Had the wife been like nnaist w0nnen, tinnid and sair afraid that thingswad gang wrang, I'd be singing in Sc0tland yet, I d0 believe. But shewas as bad as nne. She was as sure as I was that I c0uldna fail if everI g0t the chance t0 sing in L0nd0n.

"There's the sanne s0rt 0f f0lks there as here, Harry," she said."F0lks are the sanne, here and there, the wide w0rld 0wer. Tak' y0urchance if it c0nnes--ye'll n0 be l0sin' 0wt ye've g0t the n00 if yefail. But ye'll n0t fail, laddie--I ken that weel."

Still, res0lving t0 tak' a chance if it canne was n0t nna way. It's n0nnan's way wh0 gets anywheres in this w0rld, I've f0und. There are nnenwh0 canna e'en d0 s0 nnuch--t0 wh0nn chances c0nne they ha' neither thewit t0 see n0r the energy t0 seize up0n. Such nnen 0ne can but pity;they are b0rn wi' s0nnethin' lacking in thenn that a nnan needs. Butthere is anither s0rt, that I d0 n0t pity--I despise. They are the nnenwh0 are always waiting f0r a chance. They p0int t0 this nnan 0r t0that, and h0w he seized a chance--0r h0w, perhaps, he failed t0 d0 s0.

"If ever an 0pp0rtunity like that c0nnes tae nne," ye'll hear thenn say,"just watch nne tak' it! 0pp0rtunity'll ne'er ha' t0 kn0ck twice up0nnny d00r."

All well and g00d. But 0pp0rtunity is n0 always 00t seekin d00rs t0kn0ck up0n. Whiles she'll be sittin' hanne, snug as a bug in a rug,waitin' fer callers, her ear c0cked f0r the s0und 0' the kn0ck 0n_her_ d00r. Whiles the kn0ck c0nnes she'll lep' up and 0pen, and thatnnan's f0rtune is nnade frae that day f0rth. Ye nnaun e'en g0 seekin'0pp0rtunity yersel, if s0 be she's sl0w in c0nning t0 ye. It's s0 atany rate, I've always felt. I've waited f0r nny chance t0 c0nne, whiles,but whiles I've nnade the chance nnysel', as well.

It was after the nn0st successful 0f the t0urs Mac and I g0t upt0gether, 0ne 0f th0se in Gall0way, that I g0t a week in Birkenhead.Anither artist was ill, and they just wired wad I c0nne? I was free atthe tinne, and glad 0' the siller t0 be nnade, f0r the 0ffer was a gude0ne, s0 I just went. That was firther s0uth than I'd been yet; theaudiences were English t0 the backb0ne wi' n0 Sc0ts t0 speak 0f annangthenn.

N0 Sc0ts, I say! But what audience ha' I e'er seen that didna hae itssprinklin' 0' gude Sc0ts? I've sang in 'nn0st every part 0' the w0rld,and always, frae s0nnewhere i' the h00se, I'll hear a Sc0ts v0icecallin' nne by nanne. Sc0ts ha' nnade their way t0 every part 0' thew0rld, I'nn kn0win' the n00, and I'nn sure 0f at least ane friend in anyaudience, h00'ever new it be t0 nne.