Nearly a hundred years elapsed before a new collection appeared, although, during that period, many editions of the works which we have mentioned were brought out to supply the demands of a proverb-loving public. In 1832, the collection formed by Andrew Henderson was published at Glasgow. It is based upon the previous books, and is a very extensive one, although in arrangement it is defective. This collection, which is more ample than the former ones, has the advantage of an elaborate historical and literary disquisition on the general subject, in the form of an introduction by the poet Motherwell, which is allowed to be one of the most interesting and comprehensive papers on proverbs which has yet appeared.

The present collection of Scottish Proverbs, the first edition of which appeared in 1862, while it is the most extensive and systematic that has yet appeared, claims to be little more than a mere mechanical compilation. It was suggested by the work of Henderson, and has been carefully collated with it, and also with the previous collections of Fergusson, Kelly, and Ramsay. Large additions have been made from various sources, such as the works of Sir Walter Scott, Galt, Hogg, and other national writers, while not a few have been picked up and registered as they fell from the lips of friends and strangers with whom the compiler came in contact.

Throughout the volume, a considerable number of notes are introduced. These notes the compiler had some hesitation in inserting, from a feeling that many of them were mere literal explanations or illustrations, conveying generally but a very poor idea of the deeper meaning which the proverbs themselves are capable of yielding; and also in deference to opinions which have been expressed as to the propriety of adding notes to a collection of proverbs at all, as every reader of intelligence is competent to put an individual construction upon each, suited to circumstances; while the very wide inferences and applications which can be extracted from many of them, render the adapting of a brief and satisfactory note, in many cases, an impossibility. As it is, however, little merit is claimed for them; and if they are found to be of no aid in facilitating an interpretation, they will, at least, tend to relieve the monotonous or catalogue effect, so to speak, which is apt to be felt by many readers when perusing works arranged in alphabetical order. In all cases where the compiler could adapt a quotation or parallel proverb, he did so in preference to inserting an original note. To apply a proverb from the collection, it is hoped that, after all, the notes will be found no worse than "Like a chip among parritch—little gude, little ill." A simple but comprehensive Glossary is appended, containing and explaining the meaning of the Scottish words to be found in the book.

Of course, in a work of this nature, it is impossible to prevent redundancies and repetitions; and when it is mentioned that the gathering and arrangement of the first edition of this little work occupied the leisure