Why should he no be a gentleman?
His blood was gude on both sides, frae his mither and frae me.

And, oh, I wish ye could ha' seen the bonnie laddie as his mither and I did! Ye'd ken, then, hoo it was I came to be sae ambitious that I paid no heed to them that thocht it next door to sinfu' for me to be aye thinkin' o' doing even better than I was! There were plenty like that, ye'll ken.

Some was a wee bit jealous.
Some, who'd known me my life lang, couldna believe I could hope to do the things it was in my heart and mind to try.

They believed they were giving me gude advice when they bade me be content and not tempt providence.
"Man, Harry, listen to me," said one old friend.

"Ye've done fine.
Ye're a braw laddie, and we're all prood o' ye the noo.