that, neighbour,' replied the bailie. 'Nae man in a civilised country ever played the pliskies ye hae done; but e'en pickle in your ain pock-neuk--I hae gi'en ye warning.'"-- Rob Roy.
Eident youth maks easy age.
"Industry is the parent of fortune."-- German.
Eild and poortith are a sair burden for ae back.
"Eild and poortith," age and poverty. "Poverty on an old man's back is a heavy burden."-- English.
Eild and poortith's sair to thole.
This saying is of similar import to the preceding one. Literally, age and poverty are hard to bear.
Eild should hae honour.
Either live or die wi' honour.
Either prove a man or a mouse.
Either win the horse or tine the saddle.
Win the horse or lose the saddle. "Neck or nothing."
Eith keeping the castle that's no besieged.
"It is easy to sit at the helm in fair weather."-- Danish.
Eith learned soon forgotten.
"Easy come, easy go."-- English.
Eith to that thy ain heart wills.
Eith working when will's at hame.
The two preceding maxims have a similar meaning to the French sayings, that "Will is power;" and "A willing heart helps work." "Where the will is ready the feet are light "-- German.
Ell and tell is gude merchandise.
Ell and tell is ne'er forgotten, and the best pay's on the peck bottom.
"Ell and tell," if we mistake not, refers to good measure and prompt payment; and the latter saying may be construed thus:--The grain is emptied from the "peck" measure, the measure is inverted, and payment for the grain is "told" on the bottom of it.
Enough's as gude as a feast.
Enough's enough o' bread and cheese.
Meaning, that too much of one thing is not good. The French and Dutch say, "Enough is better than too much," while the Italians are of opinion that "Enough is enough, and too much spoils."
Envy shoots at a high mark.
Even stands his cap the day, for a' that.
"It took its rise from a minister in our country, who, in a sermon preached most fiercely against the supremacy of the Pope, at the conclusion said, 'Even stands his cap for all that I have said, drinking good Romany wine this day.' Applied when we signify that all we can say against any great man can do him no harm."-- Kelly.
Ever busy, ever bare.
"Great cry and little wool."-- English.
Every ane loups the dyke where it's laighest.
Every one leaps the wall at the lowest part,--a man may "loup the dyke" by oppressing those who are unable to resist.
Every bird thinks its ain nest best.
Every cock craws crousiest on his ain midden head.
"Every cock crows loudest on his own dunghill," is a saying common to all nations.
Every craw thinks his ain bird whitest.
All think well of their own offspring. "Every mother's child is handsome," say the Germans. They also have, "No ape but swears he has the finest children."
Every day is no Yule day; cast the cat a castock.
The first half of this proverb is used literally by the Italians and Dutch. A "castock" is the stalk or core of a cabbage.
Every dog has its day.
Every dud bids anither gude-day.
Every fault has its fore.
Every flow has its ebb.
Every Jack will find a Jill.
"Never you fash your thumb about that, Maister Francie,' returned the landlady with a knowing wink, 'every Jack will find a Jill, gang the world as it may; and, at the warst o't, better hae some fashery in finding a partner for the night, than get yoked with ane that you may not be able to shake off the morn.'"-- St Ronan's Well.
Every land has its laigh; every corn has its ain caff.
Meaning that everything may be found fault with; and silly objections be raised against the most valuable and useful things.
Every man bows to the bush he gets beild frae.
"Every one pays court to him who gives him proteciion."-- Jamieson.
Every man buckles his belt his ain gate.
Every man does his work after his own fashion.
Every man can guide an ill wife weel but him that has her.
Every man can tout best on his ain horn.
"Tout." to blow. Meaning, that every man knows best how to tell his own story.
Every man for himself, and God for us a'.
Every man for his own hand, as Henry Wynd fought.
"Two great clans fought out a quarrel with thirty men of a side, in presence of the king, on the North Inch of Perth, on or about the year 1392; a mall was amissing on one side, whose room was filled by a little bandy-legged citizen of Perth. This substitute, Henry Wynd--or, as the High-landers called him, Gow Chrom, that is, the bandy-legged smith--fought well, and contributed greatly to the fate of the battle, without knowing which side he fought on ;--so, 'To fight for your ain hand, like Henry Wynd,' passed into a proverb."-- Sir Walter Scott, Note to Rob Roy.
Every man has his am bubbly-jock.
Every man has his am draff poke, though some hang eider than others.
The two last sayings are similar in meaning, viz., that every man has his imperfections or faults. The latter qualifies the proverb by admitting that in some these appear more prominently than in others.
Every man kens best where his ain sair lies.
Every man kens best where his ain shoe binds him.
Every man's blind to his ain cause.
Every man's man had a man, and that gar'd the Threave fa'.
"The Threave was a strong castle belonging to the Black Douglases. The governor left a deputy, and he a substitute, by whose negligence the castle was taken."-- Kelly.
Every man's no born wi' a siller spoon in his mouth.
Every man's nose winna be a shoeing horn.
Certain things can only be used for certain purposes.
Every man's tale's gude till anither's tauld.
Every man thinks his ain craw blackest.
"Every man to his ain trade," quo' the browster to the bishop.
Every man. to his taste, as the man said when he kiss'd his cow.
Every maybe hath a may not be.
Every miller wad weise the water to his ain mill.
"Every miller draws the water to his own mill"-- English.
Every play maun be played, and some maun be the players.
Every shoe fits not every foot.
Every sow to her ain trough.
People should keep their own place; or, according to Ray, "Every man should support himself, and not hang upon another."
Everything has a beginning.
Everything has an end, and a pudding has twa.
Everything has its time, and sae has a rippling-kame.
"Rippling-kame," a coarse comb used in the preparation of flax. The proverb means that there is a time proper for everything.
Everything is the waur o' the wear.
That is, worse for wearing.
Everything wad fain live.
Every wight has his weird, and we maun a' dee when our day comes.
Evil words cut mair than swords.
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in nae ither.

Return To Scottish Proverbs Index