Scottish Character and Humor

The Scottish people have a reputation for being the stingiest people on earth. This is not true, of course, as anyone who has visited Scotland will tell you. The Scottish people are very clever and simple, and they also have a natural sense of humor.

One Friday, a farmer’s wife went to town as usual to sell her butter and eggs. "What are you giving for a dozen eggs today?" she asked the grocer. "Sixpence," was the short reply. "Sixpence a dozen! That is a very small price indeed!"

"Yes, but we grocers had a conference yesterday, and we decided that we could not give more than sixpence for the eggs."

The farmer’s wife shook her head very sadly but accepted the price and went away.

Next Friday, the farmer’s wife came to town as usual. When the grocer looked at the eggs, he said, "Your eggs are very small this week."

"Well," she said, "our hens had a conference yesterday, and they decided that sixpence is such a small price that they must not try so hard to lay large eggs for it."