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

383
Cha blii cuimlm' air an aran nacli fhan anns a' sgòrnan.
The bread is forgot that passes the throat.
Cha bhi 'trod acli an cuid aodaich.
Only their clothes will quarrel.
Cha bhòrd bòrd gun aran, ach 's bòrd aran leis fliein.
A table sans bread is no table, but bread is a table itself.
Cha chuniadh an Righ snaoisean ris a' ghaoith.
The King himself couldn't keep the wind in snuff.
Cha chumar cas bheò 'am balg.
Living legs can't be kept in bags.
This ' dubh-fhacal ' seems to refer to the same thing as ' Cha do
(huir thn do dha chois fhathast 's an aou osan — Yoic haven't yet put
both your legs in one hose, = shroud.
Cha dean làmh ghlan eòrna.
Clean hand won't make barley.
Cha do chailleadh bàta riamh, 's i 'giulan nan seol.
A boat was never lost that carried her sail.
Cha do loisg duine riamh a thigh roimh 'n chreich ach aon
diiine, 's ghabh e aithreachas.
None ever burnt his house before the foray but one, and he repented.
The anticipated foray never came !
Cha d' rug fear na caithris riamh air fear na moch-eiridh.
The night-watcher never overtook the early-riser.
Cha leasachadh air droch obair-latha bhi fada gim tòiseachadh.
It's no mending of a bad day's work to be long of beginning.
At. gun sgur — without stopping.
Cha mhair a' ghrian mhaidne re an latlia.
The morning sun won't last all day.
Clia 'n aithnichinn e ged thachradh e 'n am bhrochan orm.
I shouldn't know him if I met him in my gruel.
Cha 'n ann de mo chuideachd thii, cha 'n ann de mo chuideachd
thù, ars an cobuan.
You are not of my flock, not of my flock, said the dove.
This is a pretty imitation of the cooing of a dove.
Cha 'n 'eil bradan gun a leth-bhreac.
There's no salmon without peer.
Anglers sometimes need to be reminded of this.
Cha 'n 'eil earbsa sa bith ri 'chur anns na h-Eileanaich.
There is no trust to be put in the Islanders.
A Lorn saying, originating probably in the difficulty of Islanders,
who had to depend on the weather, in keeping their engagements.
Cha 'n 'eil fhios c6 a's glice, fear a chaomhnas na fear a
chaitheas.
None can say which is iviscr, he that saves or he that spends.