Blair Collection > Collection of Gaelic proverbs and familiar phrases

254
Is geal an airidli air an aran sgalagan a' chliatliaidh.
Well tvortky of the bread are the farm-servants of the
harroio.
Is geal an cùnradh a thig fad as.
Fair is the bargain that comes from afar.
Far sought and dear bought 's guid for ladies. — Scot.
Is geal gach nodha, gii ruig snodhach an fhearna.
Everything neiv is white, even to the sap of the alder.
See ' Is odhar'.
Is geal-làmhacli bean iasgair, 's is geal-fhiaclach bean
sealgair.
The fisher's wife has luhite hands, the huntci^'s wife ivhite
teeth.
This is a Hebridean saying. The meaning is ambiguous.
Is gearr gach reachd ach riaghailt Dhe.
Short-lived is all rule hut the ride of God.
Is giorraid an Gall an ceann a chur dheth.
The Lowlander is the shorter of losing his head.
This, no doubt, has been said more than once, with the action
suited to the word.
Is glic an duine 'bheir an aire dha fhein.
ITe is a wise man that takes ceire of himself.
Is glice an saoghal a thuigsinn na 'dhiteadh.
Better understand the ivorlcl than condemn it.
A philosophical and Christian sentiment.
Is glic duine 'n a earalas.
Wise is he who keeps a look-out.
Is glic nach meallar, ach cha ghlic a mheallar trie.
He is wise ivho is never deceived, he is not loise ivho
often is.
See 'Cha mheallar'.
Is gniomh nàr an guraban.
Crouching is a shameful thing.
This would be rendered in Scotch, ' Sitting on one's hunkers'.
The practice of ' hunkering' at prayer in church, instead of stand-
ing, has been seriously denouncecl by some of our divines, as a
shameful thing.
Is gloinid am bail' an cartadh ud.
The farm (or town) is the cleaner of that clearing out.
Said when any nuisance is got rid of.