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

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Gnè firionn falbh. Tlic male's nature is to move.
The man to go abroad, the woman to stay at home.
Gnothach duine gun clieill, 'dol gu feill gun airgiod.
A fuoVs errand, going to market tvithout money.
Gnothaichean mora fo thuinn.
Great things binder the tvaves.
Said of those who boast of things they neither have nor can have.
Gob a' clialmain-chàthaidh, bidh tu slàn mu'm pòs thu.
Beak of the motdting dove, yoiCll he well before yo%i marry.
The word ' calman-càthaidh' is not in any of the dictionaries,
except A. M'Donald's Vocabulary, where it is rendered ' Hoop'.
The saying is applied to sick children.
Goirteas a chinn fhein a dh' fliairiclieas a h-uile fear.
Every man feels his oimi headache.
'S i a chneadh fèin is luaithe mhothiugheas gach duine — A
vmn feels his ovn hurt soonest. — Ir.
Gramachadh bàrr òrdaig. Holding by a thumb-top.
Greadan feasgair, 's cead dol dachaidh.
Evening spurt, and leave to go home.
Greini cruaidh aig curaidh. A cJiamjnons hard grip.
Greim cùbair. A cooper's gripi.
A firm hold.
Greim fad' an tàilleir leisg. The lazy tailors long stitch.
Al. Greim fada, 's grad 'bhi ullamh — Lo7ig stitch, and soon done.
Snaithe fada an taillear fhallsa. — Ir.
Costurera mala, la hebra de a braza — Bad seamstress' thread, a
fathom long. — Span.
Greis rau seach, an t-each air muin a' niharcaiche.
Time cOjout, the horse on the back of tlie rider.
Gu dònihail doimli, mar a bhios màthair fhir-an-
tighe, 'an solus na cloinne, no 'n rathad nan ian.
Croivding, cumbersome, like the goodman's mother, in
the children's light, or in the way of the fowls.
Gu dona dubli, mar a bha cas Aoidh.
Bad and blaxk, as Hugh's foot was.
Hugh was on a visit to the laird of Coll, and got his foot acci-
dentally wounded. He was so well taken care of that he was in
no hurry to get out of hospital, and continued to describe the
state of his foot as 'bad and black'.
Gu h-olc innte, 's gu h-olc uimpe.
Bad within, and badly clad.