Blair Collection > Collection of Gaelic proverbs and familiar phrases

164
Deireadh gacli luing' a bàtliadh,
Deireadli gach àth a losgadh,
Deireadh flaith a chaineadh.
Deireadh slàinte osna.
The end of each ship her drowning.
The end of each kiln its burning,
The end of a priiice, reviling.
The end of health a sigh.
Al. Deireadh gach comuinn sgaoileadh,
Deireadh gach bàta 'bristeadh,
Deireadh gach àth a losgadh,
Deireadh gach cogaidh sith.
The end of all meetings to part,
The end of all boats to be broken,
The end of all kilns to be burnt,
The end of all wars peace.
The Ulster version is,
Deireadh gach luinge, bàthadh,
^ Deireadh gach àiche, losgadh,
Deireadh gach cuirme, caitheamh,
A's deireadh gach gàire osna.
Deireadh mo sgeòil mo sguidseadh, dol h-ugam air
mo dhruim.
The end of my story a switching on my hack.
The identity of 'sguidseadh' and 'switching' is obvious.
Deireadh nan seachd Sathurn' ort !
The end of the seven Saturdays to you !
No satisfactory explanation can be got of this very familiar
saying. It has been ingeniously interpreted as referring to the
end of the seven weeks of Lent, when mutual congratulations are
given in some Christian countries, in remembrance of the Resur-
rection-day. But unfortunately for this explanation, the saying
with us has always conveyed a bad wish instead of a good one.
It is, in fact, an emphatic form of malediction. The word
' seachd,' seven, is used, in Gaelic as in Hebrew, to express com-
pleteness ; e.g., ' Tha mi seachd sgith ' — I am utterly tii-ed. In
this sense, 'the end of the seven Saturdays to you' might be
meant to express the wish that the mere fag-end of time might
be all one would have to enjoy. But the more probable interpre-
tation is, that it refers to the Crucifixion and the end of Judas.
Deiseal air gach ni.
The sumvard course with everything.
Deas = South, right-hand, ready, dexterous, proper, handsome,
Deiseil = Deis-iùil, south course, right dii-ection.