Blair Collection > Carmina gadelica > Volume 2

278 NOTES
Similar insect pests are common in South America, Africa, and India, caus-
ing much trouble, sometimes resulting in permanent injuries to natives and
Europeans.
Fioii, wine. Wine is frequently mentioned in old Gaelic lore, whisky never. The
following lines occur in a song taken down in Miunghlaidh, one of the islands
of Barra, in the summer of 1 865 : —
' Is e mac Aoidh an duine treubhacli, The son of Aodh is the brave man,
Ni e sioda dh'an chloimh Cheitein, He could make silk of the May wool,
'S fion air bharr an fhraoicli. And wine from the heather-top,
Na 'm b' fheudar.' If it were necessary.
Fionn-Jaoilidh, a plant, the English name of which I do not know.
Fitheach, biadhtach, raven. Ravens are seldom gregarious, generally going in ones,
twos, or threes. Occasionally they congregate in flocks of many hundreds when
a dead animal is on the moor or on the shore, when they gorge themselves by
day and sleep in the rocks by night. At such times they become a nuisance to
the people of the place, who try to capture one of them. When secured, the bird
is tarred, painted, plucked or clipped, and placed on the carcase. The rest of the
ravens hold a court over the unfortunate bird, standing round it and talking
loudly and simultaneously. After a time one goes forward and gives a peck at
the hapless bird, then another and another, till the whole of them crowd round
the victim and end him. Sometimes the ravens simply look at the injured one,
and tlien sail away as silently and as variously as the}' came, till in a minute or
two not a raven is to be seen.
Of a man who has arrived accidentally and opportunely it is said : —
' Tha fios fithich aiaje.' He has raven's knowledge.
' Fios fithich gu roic. ' Raven's knowledge to a feast.
When a raven is killed during nidification, the bereaved mate goes away, and
after a short absence returns with another raven. When one of these is in turn
killed, the other raven goes away and brings a new mate. This process is
repeated till the third time, but if one be killed after that the remaining bird
leaves the place and never returns. The term 'biadhtach,' feeder, is applied
to the raven, and sometimes to a gluttonous man or boy.
One of the Lords of the Isles was going along Bac, in Barra — some say
Greinetobht, North Uist, — when he saw a black-haired, unkempt boy sitting
at the edge of a cornfield husking ears of corn while basking in the sun and
tending the cattle. Being a ready-witted poet, like many of the old Highland
chiefs, the Lord of the Isles said : —
' A bhiadhtaich sin, s' a bhiadlitaich, Tliou raven there, and thou raven.
Is math a chrimeas tu na diasan. Right well thou nibblest ears of corn,
Is e mo ghuidhe air Righ na cruinne It is my prayer to the King of the sphere
Thu bhi gun ionga, gun fhiacail.' That thou be without nail, without tooth.