Blair Collection > Collection of Gaelic proverbs and familiar phrases

10
Am brògach beag 's an cuaranacli m6rc
The hoy with shoes, the man with socks.
Brought up to wear shoes, and reduced when grown to wear-
ing the ' cuiiran,' (Welsh, ' cwaran ') a kind of sock, made of un-
tanned leather — the ancient foot-gear, which every man made for
himself.
Am bronnach Geamhraidh, 's an seang Earraich.
Squabhy in WÌ7iter, and skinny in Spring.
The reference is to young cattle.
Am fac thu rud 's a chùl rint ?
Saw you aright tvith its back to you ?
This was reckoned a bad omen. See ' Chuala mi 'chubhag '.
Am facal a thig a Ifrinn 's e gheabh, ma 's e 's mo
'bheir.
TJie word that comes from Hell, ivill get if it hid vjell.
The howlet was screamin', while Johnnie cried, ' Women
Wad marrv auld Nick, if he'd keep them aye braw ! '
H. M'Neill.
Am fear a bhios a bharra-mhanadh a mach, suidli-
idh e air fail chorraicb.
He vjhose destiny is cast sits on a sharp cope.
There is something very awful in this saying, reminding of
that of the Psalmist, ' Their foot shall slide in due time '. The
belief in Fate, expressed by such words as dan, manadh, sona,
&c., was as strong in the Celts, as many of these proverbs show,
as in any ancient Greek, or modern Islamite.
The word/cU is found in the Scottish ' fail dyke '-
Am fear a bbios a' riaTachadh na maraig' bidh an
ceann reamhar aige f hein.
The ma.n that divides the pudding will have the thick
end to himself
Puddings, in the sense familiar to John Bull, were not known
to the hai'dy Celts. But several kinds of pudding, more akin
to the sausage, in which oatmeal and suet, blood, and various
other savoury ingredients, formed the chief elements, were, and
still are, well known, both in the Highlands and Lowlands of
Scotland. To such dainties reference is made in the well-known
song, ' The barrin' o' the door' —
' An' first they ate the white puddin's,
An' then they ate the black.'