8. It is the deaf people that make the lies.
9. A belly to the sun is often empty.
10. It is easy to make a scabby head bleed.
11. Don't stir it, as the lazy woman said of the stinking pot.
12. You are as great a liar as the man who said he heard the grass growing.
13. Learning is a light load, but it is often a cause of contention.
14. The fool thinks there is no one wise but himself.
15. Where there are women there is talk, and where there are ducks there is dirt.
16. The crow thinks that his own bird is prettier than any other bird in the wood.
17. Death comes in many forms.
18. Riding on a goat is better than travelling on foot.
19. Every man’s mind is his kingdom.
20. Smaller than a fleshworm is the mother of mischief.
21. You are as shameless as a clucking hen.
22. Your talk has as much substance as a shadow.
23. You will do it when the cuckoo builds a nest.
24. It is not the potstick that makes the stirabout, but meal.
25. A bad name is as bad as a bad beating.
26. Where there is smoke, there is expectation of heat.
27. Don't kill the sow till the brood is reared.
28. If you don’t sow in spring you won’t reap in harvest.
29. Don’t tell your secret to a ditch till you have a look over the top.
30. If you want to advertise a thing, tell it as a secret to a woman.
31. There is no good in putting a hand into an empty pocket.
32. A blind man can find his way to his mouth, but it is not every day that he can catch a hare.
33. There is not much comfort in turning a dirty shirt.
34. There is no welcome for one who borrows.
35. There is charity in a drink of buttermilk, but there are two charities in a drink of new milk.
36. Don’t give the lie till you are ready with a blow.
37. Shut your fist before you give the lie.
38. The miser’s wedding—a potato and a herring.
39. As decent as a herring, that never was caught for the sake of his belly.
40. He is like the echo, no one knows where he lives.
41. Promise much, and there will be many in search of you.
42. An emply sack cannot stand, nor a dead cat walk.
43. A messenger from God for you, and may he not go empty (said by a woman when her child cried).
44. Comfort is not known, if poverty does not come before it.
45. Putting a ditch round a field to keep the cuckoo in.
46. Searching for a flea among a heap of feathers.
47. What is not seen by the eye does not grieve the heart.
48. Speak easy, walls have ears.
49. A tear from the eye eases the heart.
50. A large potato comes from a small seed.
51. The scrapings of the pot is better than the lickings of the lid.
52. The wren has a bigger family than the raven.
53. A herring on a cold sod far up from the fire.
54. It is good to have enough till morning, but not better than for ever.
55. Anything will fit a naked man.
56. An old child has a long recollection.
Notes.
18. Other forms of this proverb: Is fearr marcuiġeaċt ar biṫ ’ná do-ċoisiḋeaċt, any riding is better than bad walking (Tyrone); is fearr marcuiġeaċt ar ġaḃar ’ná coisiḋeaċt dá ḟeaḃas, riding on a goat is better than walking at its best (Munster).—E. McN.
39. The following is a rhymed variant of this proverb:
Gráḋ mo ċroiḋe an sgadán nár gaḃaḋ ariaṁ i
gcóisir,
’G-a pléiṫin ar maidin ⁊ ’g-a gaḃail tráṫnóna
(Louth).—S. L.
56. In the time of Henry VIII. a kind of organization of freebooters existed in the West of Ireland called the “Old Children.” The proverb may contain an allusion to this body.—E. McN.
WEST CORK PROVERBS.
(MR. O’LEARY).
Ní cráḋ go cloínn (There is no anguish of soul till one has children, i.e., all anguish is as nothing compared to that created by children). Íosann cat ciuin biaḋ (A mild cat eats food, i.e., a gentle exterior is no sure index of what a person’s inward feelings may be). Cuir sa ċóṁra, ⁊ ġeóḃṫar gnó de (Put it in the box, and a business will be found for it, i.e., throw not away what you don’t presently want; it may be useful hereafter), An té ná tógfaiḋ cóṁairle, ġeóḃaiḋ sé cóṁrac (He who will not take advice will get a combat, i.e., will have to encounter difficulties).
Is mairg leigeas mac maiṫ le droċ-ṁáṫair (Woe to him who forgets a good son because of an evil mother, lit., who lets a good son with an evil mother). Mairg guala gan bráṫair (Woe to a shoulder without a brother, i.e., woe to him who has no friend). Tar éis tuigtear gaċ beart (When a thing is done advice comes too late, lit., after (its being done) every deed is (rightly) understood. When the deed is done, it is then one knows the consequences). Caiṫeann gaċ aonne(aċ) géill eaḋ ḋ’á ḃacaiġe féin (Everyone has to submit to his own lameness). Taḃair do ċrios do ṁnaoi ainḟir ⁊ bí féin ad’ óinsiġ (Give the girdle to a marriageable woman, and be a fool thyself, i.e., what
