The Scot Abroad.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 2, Issue 198, 23 November 1880, Page 2

The Scot Abroad.

It is a ..Scotch proverb that “ A Scotsman, a crow, and a ; Newcastle grindstone travel a’ the world over,” The Scotch, very singularly, are far less insular than the English ; it . is said they differ less from the general type of Europeans; they adapt themselves more to the habits and modes of thought of other nations; it is said, and that,on the Continent, they mark themselves far less strongly, and. conform to foreign ways more easily and naturally than the English. It is far more usual to meet with a continentalis'ed Scotchman than a contientalised Englishman. A story was told during the Crimean war of the disappointment of an Englishman who went out to the East as an interpreter, arid whose ruling passion was a hatred of everything Scotch ; but strolling through the camp with a Turkish officer, and abusing the Scotch:to. his heart’s content, to his astonishment Hassan Bey, the Turk, broke out, “111 tell ye what, ma ;mon,, gin ye daur lowsc. yere tongue upon my country like that, I’ll gie ye a cloot on the lug that’ll mak it lingle fra this till Holiowe’en !” The thunderstruck Englishman stammered out,- “Why, mylgood; Mian, I thought you were a Turic !” And sae I am a Turk the noo, ma braw chiel,” said the angry Glasgow : Mussulriian, ». “ but niy faither’s auid leather breeks ne’er travelled farther than just fra Glasgow to Greenock and back again ; but when I gang imme—as I’ll do or it’s lang— I’ll just; be : Wully Forbes, son ,o? auid

Daddy Forbes o’ the Gorbalsp-'for ‘a , ' ! that’s come and gane!” Presently a splendidly-dressed came up and said to the Turk*, ‘‘.Wully, raon, there’s a truce the" ripo for two hours ; just come wi’, me and we’ll ha’e a glass o’ whusky ' thegither.” It was the same with a. Russian officer, until the Englishman exclaimed, “ Bless my heart! is everybody on earth a Scotchman ? Perhaps I am one myself without knowing it! ” But when the Russian... General Tarassoff exclaimed, “ Eh, Donald Cawmell! are ye here ?” : and Ibrahim Pasha burst forth, simultaneously, “ \Vhat,, Sandy, Robertson, can this be you.? ” the Englishman burst forth, “ It’s all over! Turks, Russians, Hungarians, English —all Scotchmen! It’s more than I can bear. I shall go home; there’s nothing left for me to do here. I came out . as an interpreter, but id all the nations of Europe talk nothing but Scotch, what use can I be?” This seems very droll, but it is not more droll than real.