Blair Collection > Collection of Gaelic proverbs and familiar phrases

objectionable; but it is an interesting peculiarity of
these Gaelic imprecations, that they are neither coarse
nor blasphemous. They never take the divine name in
vain ; and though not commonplace, there is not one of
them to be compared for a moment in malignity with
the dreadful ingenuity of Eruulphus.
I have taken all due pains to translate correctly, and,
so far as possible, to preserve the pith of the original,
which is sometimes as difficult with Proverbs as it is
with Poetr}'. A good many sayings are given of which
the meaning is ambiguous or obscure. I have not ex-
cluded them on that account, as it sometimes happens
that an old saying may have some recondite meaning,
or local reference, which the words do not convey on
the surface. That the interpretations I have given are
always correct is too much to assume. In the case of
some of the duWi-flmcail or dark sapngs, I have
thought it better to give no comment, than to offer an
unsatisfactory guess. Comments or illustrations have
been necessarily limited to such sa3dngs as seemed most
to require them, or to invite them. They might have
been multiplied indefinitely ; but the line had to be
drawn somewhere ; and it seemed not too much to take
for granted, that the readers of this book would be of a
class not requiring explanations of things comparatively
obvious.
The only improvement in the second edition of
Macintosh, excepting in paper and print, was the in-
creased number of parallel proverbs given in the notes,
which greatly added to the interest of the book. That
practice, of which Erasmus showed such a wonderful