The Heart of Mid-Lothian - Penn State University

the sound of the words, “ye said a gliff syne it was quivis,
and now I heard ye say cuivis with my ain ears, as plain
as ever I heard a word at the fore-bar.”
“Give me your patience, Mr. Saddletree, and I’ll explain
the discrepancy in three words,” said Butler, as
pedantic in his own department, though with infinitely
more judgment and learning, as Bartoline was in his
self-assumed profession of the law— “Give me your
patience for a moment—You’ll grant that the nominative
case is that by which a person or thing is nominated
or designed, and which may be called the primary case,
all others being formed from it by alterations of the termination
in the learned languages, and by prepositions
in our modern Babylonian jargons—You’ll grant me
that, I suppose, Mr. Saddletree?”
“I dinna ken whether I will or no—ad avisandum, ye
ken—naebody should be in a hurry to make admissions,
either in point of law, or in point of fact,” said
Saddletree, looking, or endeavouring to look, as if he
understood what was said.
“And the dative case,” continued Butler
Sir Walter Scott
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“I ken what a tutor dative is,” said Saddletree, “readily
enough.”
“The dative case,” resumed the grammarian, “is that
in which anything is given or assigned as properly belonging
to a person or thing—You cannot deny that, I
am sure.”
“I am sure I’ll no grant it, though,” said Saddletree.
“Then, what the deevil d’ye take the nominative and
the dative cases to be?” said Butler, hastily, and surprised
at once out of his decency of expression and accuracy
of pronunciation.
“I’ll tell you that at leisure, Mr. Butler,” said
Saddletree, with a very knowing look; “I’ll take a day
to see and answer every article of your condescendence,
and then I’ll hold you to confess or deny as accords.”
“Come, come, Mr. Saddletree,” said his wife, “we’ll hae
nae confessions and condescendences here; let them deal
in thae sort o’ wares that are paid for them—they suit
the like o’ us as all as a demipique saddle would suit a
draught ox.”
“Aha!” said Mr. Butler, “Optat ephippia bos piger, noth-