EUGSAṀLA.
Fuaras na gearr-rainn leanas ó’n Maiġistreás Nóra ní h-Uaiṫne ċoṁnuiḋeas sá láṫair ar an mbaile ḃeag so .i. an Chill, i bParóisde na Cille, i gConndae Phortláirge. Adeir sí go gcualaiḋ sí iad—ceann aca annso a’s ceann aca annsúd, ceann aca i laeṫeantaiḃ a h-óige agus ceann eile aca ’na ḋiaiḋ sin—ar fúd na conndae seo agus Conndae thiobruid Aran. B’éidir go m’báil le léiġṫeóiriḋiḃ an Irisleaḃair a ḃfeicsint. Ag so aca iad, bé’r doṁan de. Aon ḟocal aṁáin eile. Atáid na h-eugsaṁla so leanas beagnaċ díreaċ glan mar ṫuiteadar as beul na mná ar ar ṫráċtas ṡuas. A raiḃ le fáġḃail ionnta de loċtaiḃ graiméir, agus go deiṁin is fíor-ḃeaġán díoḃ do ḃí, rinneas mo ḋíṫċioll dá gceartuġaḋ, aċt aṫarruġaḋ eile ’san doṁan níor ḋeineas ionnta.
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I. Ḃí bean fad ó ann, agus, dar ndóiġ, is fad ó ḃí, a’s ċaill sí a h-inġíon, a’s ’na ḋiaiḋ sin duḃairt sí— “Ċualaiḋ mé an treiḋin ar dtúis
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I. There was a woman long ago, and indeed it is long since she flourished, and her daughter died (she lost her daughter), and thereafter she said—“First, I heard the corncrake, and then I heard the cuckoo, and I knew that I would not prosper this year (that this year would not go with me).” |
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II. Ḃí bean eile ann, a’s ḃí sí ag dul ċum tórrṫaiḋ a h-inġíne, agus ḃí sí ag imṫeaċt ċoṁ mear sin go nduḃradar daoine—“Feuċ siar an ḃean ḃuile,” aċt ’sé duḃairt sisi leó— “Ní bean mé tá ar buile, |
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II. There was another woman, who was going to her daughter’s wake, and she was walking so rapidly that persons said—“Look at the mad woman,” but what she said was—“I am not a mad woman, but a poor woman, With a heavy family, going to my child, a girl of twenty-one years of age, the mother of five children, who, to crown every other misfortune, are all girls (all female).” |
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III. Ḃí bean eile arís dul cum ṫórrṫaiḋ a dearḃráṫar, agus d’ḟiafruiġ ar ḋaoiniḃ ḃí ag casaḋ a ḃaile ó a n-obair—“An mbeiḋ an lá go h-oiḋċe ag fearrṫainn?” Agus duḃradar léiṫe ag freagart— “Dá mbeiḋeaḋ lá sgolta na gcrann ann,
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III. There was another woman again going to her brother’s wake, and she asked people who were returning home from their work, “Will the day rain until night?” and answering they said to her “If the day was one to split the trees (with the heat) [lit., if there was there a day of [the] splitting of the trees], we would not put a spade in [the] earth, until we should have settled [for] him in [on] the grave [lit., bed]. |
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IV. An duine boċt dall.
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IV. The Blind Beggar. “Gentle woman of the house, send out (put out) your alms to the blind [man], wool or flax, or a piece of pig out of the pot [in which the dinner was presumably being prepared].” The Housewife. “Your wife was here yesterday, and you yourself [are here] to-day soon after her (lit., at her sole. Compare phrase—‘at her heels’).” The Blind Beggar. “My wife was not here yesterday. She is in the grave (lit., in the clay) and a head-stone over her, and, by the same token, my shirt is black on my back.” |
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V. “Tá sé fearrṫainn,” ar san capall,
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V. “It is raining, quoth the horse. It is violently, quoth the cow. A fine pleasant day, quoth the sheep. Let us walk to [the] ditch, quoth the goat.” MICHEAL PADRAIG OH-ICEADHA, C.C.
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Glossary.
Bé’r doṁan de = at all events, at any rate. This expression and ar aon ċuma are the stock phrases for conveying this meaning in Waterford.
’San doṁan = at all. Ní dóiḃ liom go ḃfuil biseaċ ’san doṁan air, I do not think he is at all improved. The Waterford peasant uses this idiom when speaking English—I don’t think there is any improvement in the world on him.”
Níor ḋeineas = ní rinneas, perf. tense of deun. This phrase is commonly used in Waterford. There is only a seeming difference. The root is deun or déin. Ro is the sign of the perfect tense. Hence, ní + ro + ḋeineas = níor ḋeineas, or (by joining the sign ro to the verb) ní rinneas.
Dar ndóiġ = verily, indeed, sure. “Sure, I am not able to go.”
’Na ḋiaiḋ sin (pron. ’na ḋiaig sin) = thereafter.
Treiḋin = corncrake. Coney’s has traona. But treiḋin and treiḋneaċ are the words in use in Waterford.
Raċfaḋ, pron. raġaċ in Waterford.
All words, such as biḋeaḋ, ḃeiḋeaḋ, leanfaḋ, &c., are invariably pronounced biḋeaḋ, ḃeiḋeaḋ, leanfaḋ,—ḋ being always = ċ. This applies to third person sing. of imperf. mood, imperfect ind., and cond. mood (active voice). ḋ in perfect ind. passive is pron. g; and ġ and ḋ in perfect, indicative and future active very odten like g. I here speak of Waterford.
Note.—There are in different districts different versions of gearr-rann, No. 1, Mr. Fleming informed me some time ago that it ran in some districts.
“Cualaiḋ me an treiḋin ar deis,
A’s ċualaiḋ me an ċuaċ ar clé,” &c
Again, I have from him the following variant: a man going to be hanged said—treiḋneaċ láiṁe deise, no cuaċ láiṁe cle, no uan bán i dtús bliaḋna ní iarrfainn d’ḟeicsin.
Ar dtúis (Waterford = ar dtús), ar gcúl, ar deis, ar clé or ar clí. The two first mean here, I think, “at first” and “afterwards.” I don't think that they refer to place; if they do, the meaning would be “in front” and “in rear.” The two latter mean, of course, “on the right” and “on the left.”
An bean buile=the mad woman, the woman in a frenzy.
Muraraċ = in Waterford muiriġineaċ and murar = muiriġin. Muraraċ and muiriġineaċ having a large family (see Coney’s s. v. muiriġineaċ). O’Reilly has muiriġin, muirín and muirior.
Boinionn = female.
Tubaist = a misfortune. The dicts. give tubaiste, but I have not heard it used by Waterford speakers.
Tórrṫaiḋ, gen. of tórrṫaḋ, a wake.
Ag casaḋ a ḃaile = returning home.
Fearrṫainn: only word I have heard used in Waterford.
Báisdeaċ, fem., is common in some districts. In Donegal they say simply tá sé ag cur (i.e., fearṫainne).
Dá mbeiḋeaḋ, &c. This line puzzled me sorely when Mrs. Grcene repeated it for me. As well as I could catch what she said, it was dá mbeiḋeaḋ noscuilt ar na greanaṁ. I could not extract sense from this, Her explanation was dá mbeiḋeaḋ an lá breáġ féin ní deunfaḋ sin aon deifir, even if the day were fine, that would make no difference. Still I could not analyze the line. The reading I have given was suggested to me later on by a man living in this village, and I adopted it, But I have been thinking over the matter since, and possibly the reading may be dá mbeiḋeaḋ sé ag fosguilt an ġainiṁ (i.e., if the day was [so warm as to be] loosening the sand), or dá mbeiḋeaḋ oscuilt ar an ngaineaṁ, if the sand was loosening [opening], i.e., through the sun’s heat. Or may it have been da mbeidead ’n osguilt (i.e., an osguilt) ar an ngaineaṁ. [Probably ar na crannaiḃ.—E. O'G.]
Go socróċamaois do. This is how the phrase was spoken, although I fancy that go socróċamaois é would be a better reading.
Líon = flax.
Oiġeann = a pot, a cauldron (Coney’s).
Bonn = sole of the foot.
Leac, leice = a head-stone.
Coṁarṫa = a sign. Dá ċoṁarṫa sin féin, as a proof (sign) of that same. It exactly corresponds with the expression, “by the same token,” which is so commonly used.
Drom (dhroum) = (in Waterford) druim, a back, gen., droma. Druim is not used in Waterford.
[ 58 ]Siuḃal ċum cloiḋe sinn. This is peculiar. The ordinary form is siuḃal-amaois ċum cloiḋe. But the analytical form is used here for metrical reasons.