Blair Collection > Collection of Gaelic proverbs and familiar phrases

Adliarc 'n a cliHathaich !
A horn in his side !
Al. An dunaidh a' d' chliathaicli ! Tlie mischief in your side !
These are forms of malediction, undoubtedly of native ongin.
Those which are so are generally less offensive in expression than
those of more ' civilised ' nations.
Ag itlieadh na cruaiche fo 'n t-sioman.
Eating the stack under the rope.
Aicheadh na caillich air an sgillinn — nacli e sgillinn
idir a bh'ann acli da bhonn-a-sia.
The old wifes deiiial of the penny — it ivas not a penny
hut two half-joence.
Aig bainnsean 's aig tòrraidliean aitlmicliear càirdean
'us eòlaich.
At weddings and at funerals relatives and friends are
known.
At marriages and burials, friends and kinsfolk be kno'wn. —
The Booke of Merry Riddles, 1629.
Aig deireadh a' chluiche cliitear co 'bhuinigeas.
At the end of the game the winner is seen.
Al fin del giuoco si vede chi guadagna. — Ital.
Air a làimh fhèin, mar a bha 'n ceard 's a' chaonnaig.
For his own hand, as the smith was in the fight.
This seems to be the original of the Scottish proverb, ' For
his ain hand, as Henry Wynd fought,' referred to by Sir Walter
Scott in the Fair Maid of Perth, ch. xxxiv. The word ' ceard,'
now applied only to tinkers, was originally applied to artificers in
all kinds of metals, gold, silver, iron, &c. ; and the word ' ceard-
ach ' still means a smithy.
Air an dorus air an tig ambarus a steach, theid gràdb
a macb.
Where douht conies in love gees out.
Hvor Mistanke gaaer ind, gaaer Kjasrlighed uà.—Dan.
Air cheart lomaidb, 's air eigin.
Veì^ harely and with difficulty.
Air do sblàinte, 'gboistidb ùir, sop air sùil an t-sean
ghoistidb !
Here's thy health my new gossip, farewell the old one !
' Sop air sùil ' is a curious expres.sion, literally ' a wisp on the
eye '. The meaning is that the old friend is to be hidden away,
out of sight, out of mind, dead.