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FACTS are chiels that winna ding.
Faint heart ne'er wan fair lady.
Fair an' foolish, black an' proud, lang an' lazy, little an' loud.
How far this proverb is borne out by fact is certainly open to question. It appears in Ray's collection as English, and as a remark upon it he says, "Beauty and folly do often go hand in hand, and are often matched together."
Fair and softly gangs far.
"Who goes softly goes safely, and he that goes safely goes far."-- Italian.
Fair exchange is nae robbery.
Fair fa' gude drink, for it gars folk speak as they think.
"Fair fa'," well betide; good luck to. This is the Scotch version of the common saying, "When the wine is in, the wit is out ;" or, "What is in the heart of the sober man is on the tongue of the drunken man."-- Latin.
"Leeze me on drink ! it gi'es us mair
Than either school or college,
It kindles wit, it waukens lair,
It pangs us fu' o' knowledge:
Be't whisky gill, or penny wheep,
Or ony stronger potion,
It never fails, on drinking deep,
To kittle up our notion,
By night or day."-- Burns.
Fair fa' the wife, and weel may she spin, that counts aye the lawin' wi' a pint to come in.
Literally, good luck to the hostess who includes a pint still to come when the reckoning is called for. This saying, so far as we can discover, is exclusively Scottish.
Fair fa' you, and that's nae fleaching.
"Fleach," to flatter. A good wish sincerely expressed.
Fair folk are aye foisonless.
Kelly says of the word "foisonless," that it means "without strength or sap; dried up; withered. Scott, in Old Mortality, uses it in the moral sense, "unsubstantial."
Fair gae they, fair come they, and aye their heels hindmost.
Meaning that they go and come regularly, decently, and in order.
Fair hair may hae foul roots.
Fair hechts mak fools fain.
"Hope puts that haste into zour heid,
Quhilk boyls zour barmy brain;
Howbeit fulis haste cums holy speid,
Fair hechts will male fults fain."-- Cherrie and the Slae.
Fair in the cradle may be foul in the saddle.
Fair maidens wear nae purses.
Fair words are nae cause o' feuds.
Fair words hurt ne'er a bane, but foul words break mony a ane.
Fair words winna mak the pat boil.
Falkirk bairns dee ere they thrive.
Falkirk bairns mind naething but mischief.
Fa' on the feeblest, the beetle among the bairns.
"Spoken when we do a thing at a venture, that may be good for some and bad for another; and let the event fall upon the most unfortunate. Answers to the English 'Among you blind harpers.'"-- Kelly.
Fancy flees before the wind.
Fancy was a bonnie dog, but Fortune took the tail frae't.
Fann'd fires and forced love ne'er dae weel.
Far ahint maun follow the faster.
Far ahint that mayna follow, an' far before that canna look back.
Far awa fowls hae fair feathers.
"She wad vote the border knight,
Though she should vote her lane;
For far-off fowls hae feathers fair,
And fools o' change are fain."-- Burns.
Far frae court far frae care.
Far frae my heart's my husband's mother.
Far sought and dear bought is gude for ladies.
Farewell frost, fair weather neist.
Fare-ye-well, Meg Dorts, and e'en's ye like.
A jocose adieu to those who go away in the sulks.
Farmer's fauch gars lairds laugh.
Farther east the shorter west.
Farthest frae the kirk aye soonest at it.
In contradistinction to those who are "near the kirk but far frae grace."
Fashious fools are easiest flisket.
Troublesome or fretful persons are easily offended.
Fast bind, fast find.
This saying is very old, and common to many countries. Shakespeare terms it "a proverb never stale to thrifty minds."
Fat flesh freezes soon.
Fat hens are aye ill layers.
Fat paunches bode lean pows.
Ray explains this by adding, "Fall bellies make empty skulls."
Fause folk should hae mony witnesses.
Fausehood maks ne'er a fair hinder-end.
Meaning, that falsehood is sure to be exposed in the long run.
Favours unused are favours abused.
Feather by feather the goose is plucked.
February, fill the dike, be it black or be it white; if it's white, it's the better to like.
Feckfu' folk can front the bauldest wind.
"I own 'tis cauld encouragement to sing,
When round ane's lugs the blattran' hailstanes ring;
But feckfu' folk can front the bauldest wind,
An' slunk through muirs, an' never fash their mind."
-- Allan Ramsey.
Feckless folk are fain o' ane anither.
"Feckless folk," silly people. Fools are fond of one another.
Feckless fools should keep canny tongues.
Silly or mischievous people should be cautious what they say.
Feed a cauld, but hunger a colic.
Feeding out o' course maks mettle out o' kind.
Feeling has nae fellow.
Few get what they glaum at.
Fiddlers, dogs, and flesh-flies come aye to feasts unca'd.
Fiddler's fare--meat, drink, and money.
Fiddler's wives and gamester's drink are free to ilka body.
Fight dog, fight bear; wha wins, deil care.
Fill fu' and haud fu', maks the stark man.
Plenty of meat and drink makes a strong man.
Fine feathers mak fine birds.
Fine to fine maks a bad line.
Or "Butter to butter's nae kitchen," q. v.
Fire and water are gude servants but ill maisters.
Fire is gude for the fireside.
All things are good in their proper places.
First come, first ser'd.
Fish guts an' stinkin' herrin' are bread and milk for an Eyemouth bairn.
"The small seaport town of Eyemouth was formerly distinguished for its 'ancient fishlike smells,' its narrow, intricate streets, and smuggling trade."-- G. Henderson.
Fish maun soom thrice.
First in water, second in sauce, third in wine.
Fleas and a girning wife are waukrife bedfellows.
Flee as fast as you will, your fortune will be at your tail.
Fleying a bird is no the way to grip it
To frighten a bird is not the way to catch it; severity or constant threatening do not tend to make children or servants better.
Fling at the brod was ne'er a gude ox.
Flit an auld tree and it'll wither
Flitting o' farms mak mailens dear.
See "As ane flits," &c., of which this is merely a variation.
Folk are aye free to gie what's no their ain.
Folk maun grow auld or dee.
Folk's dogs bark waur than themsels.
Folk should never ask for mair than they can make a good use o'.
Follow love and it will flee thee: flee love and it will follow thee.
Folly is a bonnie dog, but a bad ane.
Fools and bairns shouldna see half-dune wark.
Fools are aye fond o' flittin', and wise men o' sittin'.
Fools are aye fortunate.
Fools are aye seeing ferlies.
Fools are fain o' flattery.
Fools are fain o' naething.
Fools are fond o' a' they forgather wi'.
Fools aye see ither folk's fauts and forget their ain.
Fools big houses and wise men buy them.
Fools' haste is nae speed.
Fools laugh at their ain sport.
Fools mak feasts and wise men eat them.
"This was once said to a great man in Scotland, upon his giving an entertainment. He readily answered, 'Wise men make proverbs, and fools repeat them.'"-- Kelly.
Fools ravel and wise men redd.
Literally, fools entangle affairs and circumstances, and require "wise men" to assist them out of their troubles.
Fools set far trysts.
Fools shouldna hae chappin-sticks.
For as gude again, like Sunday milk.
"A precise woman in the country would not sell her milk on the Sunday, but would give it for as good again. Spoken when we suspect people's kindness to be mercenary."- Kelly.
For a tint thing, carena.
Do not fret about a thing or opportunity which has been lost.
For better acquaintance' sake, as Sir John Ramsay said when he drank to his father.
"Sir John Ramsay had been long abroad, and coming home he accidentally met with his father, who did not know him; he invites his father to a glass of wine, and drinks to him for more acquaintance."-- Kelly
Forbid a fool a thing, an' that he'll do.
Force without foresight aften fails.
Forewarned is forearmed.
For fashion's sake, as dogs gae to market.
For faut o' wise men fools sit on binks.
Forgotten pain, when follows gain.
For gude cheese and cheer mony haunt the house.
Many frequent the house for the sake of what they get to eat.
For my ain pleasure, as the man thrashed his wife.
For puir folk they seldom ring.
Fortune and futurity are no to be guessed at.
Fortune favours the brave.
Fortune gains the bride.
Fortune helps the hardy.
"For I half aft hard suith men say,
And we may see oursells,
That fortune helps the hardy aye,
And pultrones aye repels."-- Cherrie and the Slae.
For want o' a steek a shoe may be tint.
"A stitch in time saves nine."
Foster the guest that stays--further him that maun gang.
Foul fa' nought, and then he'll get naething.
Used in satirical allusion to those who expect a legacy from a very improbable source.
Foul water slockens fire.
Frae saving comes having.
Frae the teeth forward.
He speaks from the lips only, not from the heart.
Freedom's a fair thing.
Fresh fish and poor friends soon grow ill-faur'd.
Fresh fish and unwelcome friends stink before they're three days auld.
Friday flit, short time sit.
Meaning that to remove on a Friday is unlucky.
Friday rules Sunday.
Friends are like fiddle-strings, they mauna be screwed ower ticht.
Friends gree best separate.
Friendship canna stand aye on ae side.
Frost and fausehood hae baith a dirty wa' gang.
Fry stanes wi' butter and the broo will be gude.
Fu' o' courtesy, fu' o' craft.

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