Sentence The Sixhundredandfortyseventh

Tavish stood and gazed up at the Giant who stood, towering over him; "I am Tavish Dalwhinnie, but who sent you to me?" he asked, wondering how on earth this man, of whom he had never heard, could possibly know his name or that he should be in this tavern, of all the Taverns, in all the world, but the Big Man simply smiled and said: "Faither Boisil at St Mary o Wedale telt me ah should likely find ye here, ah've bin luikin in every day fer the past se'ennicht an am richt glad ye've arrived, fer ah wis oan the pint o wrichtin tae the guid Faither an tellin him he must be mistooken! he sez ma readin n writin's a credit tae his pedagogy, but regrets he cood nevva improve ma speech!" he shook Tavish's

tiny hand in his own huge paw and grinned, "dae ye mind if a sit doon, it fair maks ma neck sare, haen tae staun in a wee place like this," and Tavish beckoned him to join them, though, of course, his legs were far too long for him to put them under the table; "micht ah ask ye kindly, sur, if the guid Faither is well? ah've no seen him since ah cam tae toon tae tak up the joab he goat me," and Tavish nodded vigorously, quite bemused by the Big Yin, whose gentle voice belied the impression of his appearance, "Father Boisil was of great help to us a couple of weeks ago, he and his wife gave us shelter when we were in despair, and gave us some assistance on our journey here," and the Big Yin nodded: "he's a richt guid man, a Saint if ye ask me, though ah ken ye didnae, but that's aw richt, am fixed up here thanks tae him, ahm a jailer at The Hert o Midlothian," and Tavish knew at once what

he spoke of, for The Heart of Midlothian was the popular name for the small prison just opposite St Giles Cathedral, itself just a short distance up The High Street from where they presently sat: "you'll be kept busy there?" he asked, and Harry answered: "oh aye, there's aye some buddies wha's goat theirsels intae boather wi the law, an we keeppum safe an soond till the law sorts oot their predicament, of course, no aye tae their likin, mind, but we's jist gairds, no rope-men or blade-men, or rackers or owt, we dinnae punish naebdy, jist haud them till their cases is heerd, the lawyers is aye bizzy, an sumtimes they ferget aboot the puir sinners, an they hae tae bide wi us longer than they thocht, but we keeppum fed an watered, an gie them clean strawe tae lie oan, an dae oor best tae helpum while awa their time – it's no a hard joab, an naebdy borks ony o us, cos naebdy in Embra

wants the joab fer theirsels; Wee Tam Transpontine's fae Leith, 'boarn oan the wrang side o the bridge' the Burgers sae; Fat Boab's a Fifer, born oan the wrang side o the Firth, an they sae they're a seprit Kingdom onywey, an naebdy unnerstauns their accent onyhoo, but his beloved's a Embra lassie an he walked aw the wey here in his bare feet tae prove he loves her tae; an am fi Wedale 'the wrang

side o the Lammermoor' sez them, so ye see, oor Men O Pairts, or Men Apart, jist depens hoo ye see it; but the preesners is a happy nuff loat, sept wen they's tae be hanged, they'se no vary happy then, an ah kin unnerstaun that, ah dinnae think ah'd be awfae happy either, but thon's no likely, iffen ye keep yer neb clean," and he changed the topic of conversation: "Faither Boisil sed ye'd likely be needin lodgins, an ah ken the wifie wha cooks the food fer the prisoners. an she's got nae lodgers richt noo, if ye'd be interested tae meet her, she's a bonny cook and keeps a clean hoose - the rooms is tae ower wee fer me, bit you'se is likely wee enuff tae fir in," and this news filled Tavish with such good cheer that he stood and hugged Harry in sheer gratitude, which made the Big Yin blush; he was about twenty or so, Tavish guessed, and the embodiment of the term 'Gentle Giant,' and his knowledge of the locality would be a great assistance, although Tavish sincerely hoped he would not end up in The Heart of Midlothian himself!