A eoin re n-ossaib!
A eoin re n-ossaib!
(o * bird * in front of * deer)
O bird before deer!
The insult here, besides simply calling someone a bird, may lie in the parody of the usual heroic image of the bull or boar leading the herd. Cú Chulainn says, for example, in the LL Táin:
"Dodechad ré n-ócaib
im t[h]orc trethan trétaig
re cathaib re cétaib."
I came in front of warriors
as a bold herd-rich boar
before battalions, before hundreds.
See also "A chacc cuirre uidre ittige!" in this collection.