Blair Collection > Vestigia celtica

quality of dumbness, and, planting him in
the heart of our creation, we say, tha an
duine 'n a bkalbkan = t\\& man is in his
dumb one, or as, owning the influence of
this Gaelic idiom, we say in vulgar Scotch,
he is a "dummie." In like manner, when
we speak of a man as being alone, we say
t/ia e'n a aon-fhear—\i^ is in his one-man,
and when we speak of his being silent,
we say tha e 'n a thosd=\\Q. is in his
silence.
6. The condition to which persons or
things tend, or which, as the result of an
antecedent tendency, they have already
reached, is often expressed in the same
way : tha e air fas 'n a sJican duine = he
has grown in(to) his old man = he has
grown old, theid a cJilach-inJniileann 'n a
smttrach = the millstone will o-q into its dust
= the millstone will be smashed, cJiaidh ait
tigh 'n a theine — Xhe house went in its fire,
chaidh an teinc ^n a snml= the fire went in
its embers, nithear an tir 'n a fhasach — \\\e.
land will be made in its wilderness = the
land will be laid waste, iiithca^^ am fasach