Without the shepherd's dog, the whole of the open mountainous land in Scotland would not be worth a sixpence.

If a body could just find oot the exac' proper proportion and quantity that ought to be drunk every day, and keep to that, I verily trow that he might leeve for ever, without dying at a', and that doctors and kirkyards would og oot o' fashion.

The daisy is fair, the day-lily rare, The bud o' the rose as sweet as it's bonnie.

That undefined and mingled hum, Voice of the desert never dumb!

Oh, why should vows so fondly made, Be broken ere the morrow, To one who loves as never maid Loved in this world of sorrow?

A shepherd may be a very able, trusty, and good shepherd, without a sweetheart-better, perhaps, than with one. But what is he without his dog?

Man mind yoursel is the first commandment.