Proverbial Sayings

Ná séit oíbell cen atúd.

(not * blow * ember * without * (power of) kindling)

Do not blow on an ember that has no fire in it.

This is a more pleasant equivalent of "Don't flog a dead horse." The proverb is preserved in "Iomarbhágh na bhFileadh" (The Contention of the Bards) as "Ná séid aoibhil gan fhadúdh," and is quoted in DIL s.v. "atúd" and "séitid".

Íarus fis, túathus cath, airthius bláth, teissius séis.

(in the west * knowledge * in the north * battle * in the east * blossom * in the south * melody)

Knowledge in the west, battle in the north, prosperity in the east, music in the south.

This proverb, found in "Suidigud Tellaich Temra" in Ériu 4, assigns characteristic traits to the four provinces of Ireland. The first two parts are also found in Sanas Cormaic (#789), which is dated to around 900 A.D. A fifth and final line is "fortius flaith", which R. I. Best took to mean "kingship in the centre". It may be worth noting that the enumeration begins with the west, the direction of the setting sun and thus of night. The Celts are reputed to have begun their reckoning of a day at sundown and of a year at the beginning of the dark days of winter. The naming of the provinces in the proverb then proceeds in a sunwise (clockwise) fashion, which is traditionally the auspicious direction.

Mairg téid a tacaib in chraind.

(woe betide * (who) goes * from * rungs * of the * pole)

Woe to the one who slips from the rungs of the ladder.

The reference here is to the "ladder" leading to heaven. In English we sometimes use the image of falling off "the straight and narrow" to convey the same idea. The saying is collected in ACL and quoted in DIL s.v. "taca".

Ní mochen nech nos·fothraic nád·ib dig.

(not * lucky * person * that bathes himself * that not drinks * drink)

Not lucky the man who takes a bath without taking a drink.

This bit of marginalia is found at the bottom of page 94 in the Leabhar Breac. I have edited it slightly from the original spelling, which is "ni mochin nech nosfothraic na tib dig".

Compare this sentiment to the triad, also found in this collection: "Trí fuiric thige degduini: cuirm, fothrucud, teine mór." (Three hospitalities of a good man's house: ale, a bath, a big fire.)

Droch do drochaib, dag do dagaib.

(bad * to * bad ones * good * to * good ones)

Bad to the bad, and good to the good.

This saying is recorded in Sanas Cormaic (# 483), and seems to express a basic sense, or hope, of just outcomes in the world.

Ní thesairg trú teiched.

(not * saves * doomed man * fleeing)

Flight cannot save a doomed man.

The word "trú" refers to a person who is doomed to death, who fate is sealed, who is "fey" in its archaic sense. This alliterating saying, which underlines the irrevocable certainty of this condition, is found on page 172 of FDG. See also "Ba robad do throich" and "Am trú-sa trá!" in this collection.

Nocha chummae cách is cách.

(is not * same * everyone * and * everyone)

Everyone is not the same.

The line is found in the second quatrain of three that make up a composition which Meyer edited in ZCP 12 under the title "Wirtshausreime". That everyone is not the same seems like an obvious observation. In context, however, the meaning is probably more like "everyone is not equally admirable". The lines which come just before say:

"Teccait âigid, fâcboit ail
saigit go glain nGâidil ngil"

They come to the fore, they leave disgrace,
they purely seek the bright Gaels

Ní ciat súli ní nach aiccet.

(not * weeps * eyes * thing * that not * they see)

Eyes do not weep for what they don't see.

In other words, "ignorance is bliss". We can't be troubled by something we don't know about. Or as a chef once said about kitchen mishaps, "what your guests don't see won't hurt them". This proverb is found in "Brislech Mór Maige Murthemni" (LL 13853).

Is cend daim for dartaid mórpersan for becphopul.

(is * head * of ox * on * heifer * great person * on * small people)

A great man leading a small people is like an ox's head on a heifer.

This saying is recorded in O’Mulconry’s Glossary.

Condolb cách ima dáinib fodesin.

(kin-loving * everyone * regarding his * people * own)

Everyone loves his own people best.

Medb uses this saying on Fer Diad as part of her campaign to persuade him to fight on behalf of Connacht against the Ulster hero Cú Chulainn, despite the fact that the two had a deep bond of affection. This version of the saying is from the YBL Táin. Another similar saying in found in Windisch's edition of the text:

"uair as badhach nech imá tir fén" (for one is partial to ones own country).