NOTES AND QUERIES.
(7) In Waterford, nár eiriġiḋ an t-acsaḋs (ok′-seis) leat, = confusion to you. If (ok′-seis) is, as some explain it, the English word “excise,” the meaning ought to be, “may you escape the gauger.”
(8) An ḃfuil aon sgeul nóḋ (= nuaḋ) agat? Drae sgeul. Have you any news? Not a word (Waterford). What is drae?
(9) Students of Keating will be glad to hear that the puzzling word bara (see Three Shafts, vocabulary,) is yet spoken. In Colonsay, according to Professor MacKinnon, who is a native of that island, if a stick or stone, which ought to be perpendicular, inclines in any direction, they say, tha a bhara an rathad so, its inclination is this way (road). In Scotland, rathad is used = road, never bóthar.
(10) Cé ċaoi ḃ-fuil tú? Go maiṫ, slán a ḃeiḋeas tú. A ġnáṫaċ sin ort. How are you? Well, healthy may you be. May you be always so. These are usual salutations. Is there any reason for supposing that, in the last phrase, the word spoken is not ġnáṫaċ but ċónaċ? The pronunciation is certainly ċnáċ.
(11) Ceirim, I believe. Tá sé tinn, ceirim (Co. Clare). What is ceirim? Possibly part of ċítear ḋom, feictear ḋom, it seems to me.
(12) “Along with” is translated in éinneaċt le and in éindiḋ le. The former is = in éin-ḟeaċt, at one time, the latter is the older Irish, in oentaiḋ, in union with. In éinḟeaċt is also used, in Arann, = at once, immediately.
(13) Glas. The usual meaning of glas is green, applied to grass or other things naturally green. But when used of the hair or wool of animals, it means gray, as capall glas, caora ġlas. Used of weather, it means chilly, as, lá glas, aimsear ġlas. In this connection we may quote an instance of a play on the two meanings of this word. One day a Cork priest met on the road a local celebrity, and, after the usual salutations, said: a Dhiarmuid, naċ glas an ṁaidin í? Maiseaḋ, says Diarmuid, tá sé fuar, p’é dath atá air.
(14) Our folk-lore readers will remember many incidents connected with the black-hafted knife, sgian ḋuḃċosaċ, which the person rescuing a friend from the bruiġean, or fairy residence, should take with him, and use upon fairy enemies. Instead of blood, the blade was always found covered with a slimy ichor, which was called in Cork gloṫaċ, gen. gloṫaiġe. In Connemara, glaoṫ glas is the substance into which wicked people, in the folk tales, are turned by supernatural power—the “green stone” of Anglo-Irish tales. A slimy exudation, sometimes seen in the spring-time in rich pastures, is called in Cork, ím socair, because it is not unlike butter in consistency, and is a proof of the richness, soċar, of the land. In other parts of the county, these exudation are pointed out as the remains of fallen stars! In connection with fairy lore, the tradition was, that a changeling when dead was not admitted into the land beyond the grave with ordinary mortals, and tales of the exclusion of the corpán siḋe, or fairy corpse, might still be collected at Munster firesides.
A respected correspondent, Seandún, suggests that, in many cases, the present application of the ancient Gaelic proverbs might be given by those who collect the old sayings. The application is not everywhere the same, and often is very far from the literal translation of the word. Thus, éist le fuaim na h-aḃann a’s ġeoḃair breaċ, is simply our curious Gaelic way of saying, “time will tell.” Again, leig mé ċum an ḃodaiġ, aċt na leig an bodaċ ċugam, applies to people who “give no right and take no wrong.” Is furusda (see furuisde in the Féis, in this number) fuine aice na in mine = “the rich can be generous.” We shall be glad to have all such notes, or, indeed, notes on anything that has appeared in the Journal.