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

283
Is odhar gach sean, 's is geal gach noLlia, gu ruig
suodhach an fhearna.
Every old tiling is dun, every new tiling ^vliite, even to
the sap of the alder.
The alder when stripped of its bark is very white, but very
soon the colour changes to reddish brown and dun.
Is òg an Nollaig a' chiad oidhclie.
Christmas is young the first night.
Is olc a bhi slaodadh cait air 'earball.
It's ill to drag a cat by the tail.
Is olc a' bho-laoigh a' clireag, oidlich' air mlior, 'us
oidhch' air bheag.
The rock is a bad milch-cow, one night fertile, another
night barren.
Al. Is corrach gob an dubhain,
Is raairg do 'm bo-laoigh a' chreag,
Oidhch' air bheagan, 's oidhch' air mhoran,
'S oidhche gun a' mhor no 'bheag.
Uncertain is the point of the hook ;
III for him ivhose milch-cow is the rock ;
One night little, another plenty ;
Some nights neither much nor little.
Is olc a' chliath fhearna nach toir bliadhna's an ursainn.
It's a poor alder hurdle that won't hang for a year to
the post.
Al. Is olc an cabar fearna nach dean ràidhl' air tigh — It's a bad
stick of alder that won't make a rafter.
Alder is one of the poorest kinds of timber.
Is olc a' clireag a threigeas a h-eòin fhein.
It's a bad rock which its own birds forsake.
Is olc a fhreagradli tu 'n ioclidar Thròtairnis.
Yoio wouldn't suit well in the lower end of Trotcrnish.
Troternish (Trodda-ness) is a general name applied to the
northern part of Skye. The climate and soil there are somewhat
colder than in the rest of the Island, so that a lazy or delicate
person would not do well there.
Is olc a' ghaotli leis nach seòl cuid-eigin.
It's an ill wind wUh lohich no one can sail.
Al. nach seid ann an seòl fir-eigin— (Aat docsnt blow in some
man's sail.
It is an ill wind that blows no man to good. — Eng.
It's an iU wund that blaws naebody guid. — Scot.