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Reekie (Auld)

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Chambers says: “An old patriarchal laird (Durham of Largo) was in the habit of regulating the time of evening worship by the appearance of the smoke of Edinburgh… . When it increased in density, in consequence of the good folk preparing supper, he would … say, ‘It is time noo, bairns, to tak the buiks and gang to our beds, for yonder’s auld Reekie, I see, putting on her night-cap.ʹ”

“Yonder is auld Reekie. You may see the smoke hover over her at twenty milesʹ distance.”—Sir W. Scott: The Abbot, xvii.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Redgauntlet
Redlaw (Mr)
Redmain
Redmond ONeale
Reductio ad Absurdum
Reduplicated or Ricochet Words
Ree
Reed
Reed Shaken by the Wind (A)
Reef
Reekie (Auld)
Reel
Reel
Reeves Tale
Refresher
Refreshments
Regale
Regan and Goneril
Regatta (Italian)
Regent (The)
Regent’s Park (London)