Proverbs are usually thought to embody the wit and wisdom of the ages. This 19th century anthology contains a large collection of Gaelic proverbs with English translations and explanations.
Alexander Nicolson was a Scottish lawyer and Gaelic scholar. He was sheriff-substitute of Kirkcudbright and Greenock, and pioneer of mountain climbing in Scotland.

Giving up theology while at the Free Church College, Nicholson for some time worked as one of the sub-editors of the eighth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. He moved on, to the staff of the Edinburgh Guardian, a short-lived literary paper of high literary quality. For a year he edited an advanced Liberal paper, the Daily Express, which later was merged into the Caledonian Mercury.