A saying of GGGG Grandpa Boyd (one used by RLS to Henry James, later, not in dialect)

John Boyd's celebrated expression, when advised to settle a law suit, in which he was ultimately successful, is worth remembering. "I'll mak a spoon, or spile a horn."

Online there's a piece on the origin of proverbial expressions which misunderstands what "horn" was and quite misinterprets what Grandpa Boyd was saying.

He was a Scot born in Ireland who received a land grant from George III in South Carolina.