J. F. Campbell Collection > Collection of Gaelic proverbs and familiar phrases

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Chuir e 'bhàt' air acair.
He set his boat at anchor.
Chuir e 'chliath-cliaisg air.
He put the harrow-check on him.
He put a stopper on him, or a spoke iu his wheel.
Chuir e 'chrodh air àireachas.
He sent his cattle to the hill pasture.
This is an inland saying, as the one about the boat is maritime.
Chuir e 'n dubh-chapaill air.
He quite out-did him.
This is a Lochaber phrase of unknown origin. It used to be
the practice at weddings to have a pleasant competition in singing
between ' Da thaobh an t-sabhail,' the two sides of the barn —
often the bride's friends against the bridegroom's. The side that
held out longest would then say to the others, ' An dubh-chapaill
oirbh ! '
Chuir e na buinn 's na breabanan air.
He put the soles and half -soles on.
He used all expedition, and finished the job.
Chuir iad am balgan-suain fo 'cheann.
Tltey put the sleeping-bag u)ider his head.
Applied, says Macintosh, to a person who sleeps too much, in
allusion to the bag or cocoon in which the caterpillar sleeps.
Chuir thu ceann paib air mu dheireadh.
You have put a tow-head on it at last.
A I. ' Ceann gràineil,' a vile end.
Said, says Macintosh, of those who destroy all the good they
have done by an ill deed.
Desinit in piscem mulier formosa superne. — Hor.
Chuireadh e na h-eòin 'an crannaibh.
He loould make the birds go into trees.
With the sweetness of his voice.
Duncan Maclntyre, describing the Glen Etive women waulk-
iiig cloth, says
'Nuair a sheinneas iad na h-ùrain,
Cuiridh iad na h-eùin 'an crannaibh.
Chuireadh e 'n òrrais air math-ghanihuin.
It would sicken a bear.
Chuireadh e na searraich bho dheoglial.
It would put the foals from sucking.
So bitter or disgusting.
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