It was not that he was given to drinking; but
sometimes, on the pay night, he would indulge in a glass with Andrew
Marshall or Peter Pegg--just a round each; sufficient to make them happy
and forgetful of their hard lot for a time. She had seen her father
drunk on very few occasions, as he was a very careful man; but
sometimes, maybe at New Year's time, if things were going more than
usually well, he might, in company with his two cronies, indulge in an
extra glass, and then he was seen at his best.
On such occasions Mysie's mother would remonstrate with him, reminding
him with wifely wisdom of his family responsibilities; but under all her
admonishings Matthew's only reply was:
As I gaed doon the water side,
There I met my bonnie lad,
An' he rowed me sweetly in his plaid,
An' ca'd me his dearie, O!
and as he sang, he would fling his arms around Mysie's mother and turn
her round upon the floor, in an awkward dance, to the tune of the song,
and finally stopping her flow of words with a hug and a kiss, as he
repeated the chorus:
Ca' the yowes tae the knowes,
Ca' them where the heather grows,
Ca' them where the burnie rows,
My kind dearie, O!
So that, when the words of the old song floated up through the noise of
the street, Mysie's heart filled, and her eyes brimmed with tears; for
she saw again the old home, and all it meant to her.
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