Blair Collection > Beside the fire

l88 NOTES.
story, pronounced the word as Gulyeesh, anent which my friend Mr. Thomas
Flannery furnished me at the time with the following interesting note : — )1i
copiiúiL 5U]A 5iotLA-iofA ACÁ 'fAn Ainm Joitlif, nip b' fcTOip ''SioLLa-
íoj^a" •oo •out, 1 n "5oilLif." SAOilun guj^ b' loiiAnn Soibbíf Aguf ^oitl-
jéi)' no SAibb-geif, Aguf 1]' ion Aim " ^é^\•" Aguf " eAÍA." 1f cuiiiineLiom
*' niui|A5éif " 'pM^ I1-" AnnAbAib,'' Agtif if lonTOA Ainm ■ouine cigeAf o
AnniAnnAib enn coiii niAic be ó AnmAnnAib beACAc, mAp aca bjAAn, fiAc,
Ion, lomln, ■peAbAC, <\c. 'Sé JoibbY nA 5-cor "Oub ]:óf. TlAc Aicne ■owiG
5U|\ beAf-Ainm An caIa " cof-T)ub " 1 niópÁn t)'Áicib i n-ei|Mnn. CÁ neice
eibe Y^n ■pceub -pin ■00 bei|\ ojAni a nieA]'5tij\ ne nA pjeubcAib a bAineAf
be h-eAb&ib no géipb é. IIac aij-ccac An ni gobcug bAinpiMonni-A caic-
neAiii t)0 buACAibb cof-'oub cop-j^AbAC beii'ceAtnuib m&\\ é? tiAc aic An
niT) fóf nAc -ocuscAU An beA^-Ainm t)ó A]\íf , UA-p éif beAjÁin ^rocAb ai|\
•ocúp ó pn AtnAc 50 •oeijAeAT). 'OeA]AmA'ocA-|\ An beAj'-Ainm Agup An ^Ác
ipÁ bjruAip fé é. i.e., " It is not likely that the name Goillis is Giolla-iosa ; the
one could not be changed into the other. I think that Goillis is the same as
GoiU-ghéis, or GaiU-ghéis (i.e., foreign swan). Geis means swan. I remember
a name Muirgheis (sea swan) in the Annals ; and there is many a man's name
that comes from the names of birds as well as from the names of animals, such
as Bran (raven), Fiach (scald crow), Lon and Loinin (blackbird), Seabhac (falcon),
etc. Moreover, he is Goillis 0/ the black feet. Do you not know that the
black-foot is a name for the swan in many parts of Ireland. There are other
things in this story which make me believe that it is of those tales which treat
of swans or géises. Is it not a strange thing that the princess should take a
liking to a dirty-footed, black-footed, lazy boy like him ? Is it not curious also
that the nickname of black-foot is not given to him, after a few words at the
beginning, from that out to the end ? The nickname is forgotten, and the cause
for which he got it."
This is certainly curious, as Mr. Flannery observes, and is probably due to
the story being imperfectly remembered by the shanachie. In order to motivate
the black feet at all, Guleesh should be made to say that he would never wash
his feet till he made a princess fall in love with him, or something of that
nature. This was probably the case originally, but these stories must be all
greatly impaired during the last half century, since people ceased to take an
interest in things Irish.
There are two stories in Lady Wilde's book that somewhat resemble this.
"The Midnight Ride," a short story of four pages, in which the hero frightens
the Pope by pretending to set his palace on fire ; but the story ends thus, as
do many of Crofton Croker's — "And from that hour to this his wife believed
that he dreamt the whole story as he lay under the hayrick on his way home
from a carouse with the boys." I take this, however, to be the sarcastic nine-