with his views, when he heard her enlarge upon the necessity of his
designed son in law resigning a trade which brought in more ready
income than any at that time practised in Scotland, and more profit
to Henry of Perth in particular than to any armourer in the nation.
He had some indistinct idea that it would not be amiss to convert,
if possible, Henry the Smith from his too frequent use of arms, even
though he felt some pride in being connected with one who wielded
with such superior excellence those weapons, which in that warlike
age it was the boast of all men to manage with spirit. But when he
heard his daughter recommend, as the readiest road to this pacific
state of mind, that her lover should renounce the gainful trade in
which he was held unrivalled, and which, from the constant private
differences and public wars of the time, was sure to afford him a
large income, he could withhold his wrath no longer. The daughter
had scarce recommended to her lover the fabrication of the implements
of husbandry, than, feeling the certainty of being right, of which
in the earlier part of their debate he had been somewhat doubtful,
the father broke in with:

"Locks and bars, plough graith and harrow teeth! and why not
grates and fire prongs, and Culross girdles, and an ass to carry
the merchandise through the country, and thou for another ass to
lead it by the halter? Why, Catharine, girl, has sense altogether
forsaken thee, or dost thou think that in these hard and iron days
men will give ready silver for anything save that which can defend
their own life, or enable them to take that of their enemy? We want
swords to protect ourselves every moment now, thou silly wench,
and not ploughs to dress the ground for the grain we may never see
rise. As for the matter of our daily bread, those who are strong
seize it, and live; those who are weak yield it, and die of hunger.