Blair Collection > Collection of Gaelic proverbs and familiar phrases

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Don't make me run down a decline,
Don't urge me going wp a hill,
But spare me not on level ground.
Up hill spare me ;
Down hill bear me ;
Plain way spare me not ;
Let me not drink when I'm hot. — Scot.
Excellent advice from a horse to his rider or driver.
Na cumain blieag a' seòladh, 's na luingeas mhor a'
sioladh.
Tlie little cogs sailing and the big ships sinking.
See ' Is trie a bha na loingis '.
Na dean bailc air iomaire math treabhaidli.
Make no balk in good plough-land.
Make not balks of good ground. — Eng.
Mak nae banks in guid bear-land. — Scot.
See ' Is fhearr leum-iochd '.
Na dean tàir air na 's leat ; an ni nacli leat clia 'n e
dli'flioghnas dut.
Despise not what is your own; nothing else toUl suffice you.
Lit. What is not your own will not be suiiicient for you,
Na dean uaill a cuid duine eile.
Boast not of another's means.
Na deanadh duine tùirse, an earalas nach faigli e
cuimse.
Let no man despond of hitting the mark.
Na diobair caraid 's a charraid.
Forsake not a friend iii the fray.
Na dòirt e ; cha tog na cearcan e.
Dont spill it ; the hens won't pick it up.
Said of the spilling of drink.
Na earb thu fhèin ri gràisg.
Don't trust the rabble.
The 'many-headed beast'. The maker of this Proverb may
have read Plato, but it is not very likely.
Na falbh Diluain,
'S na gluais Dimàirt,
Tha Diciadainn craobhaidh,
'S tha Diordaoin dàlach,