Blair Collection > Collection of Gaelic proverbs and familiar phrases

108
Cha 'n e gogadh nan ceann a ni an t-iomradh.
It is not the nodding of heads that does the rowing.
Cha 'n e 'mhèud a bhòidliicheas na 'gliil' a ghràdh-
aicheas.
Bulk makes not beauty, nor ivhite loveliness.
Cha 'n e mo charaid a ni m' ainihleas.
He is not my friend that hurts me.
* Candid ' friends are sometimes the worst of enemies.
Cha'n e 'n latha math nach tigeadh, ach an duine
dona nach fanadh.
It is not that the good day came not, hut that the un-
lucky man loould not wait.
Cha 'n e na chosnar a ni saibhir ach na chaomhnar.
Not tvhafs gained but what's saved makes rich.
A penny hained 's a penny gained.— (Scoi.
Magnum est vectigal parcimonia. — Cic.
Cha 'n e na dh' ithear a ni làidir, ach na chnàmhar.
Not what's ecden but what's digested makes strong.
Cha'n e na leughar a ni foghluimte ach na chuimhn-
ichear.
Not what's read bid what's remembered makes learned.
Cha'n e rogha nam muc a gheabh fear na faighe.
It is not the pick of the swine that the beggar gets.
This saying suggests an Irish origin, pigs having never been
very common in the Highlands. Ihe practice of going 'air faighe'
(or ' faoighe,' Ir. ' foighe,') was, however, common to parts of Ire-
land and of the Highlands, and was known also in the Lowlands
of Scotland. See Jamieson's Did., sub voce ' Thig.' In the ' gootl
old times,' when dearth was as common as a bad season, it was
not considered degrading for respectable people to go foraging
among their friends for grain, wool. &c. See ' Bidh rud uime.'
This kind of begging was also practised by or for young couples
about to marry, or newly married, to help them in setting up
house. The Highl. Soc. Diet. (1828) says this custom "is still prac-
tised in many parts of the Highlands and Islands ". MacLeod and
Deioar's Diet. (1830) also says that it is "still partially practised".
I think it may now (1880) be said to be obsolete. The practice,
however, of giving useful presents to young couples is encoui-aged
in the very highest ranks of modern society.
Cha 'n e sealbh na faodalach a faotainn.
The finding of a thing is not the owning of it.
This is good law as well as good sense.