Blair Collection > Vestigia celtica

51
he is drunk = he is on drunkenness {cf.
American- Irish, he is on the drunk); tJia
mi air chrith — I am a-tremble = I am
on trembhng ; bha e air at = he was on
swelling, or perhaps d/ia e air 'at = he was
on his swelling = he was swollen ; chaidh
e air seachran — he went on wandering
= he strayed. Some mental states are
put both ways. Thus, tha e air mhulad,
or tha viulad air=he is on sadness, or
sadness is on him ; t/ia e aij'' sgios, or tha
sgios air=\\Q is a-weary ; tha e aii"" ocras,
or tha ocras air — he is an hungred ;
tha e air bhoile, or tha boile air = he is
mad.
There is one phrase which, in this con-
nection, is specially suggestive : tha e air
chall=\\Q is on losing = he (or it) is lost.
This phrase is of very frequent occurrence
in North Highland Gaelic; and by North
Highland servant girls in the South the
idiom is carried over literally into their
attempts to speak English, in a way that
is of some lincjuistic interest. With this
large class of my fair countrywomen in