Proverbial Sayings

Is loimm for sáith súan i fat.

(is * mouthful * on * surfeit * sleeping * in * length)

Sleeping too long is like having one drink too many.

Too much sleep can leave you with a hangover.

A proverbial saying incorporated into a poem that Emer recites to Cú Chulainn in "Serglige Con Culainn", when he won't get out of bed.

Cáid cach ceól co cruit.

(noble * every * music * until * harp)

All music falls short of the harp in refinement.

This, from a section of misceallaneous sayings in "Tecosca Cormaic", highlights the high status of the harp as the instrument of the nobility.

Gar cían co·tías for cel.

(short * long * until * I may go * on * dissolution)

Sooner or later we die.

A set phrase, quoted in "Sanas Cormaic" #283.

Do·rónus cintecal de!

(I have made * felt * of it)

I've made a mess of it!

"Sanas Cormaic" (#239) gives this proverbial phrase as an example of the use of the word "cintecal" ("ceinticul" in DIL), a borrowing from Welsh into Old Irish that apparently means "matted wool, felt". Compare Modern Irish "Rinne mé praiseach de!" (literally, "I made a porridge of it!).

Ba robad do throich.

(it would be * warning * to * foredoomed man)

It would be a warning to a man doomed to die.

This is the first of a long litany of images of useless or impossible actions found in "Aislinge Meic Con Glinne".

Is cuinchid smera cen smúais.

(it is * asking for * marrow * without * (red) marrow)

It's like asking for marrow fat without marrow.
(It's like asking for chicken soup without chicken.)

Quoted by Stokes in his edition of "Amra Choluimb Chille" in RC.xx.436.x.

Is dobrán re miníascach
seobacc re hénaib sléibe,
catt re lochaid, cú re muicc,
ben micc is máthair chéile.

(it is * otter * against * little fish /
hawk * against * birds * of mountain /
cat * against * mouse * dog * against * pig /
wife * of son * and * mother * in-law)

Like an otter with little fishes,
a hawk with mountain birds,
a cat with a mouse, a dog with a pig,
a son's wife and her mother-in-law!

A verse edited by Kuno Meyer in ZCP 6.268.

Máthair etha aig, athair saille snechta.

(mother * of grain * ice * father * of bacon * snow)

Ice is the mother of grain, snow is the father of bacon.

These lines come from a short passage of weather wisdom in "Tecosca Cormaic", §17. The word translated "bacon" can also mean salted meat in general.

Is gnáth lassar hi tiarmoracht diad.

(is * usual * flame * in * accompaniment * of smoke)

Where there's smoke there's fire.

This is found in the Milan Glosses (40c1), where it paraphrases "proprium fumi est ut ignem nuntiat secuturum". A modern version of the old saying, which Robert MacAdam collected in East Ulster in the 19th century, runs:

"Cha dual toit gan teine 's cha dual teine gan daoine."
It's unusual to have smoke without fire and it's unusual to have fire without people.

Is fo-chen aged fecheman.

(is * welcome * face * of debtor)

The face of a debtor is welcome.

Said by Conall Cernach in "Brislech Mór Maige Murthemni" to the fleeing Lugaid, whom he has just caught up with. The debt that is owed is blood, for Lugaid has slain Cú Chulainn, and Conall Cernach expects to collect on it at once.