Blair Collection > History of the Celtic language

138 HISTORY OF THE
remarkable, that every bird, of whatever species,
using this note, is called big or bicen : we say using
this note, because the wren, although smaller than
the majority of them, is not so called, but dreaxi,
from its peculiar vibrating note, dwelling upon the
sound r — thus, drr : the land-rail, or corn-craig,
has a similar note, but stronger and more aspirated,
whence the difference in its name, Treun. This
note of the chicken, or little bird, is the thing ren-
dered in Isaiah x. 14, rather unhappily, "jL>ee/>:"
*'my hand hath found, as a nest, the riches of the
people : and as one that gathereth eggs that are
left, have I gathered all the earth ; and there was
none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth,
or peeped." How naturally does this beautiful
figure sound in the natural language ! " Charobh
aon a dh' f hosgail an gob no 'rinn biog." A bird
smacking, so to speak, with its horny bill, produces
the sound gob ; and the young ones when molested
in a nest, send up a concert of " biog, biog"
Peep, in the language of the Gael, is a term
expressive of spitting off the tip of the tongue, like
our old women or " Pitags," " Buitseachs," or
" Taut-ags," in making a charm, the half of which
process is taken up with spitting into a bottle,
or upon a black thread, afterwards to be applied,
and the other half, or thereby, in mumbling
some inaudible — probably Cabalistic — words. To
this antiquated method of chirurgery, the writer