Trí búada insci...

Trí búada insci: fosta, gáes, gairte.

(three * virtues * of speech * composure * wisdom * brevity)

Three virtues of speech: composure, wisdom, brevity.

Triad #177 from “Trecheng Breth Féne”. Praise of concise speech is common throughout Irish tradition. Another triad in this same collection, #93, says it this way:

Trí húathaid ata ferr sochaidi: úathad dagbríathar, úathad bó hi feór, úathad carat im chuirm.

Three fewnesses that are better than plenty: a fewness of fine words, a fewness of cows in grass, a fewness of friends around ale.

In “Tochmarc Ailbe” Finn asks “Cid as dech indsci?” (What is the best of speech?) The reply he gets is “gáes, gairde” (wisdom, brevity).

A song by Clannad says “an seanchas gearr, an seanchas is fearr” (the short tale is the best tale).

A Modern Irish quatrain quoted in “Dánfhocail” (221) gives the advice of brevity in the second couplet, after a proverb about a drink coming before a tale:

Is luaithe deoch ná sgéal,
is duine mé ar a mbíonn tart;
ní hé an sgéal fada is fearr,
acht an sgéal gearr ar a mbí blas.

Topics: Maxims & Wise Counsel