children do—’sin a haon, ’sin a dó, a trí, &c., ‘that is its (the hand’s) one, two, three, &c.’ Note that the particle does not occur before any numeral higher than 10, the number of fingers on both hands. We never find a fiċe, a ceud, a míle. It is true that after a preposition ending in a vowel, the particle becomes ’n,—ceaṫraṁa do ’n deiċ ‘a quarter to ten.’ But this may have arisen from a later confusion with the article when the n of the article began to be dropped in contact with consonants, and restored when a vowel came into contact with it. Even in such cases, the numeral particle still differs from the article by preserving its h before vowels, as in ceaṫraṁa do’n haon ‘a quarter to one.’—Mac Léiġinn.
(34) In a copy of the song Fan ar an ḃaile am’ ċoṁair, taken down by me from John J. O'Donnell, Ranafast, County Donegal, the second couplet of Stanza I. runs:—
’Sé adeuraḋ gaċ duine fá ’n ċuan, ’nuair a ṫáinic mé anuas fá ’n ċéiḋ,
“O! aiṫniġim go maiṫ ar do ġruaim gur fear ṫú ’ḃfuil ruaig ad’ ḋéiġ;” and the words, Casaḋ ḋaṁ cailin beag óg, begin Stanza II.
The phrase “galún Ui Dhoṁnaill” had the following origin, according to Mary O'Donnell, an old resident of this island:—Some six or seven score years ago, a pedlar named Dominick O’Donnell, of the Rosses, was treating some of his supporters in a public-house, after a faction fight. The party numbered sixteen, and O’Donnell wishing to order sixteen half-pints (i.e., a gallon) of whiskey for them, ordered by mistake sixteen gallons! When the mistake was discovered, he refused to cancel the order, and the expression “galún Ui Dhoṁnaill” passed into a proverb. They say at a feast, “Tá gaċ seort ann so ċoṁ fairsing le galún Ui Dhoṁnaill.”—Anthony J. Doherty, Cruit Island N.S., Co. Donegal.
(35) Drae. This word may be draoi, in the sense of magus or demon; the phrase drae sgeul would then be synonymous with ḋeaṁan sgeul, diaḃal sgeul. By the way, diaḃal (now d-youl) must once have been more correctly pronounced deé-ă-wăl, for as a euphemism they say in Mayo t’anam ó’n, reé-oul. In W. Cork, ree′-ăl is used commonly for diaḃal. But possibly this may be riġ-ḋiaḃal, or connected with riaḃaċ, which is also used = diaḃal. The word glaim, with ai short, not ái, means a very loud shout, from fear or excitement. Different from glám, which is a greedy seizing of something.
(36) Stró is a pretty common word. Suppose you are walking the street about your own business, and some fellow would fain avoid his own company for a spell, and take yours instead, the accosling you of such a fellow would be “putting a stró” upon you. The idea of not being wanted by the stróee is always present. [To this I may add the following use of the word: (1) Is mór an stró a raiḃ siad ann, great was their affluence, or wealth (Donegal); (2) ná déan stró as, do not be conceited about it (Arran Islands); (3) gun mórán stró, without much difficulty (Galway). E. O’G.]
The above are sent by S. M. O’R., from whom we hope to hear oftener.
(37) Some notes on trí bior ġaoiṫe. See index. (a) déag, teen, ní ḟuil sí as a déagaiḃ fós, she is not out of her teens yet; (b) dearg, prepare. It is rather (reddening) ploughing or turning up ground so as to present a new surface. There is another use of the word seen in Keating’s poem:—
Beannaċt leat, a sgríḃinn!
Go h-inis aoiḃinn Ealta,
Truaġ naċ léir ḋom a beanna
giḋ gnáṫ a teanga ḋeargaḋ.
What is the meaning of the last line, or is it a corrupt text? (c) fáṫaċ, mystic would seem the best translation. (d) féiṫle means, I think, a tough hand, féiṫleóg is common, meaning the broad flat tendons of beef. [This note and the Cork proverbs in this issue were sent by a writer who does not give his name].
MAYO GAELIC.
AN BÓIṪRÍN BUIḊE.
Tá mé tinn
⁊ ní’l mé slán
ní mór naċ gcoṁnuiḋeann
an croiḋe in mo lár
ag cuiṁniuġaḋ ar an uair
ḃí mé ’s mo ġráḋ
guala ar ġualainn
⁊ láṁ ar láim.
Ċuaiḋ mé siar
an bóiṫrín buiḋe
ar ṡúil go ḃfeicfinn
rún mo ċroiḋe
ba ḋearg í a gruaiḋ
’s ba ġeal a ḋá ċíċ
ag seolaḋ na bó
’s ag dealuġaḋ an laoiġ.
Go ndiongantar fíon
do’n tsruṫ so ṡiar
luaċair ġlas
do’n rannaiġ ċrín
páirceannaiḋe bána
do ḃarr an ḟraoiċ
páirt do do ġráḋ-sa
ní ḟagfaiḋ mo ċroiḋe.
Tá tuile ’san aḃainn se
naċ dtráiġfiḋ go lá
tá imniḋe ro-ṁór orm
naċ ḃfeicfiḋ mé mo ġráḋ
tá arraing in mo ṫaoiḃ
ní ḃeiḋ mé mí beo
mur dtigiḋ sisi ar cuairt agam
uair nó ḋó.
