Quotations: Love & Sex
 

"Cá ben dobér?" ar in mac.
"Da fagair na móra finna ocus na báingela duba, tabair íet."

(what * woman * I will take * quoth * the * son /
if * you find * the * big * blondes * and * the * white-bright * dark ones * take * them)

"What woman shall I take?" said the son.
"If you can find the big blondes and the dark-haired ones with white skin, take them."

So the son asks, so the father replies. This is from a much longer dialogue in which the father advises his son on marriage, which was edited by Meyer in ZCP 8, 113.

Ceilid serc ainmi ocus olc.

(hides * love * blemishes * and * ill)

Love conceals blemishes and bad character. Love is blind.

A proverb from the poem "Diambad messe bad rí réil". The Modern Irish version is "Folaíonn grá gráin." A 16th century poem, quoted in "A Miscellany" (p. 22) gives as a proverb "Ní breitheamh comhthrom an grádh" (Love is not an impartial judge).

Ceist, in n-éláfa limm?
(question * ? * you will run away * with me)

Tell me, will you elope with me?

Spoken by Fráech to Findabair (who refuses, saying she deserves a proper wedding!) in "Táin Bó Fraích".

Cid as méithi saill tuircc mesa?
Miscais do·berar íar serc.

(what * that is * fatter * than salt-meat * of boar * of mast /
hatred * that is given * after * love)

What is fatter than the bacon of an acorn-fed boar?
Hatred that comes after love.

This arresting image comes from "Tochmarc Ailbe", where it is one of thirty riddles that Finn poses and Ailbe answers.

Díambad messe in banmaccán
no·cechrainn cach felmaccán,
fer nád·fintar co·cluinter,
slánchéill chéin dúib, a muinter.

(if were * I * the * girl /
I would love * every * young student /
man * that is not known * until he is heard /
sound-sense * long * to you * o * (my) people)

If I were a girl,
I'd love every student,
a man you don't know till you've heard him;
I wish you all the best, my people.

A stanza found in the "Auraicept" (ll.533-6), which seems to argue that the young intellectual in his worn cloak may not look like much, but that his golden tongue has its own charms.

Dia·fagbainn-se bróin úachtair, do·géntae bró íochtair dím.

(if I were to find * millstone * upper * would be made * millstone * lower * of me)

If I found an upper millstone, I would be the lower millstone.

Ailbe says this to Finn during the verbal sparring and word play of their courtship in "Tochmarc Ailbe", letting him know that she'd gladly join in marriage with a man who was suited to her. The image of the wife as the lower millstone, also called an "inneóin" or "anvil", is found in Fíthal's advice to his son on choosing a wife. Their exchange begins:

Cid imma ngabthar trebad? ol a mac fri Fíthal.
Ní hansa. Im indeóin cothaigthe, ol Fíthal.
Ceist. Caide an indeóin threbtha? ol in mac.
Ní hansa. Ben maith, ol Fíthal. (ed. Meyer, ZCP viii 112)

Around what is a household established? said his son to Fíthal.
That's easy. Around a steady lower millstone, said Fíthal.
Tell me, what is the lower millstone of a household? said the son.
That's easy. A good woman, said Fíthal.

"Cá ben dobér?", also in this collection, is from later on in this father-son exchange.

Fó mo ruach!
Comrac fri mnaí mo druad:
sech romfácaib mo bhean féin,
bean mo druad ní romaithgéin.

(good * my * mire /
[sexual] encounter * with * wife * of my * druid /
besides * (that) has left me * my * wife * own /
wife * of my * druid * not * has recognized me)

Mine is a fine mess!
A tryst with my druid's wife:
not only has my own wife left me,
my druid's wife ignores me.

This lone stanza is embedded in a compilation of lore surrounding the idiot saint Mac Dá Cherda and St. Cummaine of Foda, edited and translated by J. G. O'Keeffe in Ériu, volume 5. Alan Harrison in "The Irish Trickster" explains that Mac Dá Cherda lost his sanity as a result of this episode, after the aggrieved druid cursed him.

Gel cech núa, sásad nglé,
utmall álcha ócduine,
áilli bretha bíte im sheirc,
milsi bríathra fir thochmairc.

(bright * every * new thing * satisfaction * clear /
unsteady * desires * of young man /
beautiful * decisions* that are * around * love /
sweet * words * of man * of wooing)

Everything new is shiny, a bright enjoyment,
restless are a young man's desires,
beautiful are decisions about love,
sweet the words of a man who's courting.

This stanza was written into the top margin of page 121a of LL, and has been slightly edited to normalize it. For another instance of the phrase "is gel cach núa", see "Is álaind cech nderg" in this collection.

Ilar mbríathar mbláith rot·char.

(a great number * of words * gentle * have loved you)

Many gentle words have loved you.

Spoken by Emer to Cú Chulainn in a poem in "Serglige Con Culaind". The indirection of the subject, "words" rather than "people" or "I", is intriguing.

Inum-bia-sa úair coibligi latt?

(? will be to me - emphatic * an hour * of lying together * with you)

Will I have an hour of love with you?

The classic pick-up line, spoken by Eochaid to Étaín in "Togail Bruidne Da Derga" and by Elatha to Ériu in "Cath Maige Tuired".