The Secret Languages of Ireland

CHAPTER VII

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER

Prof. Kuno Meyer shewed (Revue Celtique, vol. xm, p. 505) that
the word bearlagair does not mean, as had been supposed, 'lan-
guage of craft'; nor should it be translated 'jargon* : it is merely
an adaptation of the English word ' vernacular \ x The ' Vernacular
v£ the Masons ' is therefore the proper translation for the name of
the language now to be studied.

There are no such rich materials for the analysis of Bearlagair
na Saer (which we may henceforth abbreviate into B-S) as for
Shelta. It was first introduced to the world in a series of ' Observa-
tions on the Gaelic Language* by P. McElligott of Limerick, in
the single volume of Transactions which records the activity of
the Gaelic Society of Dublin (published 1808). At p. 11 McElligott
gives a vocabulary of some twenty words, promising further
particulars in a separate treatise; this, however, never saw the
light.

A fuller vocabulary was published by Mr E. Fitzgerald, archi-
tect, of Youghal, about fifty years later. 2 Unfortunately Mr Fitz-
gerald's acquaintance with Irish appears to have been of the
slenderest, and his ear for phonetics was quite undeveloped. He
wrote down his words in a haphazard spelling, without any
explanation of the orthographical principles, if any, which he
followed. It is therefore sometimes impossible to make a choice
between several different pronunciations which his orthography
will bear. Some etymological speculations added to this vocabu-
lary by its compiler, and by an ingenious friend of his, Mr William
Williams of Dungarvan, may be allowed without loss to slip into
the limbo of things forgotten.

Mr D. Lynch of Bally vourney , Co. Cork, contributed to The Gaelic

1 As in Fick's 'Glossary to Donlevy's Catechism', in Archiv fur Celtische
Lexikographie, vol. n, p. 28.

2 'On ancient Mason Marks at Youghal and elsewhere: and the secret
language of the Craftsmen of the Middle Ages in Ireland ', Journal, Kilkenny
Archaeological Society, New Series, voL u (1858-9), pp. 67, 384, especially
pp. 390 ff .

MSL 15

226 bEarlagair na sAer

Journal a few sentences and words. He was followed in the same
periodical by the Rev. E. Hogan, who gave some further words
and sentences compiled from the information of one Hyde, a
mason. Tomas Seons (Mr Thomas Jones) and Lynch made further
contributions to later numbers. 1

A short MS. vocabulary was found among Dr Sampson's
papers : it is unsigned, and I do not recognize the writing. Another
short vocabulary has been published by Domhnall 6 Mathghamhna
(Daniel O'Mahoney) from the words of a mason called Shake-
speare. 2 This completes the available material.

Analysis of the sentences scattered through these vocabularies,
given in detail below, shews that B-S, unlike Shelta, is based on
an Irish syntactic framework. The prepositions and other par-
ticles, as well as the accidence, are as Irish as the corresponding
elements in Shelta are English. It is therefore on the whole less
' spurious ' than Shelta, and it is much to be regretted that our
material is so scanty as compared with the Shelta harvest. For
the present there are considerable lacunae in our knowledge, and
I have been obliged to leave much unexplained. On the whole
there seems to be proportionally less mechanical manufacture of
words (inversion, rhyming, etc.) in B-S than in Shelta, and of
' oghamizing' there is not the smallest trace. There is on the other
hand less affinity between B-S and the Bog-Latin vocabulary
than is to be observed in Shelta.

I have found the task of analysing, and even of reducing to
alphabetical order, the B-S vocabulary, one of no small difficulty;
on account of the divergent methods, or want of method, adopted
by the reports of different collectors. As in the Shelta vocabu-
laries, I have done my best to arrive at the 'highest common
factor' of the different spellings, and have employed the same
phonetic symbols as for Shelta. The forms adopted by the dif-
ferent contributors are also recorded, with initials to indicate
each:

A Anonymous MS. J Jones

F Fitzgerald L Lynch

H Hyde (per Hogan) M McElligott

S Shakespeare (per O'Mahoney)

1 They will be found in vol. vni, p. 212 (Lynch); vol. ix (paged con-
tinuously with vol. vni); pp. 225 (Hogan), 272 (Jones), 345 (Lynch);
vol. x, p. 31 (Lynch). Published in Dublin, 1898-9.

2 Bealoideas, vol. in, p. 518.

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 227

Some of the collectors I suspect of carelessness in proof -correcting,
adding to the difficulties by printers' errors.

I give first all the sentences that I have been able to find, with
a grammatical analysis. (B-S words are printed, in the analysis,
in small capitals, Irish words in italics.) Then follows a vocabulary
of all the recorded words.

I. SENTENCES

(1) Coisdre 6m chai (M) ' Get out of my way '.

kostri dm 'chaoi. kostri is the imperative of a verb meaning,
generally, 'to move', transitive or intransitive: for other
recorded forms see the vocabulary, s.v. Om chaoi [6m x*] Irish,
'from my way*.

(2) Cawheke a limeen (F) * What o'clock is it? '

kA-hik a Viwi-in. ' Cawheke' appears only once elsewhere, in
another sentence of F's (10). He there spells it 'caw-heke', so
that it is to be analysed thus, not 'ca-wheke'. Caw [kA] pre-
sumably = Irish ca (similarly pronounced) 'what': but hIk is
obscure. A is the particle found in the Irish equivalent of the
same sentence (cad o chlog e? 'what of -the clock is-it? ') : it is
really a worn-down form of de'n 'of the', l'im-£w, in which
the second syllable is most likely the ordinary Irish diminutive
suffix, is explained by F as meaning 'a trowel', 'a watch'
(as here) or 'tools' in general.

(3) Cou shous da vow (F) 'Good morrow kindly'.

A difficult sentence: even the etymological resourcefulness of
F's friend Williams was unequal to the enterprise of explaining
it. The vowels are perplexingly ambiguous: are they = ow (as
in ' vow ') or u (as in ' boo ') ? ' Shous ' may possibly be the
Irish seamhas [sauas] 'luck', in which case 'cou' might be
meant for the ca of the preceding sentence. F's translation
in any case is too free to help. As for ' da vow ', it can hardly
be dissociated from 'mavousa', which F gives for 'myself.
This can be analysed into mo vus-sa, vus being aspirated
(after the possessive pronoun mo) from mus, a word recorded
by J. In J's sentence (36) 'this eS's mus' means 'this man';
compare Shelta, this glox's d'lL mus therefore may be taken
as the equivalent of the Shelta d'tl, used with possessive pro-
nouns to form personal pronouns. The loss of the -s from
'vow' in this sentence may be explained by the influence of
the Irish emphatic affix -sa, which may or may not be used
according to the desire of the speaker. In an ordinary enquiry
after health it would naturally be left out: cad e mar aid 'tu'P

15-2

228 BEARLAGAIR na SAER

is the simple 'how are you? '; cad e mar aid 'tu-sa'P would be
'how are you?' [as contrasted with him]. And this syllable
being left out, it might carry off the radical s of mus along
with it. Even yet the sentence is not grammatically satis-
factory, and some linking particle must be lost. The simplest
emendation would be to insert a d' — Ca seamhas do[d'] vu[s] ?
'What luck to thee? ' 'What luck have you? '

(4) Conus a mar ludhe thu vouludhe (F) ' How do you come on in

the world?'.

Here the last is the only B-S word : the rest is Irish, cionnas
a mar luadhaidh tie, literally 'How do you move'. 'Vouludhe 1
must be the same as 'mouleadth', a word given by F for
'day*. MAUL3D (au pronounced as 'ow' in 'power') seems to
be the phonesis on which these spellings converge : prefixing i
'in' (which sometimes aspirates) we get * vauwd 'to-day'
I cannot suggest any etymology for this word, though it seems
to be formed similarly to sku-9D 'night*.

(5) Thau she erin shek (F) 'He is dying*.

(6) Thu le vow sheka (F) 'He is dead*.

sek has the primary meaning of 'stoppage': sek air means
'stop [something]', 'a stoppage upon': see below, sentences
( r 5)> ( 2 5)- Dying is the most effective kind of stoppage, and
the word enters into phrases meaning passively 'to die' or
actively 'to kill': see sentences (32), (36). The rest of sen-
tence (5) is Irish : td se ar an §ek ' he is on the stoppage ', and
exemplifies what has just been said as to the transferred
meaning of the word. In sentence (6) 'sheka' is a verbal
noun (£EK-adh, pron. seka), and 'e vow' is the mus construc-
tion which we have seen in sentence (3): a vu[s] 'his per-
sonality^ he. 'Thu 1" must then be associated together: it
can hardly be anything but do thuill [do hil] 'he has earned*.
Ag tuilleamh bhais, literally 'earning death', is an established
phrase for 'at the point of death'. The two sentences there-
fore are Td se ar an sek 'he is on "stoppage"* and Do thuill
a vu SEK-adk 'he has earned "stoppage" '. It is possible that
sek is simply an adaptation of the English 'check'.

(7) She kuing da vousa (F) 'To beat a person*.

F's translations are even more untrustworthy than his spellings.
After what we have seen in sentences (3), (5), (6), this is
obviously §EK-ing do vus-sa 'stopping ( = killing) you*. This
is an unusual case of an English participial form. J has an
English macaronic sentence (36) but this is rare. In F's
vocabulary I find 'gabing' for 'idling'. I suspect that F,

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 229

with his hazy notions of how to report an unknown tongue,
has put these hybrids into the mouths of his informants: just
as I can imagine a traveller talking of his discovery of the
strange jargon current in France, and telling his friends that
'They speak of mongj-ing their dinner'. These forms in -ing
never appear in H's sentences, which are the best yet recorded.

(8) Custrig agudine alp (F) 'Hurry to town*.

' Agudine' is the Irish prepositional phrase go dti an [god'ian].
For Custrig [ko§tri] see sentence (i). alp 'town' is back-
slang for baile [bal'a] with the same meaning.

(9) Ne to hu lun naw-gre boul-dre mon the heke (F) ' A mad cuckold

of a fellow'.

Whatever this gibberish may mean, it is obvious on the sur-
face that F's translation can have only a slender relation to it.
It is impossible to translate, as there is nothing comparable
with it in the rest of the recorded vocabulary. But it reads
like a couple of lines out of a (probably obscene) song :

Ne to hu lun nawgre,
Bouldre mon the heke.

We note the Celtic-looking assonance in ' nawgre ', ' bouldre ',
when the words are set forth thus. Further it may be suggested
that ' ne-to-hu-lun ' ought to be 'ne-tro-hu-lun', and to mean
neamh-triathamhail [n'autr'ahul], a word which we shall meet
with again in sentence (28), and meaning 'un-excellent'.
Triathamhail, as we shall see, is a stock adjective of com-
mendation. The un in 'lun' would then be the Irish article, an.
'Bouldremon' may be one word, like cosdramAn, which in
one spelling or another is variously explained as 'a beard*,
'chimney', 'soot', and a 'road'. 'Heke' may or may not be
the same word as we have seen in F's 'cawheke'. The pre-
ceding ' the ' is presumably the English article. For the present
we must leave the translation in this unsatisfactory form:

Un-excellent is the 'nawgre',

'Bouldremon' is the 'heke'.

Possibly 'nawgre' should be 'awgre', the n being transferred
from the preceding article. In that case the word might con-
ceivably mean dg-ri 'young fellow' (literally 'young king' —
see the words in the vocabulary).

(10) Caw-heke in rudghe scab-an-thu na therka na libogue (F)

' What is smaller than the eye of a midge ? '

Apparently a riddle, though F, like jesting Pilate, does not
seem to have waited for the answer. 'Cawheke' we know.

230 BEARLAGAIR NA SAER

'Therka' is doubtless the same as 'derco', given by F else-
where in his vocabulary for 'eye* (Irish dearc). 'Libogue' is
apparently de-nasalized black-slang for mioltog 'a midge'.
This word is feminine, as it takes the genitive singular feminine
of the article (na). The earlier 'na' is, however, na 'than' after
comparatives. In 'scabanthu', which must mean 'smaller',
we recognize gab 'small', back-slang for Irish beag: the s-
therefore must be disconnected and joined to the preceding
'ghe': for r in rud' (an rud) is Irish for 'the thing', ghes
(however it is to be pronounced) must be used like the Irish
mos, a particle preceding adjectives in the comparative degree,
and -anthu (which ought to be written -antu) must be a
B-S comparative termination. We may therefore rewrite the
sentence cd-HlK an rud ges g'abantu na dearcA na i.lB-dg,
lit. 'What the thing which-is-more smaller than eye of-the
midge?'

(n) Muintriath, airig — muintriath aonachar, a char a hi (H) 'God
save you, mason' — 'God save you kindly, good friend*.

' Muintriath ' I explain as a compressed form of go mbeannui-
ghidh an Triath 'may the Lord bless' [go m'anl an tria] — no
more telescoped than ' goodbye ' = God be with you. Triath
' Lord ' is given by F as used for ' God '. The courteous response
usually intensifies the wish, by invoking the further blessing
of 'Mary' and 'Patrick'. These names do not appear here,
however: 'aonachar' may perhaps mean 'singly, especially'
(aon — one). A char a = my friend. ' Bi ' is most likely rhyming
slang for dil 'dear'.

(12) Coistrig, aois ; coistrig 6 chiath ; coistrig, aois go cin digabha (H)
'Come in, young man: walk far away; come, young man,
to the public (or eating) house*.

For 'Coistrig', see sentence (1). 'Aois' (pron. Is) is the regular
word for 'man' (not necessarily young man, as given in the
translation). '6 chiath' (pron. 6 chi a ) is probably, as in sen-
tence (1), 'out of the way'. *Cfn' (compare the Shelta k'en)
is 'house'. 'Digabha' (pron. digaua) is, I suspect, a misprint
or mis-noting for dtgala. L has 'cfne dfogla' [ = k'in a'
dIgla] for 'public house'. S has the same expression, spelt
'cin a duigili'. F gives 'deegla' for 'intoxicating drink': and
H has two expressions for whisky, 'digabha friuich' and
'dfagala friuich'. These I take to be variants of one form.
I therefore would amend these phrases to kustri e§, ku§tri
6 chaoi, ku§tri e§ go k'in diagla. The word diagla means
'drink', or specifically 'ale' or 'beer*.

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 231

(13) Coistrig go dti an nunlig [or munlig] triath. Coistrig go dti in

copero sed. Triathamhuil mairig ian (H) Xome to Mass.
Come to the sport [or fair, or market]. Very well, be it
so'.

There is some confusion in the translation here. L gives
'cabr6 se6' as meaning 'chapel' (i.e. R.C. Church). Therefore
the second of these sentences must mean 'Come to Mass' or
something similar. 'Munlig' is given by H as meaning 'a
working day', i.e. the hours of light; 'Munlig Triath' would
therefore appear to mean 'God's day, Sunday'. It must be
extended to mean 'the rites of Sunday'; and this corroborates
a suspicion that the B-S vocabulary, as it has survived, is not
extensive — just large enough to puzzle unauthorized eaves-
droppers — and that its words have to bear wider ranges of
meaning than their ' official ' equivalents in Irish or in English,
in order to convey the sense understood by initiated speakers
and auditors. Triathamhuil 'excellent', the usual adjective of
commendation. ' Mairig ' is presumably mairidh ' let it remain ' ;
but ' fan ' is puzzling. It appears to be that rare thing, a B-S
particle, meaning 'so'. The whole sentence, or group of sen-
tences, may be rewritten thus : kuStrI go dti an nunlig Triath,
kuStri go dti an koperoSo. Triathamhail, mairidh Ian 'Move
to the Lord's Day [ceremonies], move to the Chapel. Good,
let it remain so'.

(14) Coistrig an sgaochluing am chdid go mineoghad air mo

stimire cuthi e (H) 'Reach me the candle towards me
till I redden my pipe of tobacco with it ' [but more correctly,
' till I redden it upon my tobacco-pipe/ i.e. light my pipe
with it].

Here we have 'Coistrig' in a transitive use. c Scaechnuid ',
meaning 'sun', seems to suggest that 'scaech' (ske^) means
something like 'light'. As ' long-shuain ', apparently 'ship of
slumber', is used for 'bed', so SKE^-long may mean 'light-
ship' (-luinge is accusative). 'Caid' (kAd'), as the next sen-
tence shews, must mean 'presence' (to be distinguished from
caidh (kl), one of the spellings of caoi, a 'way'): 'am chaid'
therefore means 'in, or unto, my presence'. 'Mineoghad' (the
spelling mineochad would be preferable) is as it stands the
first singular subjunctive of minighim, which means properly
'to make fine', not 'to redden', stimire is also found in
Shelta (but 'piper', not 'pipe') but not cuthi [kuhi] 'tobacco'.
kuStri an SK^x-long am* #Ad go mineochad air mo stimire
kuhi ' Move the light-ship into my presence till I redden upon
my pipe of tobacco it'.

232 BEARLAGAIR na sAer

(15) Sec air do bhinnighthe: sec air, a scuifreachdin: sec air, a
gheabaois na muine sead, nach tuaite dhuit be na cae: na
gclapuach an mhiandubh. Secidh an mhiandubh (or bhiandubh)
an bho na cine (H) 'Stop your talk: stop, you dog: stop
your talk, young rascal, you do not understand this or that :
you would steal the devil. May the devil stop the woman
of the house'.

For 'sec air' see above, sentence (5). ' Binnighthe ' binIhi,
the b aspirated after do, is the same as A's 'binihe' 'words',
F's ' binna ' ' to speak ', also ' binnue caha ' ' begging '. * Geabaois
is g'ab-eS, literally 'small man', and is used for 'a boy', 01
'an apprentice', scuifreachan, vocative -din, is confirmed
by F's 'cifrehawn' 'dog'. 'Na muine sead' is evidently some-
thing abusive : ' sead ' (Sad) is alleged to mean ' dirty ' ; if the u
of muine were not marked long, we might render it 'of the
dirty neck \ ' Nach tuaite dhuit be* na cae ' should be translated
'who hasn't been taught B nor C. TUAT-uighim means 'to
give', as we learn from the following sentence (16) : here again
we see a case of extension of meaning to make up for deficiency
in the vocabulary. 'Na gclapuach an mhiandubh' hardly
means such nonsense as 'you would steal the devil'. In the
first place it is in interrogative form — na' (for nach) #clap-
ochtha would be the orthodox Irish spelling — 'would you not
" clap " the devil ? ' There is no other evidence for a word ' clap *
meaning 'to steal'; I should conjecture that it is an adapta-
tion of English 'club', and that the phrase means 'wouldn't
you beat the devil' (compare 'That bangs Banagher, and
Banagher bangs the divil'). It is noticeable that the masons
appear to believe in a feminine devil: the aspiration of the
initial in the nominative and accusative shews that. Secidh is
imperative third singular in form : clearly the translation of the
last sentence should be ' may the devil kill the woman of the
house'. 'An bh6 na cine' may be good B-S, but it is bad
Irish: two words in genitive relation cannot both have the
article. We have already seen a breach of the same rule in
Shelta. These sentences should be written thus: Sek at do
vinnihI, Sek air, a skufr'a^An'. Sek air, a g/jab-eS na muine (?)
Sad, nach TVAT-uiglhe dhuit be na ke ; nach gCLAP-ochtha an
m^Ianduv. svKidh an m^ianduv an Bho-na-Kiso.

{16) Geabaig, airig. Luadaig airig, agus tuatoig aes na cine sgrdbdn

puinc ar gcdid. Tuiteoig aois na cine sgrabdn iriath (H) Work

easy, mason. Be quick, mason, and the man of the house

will give us a pound. The man of the house will give a crown '.

The reporter's spelling is careless. We can hardly believe that

Hyde pronounced the word for ' give ' in two such diverse ways

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 233

as are indicated by 'tuiteoig' (tut'og) and 'tuat6ig' (twatog').
'Geabaig' is imperative of G'AB-uighitn, of which we have
already seen a macaronic participle in F's 'gabing' = ' idling'.
'Luadaig' is a similar imperative, from the verb which we
have already seen in sentence (4). TVAT-uighim seems to be
a verb with the sense of giving, imparting. ' Ar gcaid ' [ar gad'],
i.e. '[into] our presence*. Compare 'am' chaid' [am ^ad*] ^ n
sentence (14). There is some confusion in the names of the
coins. 'Sgraban' [skrAbAn] is diminutive of skrAb, which
must be F's 'scraub', by him rendered 'a shilling'. 'Puinc'
must be F's 'pynke', meaning 'money'. 'Sgraban triath',
which H translates 'crown', is F's 'scraub treah', which he
translates 'pound'.

(17) Bog suas tufein as soin (H) ' Hurry out*.

Literally 'Move yourself up out of that'. Entirely Irish.

(18) Seabhruigh an cndpach (H) 'Look at the cat'.

'Seabhruigh', misprinted 'slabhruigh' in The Gaelic Journal,
phonetically SaurI, is F's 'shouroo' 'look out'.

(19) Td se ag cdiniughadh carruinn (H) 'He is eating dinner 1 .

The last two words are B-S with Irish inflexions, meaning
literally 'eating meat'. The first part of the sentence is ele-
mentary Irish.

(20) 7s gosamhuil do bhille Id bille mianla nu le reac bhfearbhuighe

bhioch ag cdineadh chiobhuir (H) 'Your mouth is like the
mouth of a sow, or like an ugly dog eating dung'.

' Gosamhuil ' should be cosamhail, the ordinary Irish word for
'similar'. I suspect that the 'g' is simply a transcriber's
mistake : there would be no point in disguising this word, and
even if there were, so thin a disguise would be futile, bille
' mouth ' (aspirated after do) is also attested by F in the form
of ' belle ' : it is Irish beal ' mouth \ I once heard an old Welsh-
man in the village of Llanwrtyd Wells calling out 'shut your
bill' to a noisy dog: this may possibly have been the same
word, though it is equally likely to have been an intentionally
grotesque misuse of the English word. ' Meanla ' is F's ' maun-
lish ', meaning ' a pig \ I do not believe in ' reac bhfearbhuighe '
= 'ugly dog'. 'Fearbhog' (f'arvog) means 'a cow': 'fear-
bhuighe ' is the genitive ; and its initial is eclipsed, which means
that the preceding word is a noun in the accusative case, so
governed by the preposition le. It is interesting to find thus
survival of a Middle Irish use (eclipsis after the accusative)
in B-S, which has been lost in orthodox modern Irish. The

234 BfcARLAGAIR NA SAER

translation of the end of the sentence is a very bad 'howler':
the translator has mixed up F's 'ciabar' (with hard b) meaning
'dung', and the Irish ciobhav with aspirated b, pronounced
k'lwar, and more commonly spelt ctor ' the cud \ ' Your mouth
is like the jaw of a cow that would be chewing the cud ' is still
offensive, but at least it has some sense in it. The rendering
'jaw 1 for 'reac' is a guess, but evidently reasonable.

(21) Searpach gaid nafearbuighe seadmanach 6 chia (H) 'Long are

the horns of cows from afar'- — a common Irish proverb,
though the above translation hardly does it justice. Another
translation of the same sentence appears in A: Is trihooil
tad femtnt na farabuch shadochee; and the two can be
analysed together.

'Sead(manach) 6 chia' evidently =' shadochee', that is 5 ad
(rhyming slang for fad ' long ') 6 chaoi ' from the way ' as in
sentence (1). The interpolated 'manach' in the first version
of the proverb is presumably some kind of adjectival or
adverbial formative. Compare 'custramaun' (F) 'a road',
which analyses with kuStrI-mAn, the walking-place (or some-
thing similar). Sad being 'long', §ad-mAn might be 'length',
and §AD-MAN-ach (with the usual Irish adjectival formative)
'lengthy'. Sad and Sadmana^ would thus have the same
meaning. ' Fearbuighe ' might be genitive singular,. ' farabuch *
genitive plural; but we cannot attach much importance to
such irresponsible differences of spelling. ' Gaid ' and ' Femini '
are not found elsewhere. 'Gaid', singular 'gad', means a
withe, and 'feimin', plur. 'feiminl', means, if anything, the
tail of an animal: so that the proverb as it appears in B-S
would seem rather to say that oversea cows have long tails.
'Trihooil' in A is, of course, Iriathatnhail. 'Searpach' in H
analyses into 'Is earpacn', in which the adjective, otherwise
unrecorded, must have some similar meaning.

(22) Do sheabhraigheas-sa cdapaire cuiline tnuthughad [read -adh]

carrainn ag Ealp O'Laoighre (H) ' I saw [better, have seen]
pigeons bringing fire to boil meat at Dublin' — apparently
a crude piece of rustic irony invented for the purpose of
snubbing a boaster. ■

' Seabhraigheas ' is the first person preterite of the verb that we
have already seen in sentence (18), above: 5 aspirated according
to rule, after the preverbal particle do. 'Carrainn' is the
'corin' of F, meaning 'meat, flesh', and 'Ealp O'Laoighre',
pron. Alpolir'a, is rhyming slang for Baile Atha Cliath
[Bal'akll-a]. It has nothing whatever to do with the name
of the seaport, Dun Laoghaire (formerly called Kingstown),

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 235

as suggested in The Gaelic Journal. The three words ' ceapaire
cuilene tnuthughadh ' have, I feel sure, been wrongly noted or
rendered. 'Thnohid' is given by F as meaning 'fire 1 : ' tnuthu-
ghadh ' is in the form of a verbal noun, and might mean
'to cook'. We may assume that 'ceapair* means 'pigeon*,
though there is no other evidence: we can have only one pigeon,
however, for the apparent plural ending -e is wanted for the
preposition before the next word. The most obvious analysis
of * cuilene* is ' cxxiY -teineadh 'carrying of fire*, assuming a
word 'cuil' meaning 'carrying*. But with the material at
present available any explanation of these words must be
mere guesswork. Indeed, we have no security that the alleged
translation is accurate.

(23) Sead e an dan (L) translated by him 'Long is the fast*.

As the Editor of The Gaelic Journal points out in the next
number, it really means 'Dirty is the house'. See the
vocabulary.

(24) Gab an lud (L) 'Small is the work*. L's translation seems

here to be correct.

(25) Seic air do buith (L), translated by him 'bad character' (!).

It clearly means 'stop your ': 'buith' (which after do

ought to be 'bhuith') is unexplained. 'Hold your noise',
or something of that sort, is probable.

(26) Gabeis gabanta na mbulcdin sead (L), rendered by him

' flippant blackguard of the unseemly words '.
'Gab&s' is the 'gheabaois* of sentence (15) meaning 'boy,
apprentice*. 'Gabanta*, an adjective formed, on Irish models,
from the word underlying F*s ' gabing ' = ' idling ', therefore
meaning 'idle*. ' Sead ' = 'dirty'. We need not quarrel with
L*s ' words ' for ' bulcan ' : it ought, however, to be so written,
not '-ain'. It is genitive plural, in which case the initial is
nasalized ('eclipsed*) after the article na. gabes GABanta na
wbulcan sad 'Idle boy of the dirty words*, is a rendering
nearer to the sense. This particular 'Gabes' must have been
like an accomplished youth in Co. Westmeath, of whom a
tramp was heard to remark admiringly, 'Well, I thought
I knew all swearin', but that young lad has words I never
heard in me life ! '

(27) Sear aid ad dhdil na cruinne caine clutach (L) 'Take thou the

hen eggs'.

This should be corrected by printing ' cruinnecaine ' as one
word. Otherwise the sentence is easy and the translation

236 BfcARLAGAIR NA SAER

correct, though perhaps it might preferably be rendered ' look
out for 1 , 'take care of the eggs that are near you. See the
separate words in the vocabulary.

(28) Ni tuada dham gur searais aon eis 6 cian bkeatha mo luis co

neamh-thriathuil mar an dis thoilinn am dhdil ansgaoid so (L) ,
whose awkward rendering is 'I never saw any servant as
bad during my life as thou the person standing before me
at present*.

The first three words are probably ' I do not think ' (compare
'tuaite' in sentence (15)). Then: 'that I-saw one man from
a-while of life of myself ' (the italicized words being renderings
of Irish vocables). 'Mo luis' must surely be amended to
' mo muis ' or ' mo vuis ' (see mus in vocabulary, and sentence (6)
above). Then: so unexcellent like the man 'thoilmn' in my
company the-night this. The available material throws no light
on 'thoilinn', though it must mean something like 'who is
present'.

(29) Seo led a bhearuldm

A ir ceo na caide
Toglu airacin nafiaba
A long-shuain (L).

Evidently a cradle-song, of which crooning nonsense-syllables
like ' seo led ' are a stock beginning. L makes no attempt to
translate it, though he says that 'child* is the meaning of
'bhearulam'. This is undoubtedly misprinted, and should be
amended to ' bhearulain ', the vocative of ' bearulan \ a diminu-
tive of some word similar to the Scots bairn. The second line
means ' upon the ... of stone \ ' Ceo ' is obscure : the Irish word
ceo, which means 'mist', is here inappropriate. The last line
means ' his bed ' : but the third line cannot be translated with
certainty. 'Airacin' may be a playful diminutive of aire
'care', and 'fiaba' a perversion of naoimhe [nlv'a] 'saints' —
'may the saints take care of his bed'. Or 'airacin' may be
analysed into 'air a cin' — 'on his house', and 'fiaba' may
be a perversion of fiacha 'ravens' — 'May the ravens take his
bed on to their house'. These are merely indicated as possi-
bilities. Cradle-song literature is full of quaint maledictions
like the second alternative, as in the well-known

'When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
Down tumbles cradle and baby and all.'

But no satisfactory translation can be offered.

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 237

(30) Toghla giomla faisgia bile an chinn (L).

An obscure sentence: L offers no translation. 'Bile' is pre-
sumably the word for 'mouth' which we have already seen
in sentence (20): 'chinn* may be genitive of the Irish ceann
'head', or it may be from k'In 'house' — 'mouth of the head'
or else 'door of the house' or 'in front of the house*. In these
ambiguities it is futile to attempt to interpret the other words,
which are not otherwise recorded.

(31) Custvu nafearbach sead 6 caoi mar a gcian (L).

No translation : but the meaning is ' drive the cows away from
the road (as before?) '.

(32) Nar a sead go seicir a dhdil do chlbir (L) ' May it not be long

till you die on your . . . ' is L's translation. Whether the
aposiopesis is due to ignorance or a sense of propriety does
not appear.

'May it not be long till you are stopped ( = killed) in front
of your. . . ' is the literal translation of the phrase. Cibir seems
to mean ' dung ' : so the malediction means ' may you soon die
on your dung-heap'.

(33) Eis nafearbach eistriu na mbarcann (L).

No translation given. At a guess we may suggest 'It is the
man of the cows who is a great man for bank-notes', i.e. that
cattle are the chief source of wealth in the country, whatever
may be the theories of politicians.

(34) Searacdn air do plaicibhfe na sciath(a)ibh sead 6 caoi (L).

No translation given. Perhaps 'Keep a little watch on far-
things when far from the road at night*. See the separate
words in the vocabulary.

(35) Caid ar chaid, caid idir da chaid, agus caid 6s cionn caid

(Editor, The Gaelic Journal, commenting on L's contribu-
tions).

'Stone to stone, stone between two stones, and stone over
stone.' A saying referring to the bond of masonry. The only
B-S word is caid = ' stone'.

(36) Geab do choistriughadh till I seiciughadh this eis's mus (J)

' You go on till I put a stop to [=do for] this fellow'.
An interesting sentence, shewing the invasion of B-S by
English. Compare the parody of The Minstrel Boy following.

238 BEARLAGAIR NA SAER

(37) Geab-eis an arraic to the road is gone,

Giarradh-cine you'll find him,
His sett is casar he has girded on,

A ceamog coistriu-ing behind him (J) .

The tags of B-S mean : The mason's boy — hungry — trowel and
hammer — policeman walking.

(38) Ga saroinn cabaisdm a lududh cuanog,
Tuts ga ratachdn i gdid a shamhair,
Coistioroinn a bhuadh go cine dtogla
Agus bheinn ga luarcu sgtod go sgtod (L) .

L gives a rendering into Irish, which appears correct enough :
the meaning in English is, ' If I were to see a shoemaker
working at shoes, the corner of his settle beneath his se*ant,
I would carry his wife to the tavern, and would be kissing
her from night to night.'

(39) In tuadihe dit na binihe (A) ' Do you understand the words? '

' In ' is an, the Irish interrogative prefix : the rest is easy.

(40) Mortmora gian civire pumpa (A) ' Bring the mortar up on

the scaffold'.

The words are wrongly divided : they should be ' Mdrt morag Ian
civ ar a' pumpa*, literally 'mortar let-it-be so up (?) on the
scaffold (?)'. For 'morag ian' compare sentence (13).

(41) Dooroid na cadauc (A) 'The stones draw water*.

This sentence is alleged to express a threat that if the mason
does not get a drink, the stones will be badly set. ' Door ' is
a now obsolescent Irish word dobhar * water ' : ' caid ', we have
seen, means * stone*, but whether 'cadauc* is a plural form
we cannot certainly decide. The roots of the words in this
sentence are clear, buttheir syntacticrelationshipislessobvious.

The above are all the recorded continuous specimens of B-S.
They are scanty, often obscure, . and too often badly reported.
But they are enough to shew that the language is straightforward
modern Irish with a number of jargon words substituted for the
orthodox words. The frequency with which certain words recur,
even in the scanty sentences which are set forth in the preceding
pages, suggests that the vocabulary is not an extensive one.
Some of the out-of-the-way words used, and such a grammatical
phenomenon as eclipsis after the accusative (in sentence (20)),

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 239

indicate that B-S took shape when Irish was at a stage of develop-
ment earlier than the current speech. But these survivals are
rare. B-S has changed pari passu with the linguistic evolution
of Irish, and is now adapting itself to the predominant English,
as sentences (36), (37) shew.

The following Vocabulary gives all the words of these sentences,
with, in addition, all the separate words that appear in the con-
tributions of the various reporters enumerated above.

II. VOCABULARY

(The numbers in brackets refer to the sentences analysed above.)

A
a causing lenition; particle prefixed to the vocative case (11),

(15). (29).
a causing lenition; 3 sing. masc. possessive pron. 'his' (29), (38).
a Relative particle (4).

a Contraction for preposition^ 'of '. See analysis of sentence (2) .
a Contraction for preposition ag'at' (38).

ad Preposition, i 'in' + 2 sing, possessive pron. do; 'in thy' (27).
aes (16). See eis.
ag Preposition, 'at*. Especially used before verbal nouns to

express present participle (as a- in English 'a-dying') (22).
agudine (8). See go dti.
agus Conjunction, 'and' (35), (38).
aigracawn See eagracan.
air Often used for ar, which see (29), (34).
airacin (29). Meaning unknown.
airig 'a mason', 'craftsman' (HS, arrick F, airic L) : genitive

arraic (37), vocative airig (11), (16). A. caide ' a stonemason';

a. fiuic 'a timber-craftsman', 'carpenter'.
aish See eis.
alp 'a town' (8). Apparently back-slang for Irish baile 'a town'.

Also (according to F) means 'a job of work', and 'a hill*.
Alpolaoghaire [alpolir'a]. Rhyming slang for Baile Atha Cliath

'Dublin' (alpoleera F, Ealp O'Laoighre H).
Alptiarpach [alpt'iarpax]. Rhyming slang for Baile Corcaigh

'Cork' (ailp-L).
an Article, 'the', in masc. and nom. and dat. fern. sing. (37).

An . . . so 'this . . .' (28).
an Prefix-particle of interrogative sentences. Appears as in in (39).

2 4 o BEARLAGAIR na sAer

aois See Sis.

aon 'one' (28).

aonachar 'singly', 'especially' (?) : (11).

fir causing nasalization, 1 plur. possessive pron. : 'our' (16).

ar Preposition, 'upon', 'at', 'to' (35). Often written air.

arrick See airig.

as Preposition, 'out of (17).

assi'milk' (asseeorisaughF). ^4$$ is an Old-Irish word for 'milk'.

B
barbudh See borbu'd.
barcan 'a book', 'a pound note' (L, barcawn F, also barcann,

gen. pi. (33)).
b€ The letter 'B' (15).
be 'a woman' (M). See buadh.
beatha'life' (28).
bedhal (F). See biadal.

bfiinn 1 sing, conditional of Irish substantive verb: 'I would be\
belle 'a mouth' (F, bille (20), bile (30)).
bhearulan (29), See mearulan.
bhioch (20). For bhiodh, 3 sing. impf. of substantive verb: 'that

would be'.

bx Rhyming for dtl 'dear' (11).

biadal Reverse for diabhal 'devil' (bedhal F, viadul A). See
miandubh.

bile, bille Bile an chinn (30) 'mouth of the head' (?). See belle.

binna 'to speak' (F).

binnighthe [b'in'ihi] 'words', 'talk' ((15), binihe (39), binnue (F)).

Binnue caha F 'begging'. Bua na binihi tria (A) 'A woman

of the great words ' = ' a nun '.
bo See buadh.

bochar 'a mason's square' (F). Irish bacart.
bochna 'sea' (M, bouchling F). Old-Irish word,
bog Reverse of gabh 'take' (17).
boo See buadh.
borb 'a priest', 'minister of religion' (burub F, borab S). Both

Triath (A) 'God's priest' (an R.C. priest); borb a bhiadail (J)

'the devil's priest' .(a Protestant clergyman). Cin a 7 bhuirb,

see cin.
borbm 'a labourer' (boribin S, burbeen F).

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 241

borbu'd 'married' (literally, 'priested') (burrabood F, borabud S).

But L gives barbildh as a term for a person 'about to be

married'.

bouchling See bochna.

bouldremon (9). Meaning unknown.

brldin 'a drinking-glass ' (brighidine L).

bruigneoir ' a smith ' (bru-ig nore F) .

buadh 'a woman' (boo F, buadh ML, bua A). Boo oguntha (F),
i.e. b. digeanta 'a yoimg woman'. B. bigeanta cine an dlogla
(L) 'young woman of a public-house ', 'barmaid'. Buadh na
cine 'woman of the house'. Buadh na binnighthe triath, see
binnighthe.

buith 'noise' (?) (25).

bulcan 'a word' (?) (26).

burbeen See borbin.

burrabood See barbu'd.

burub See borb.

C

ca 'what?' Cou (3).

cabaisdin 'a shoemaker' (38).

cabh ' a small way or passage ' (caugh F) . (?) Irish cabhsa ' a cause-
way, alley'.

cabhaill 'a horse' (M, keful F, cowilt A). Irish capalL Compare
caibhde, caibhire.

cabhro 'to sleep': cowru-ing 'sleeping' (F).

cabroseo 'a chapel', 'R.C. Chiurch' (L, coperoseo H).

cabrul 'cabbage' (cabrule F).

cadauc (41). See caid.

cadth See caid.

cae c€, ke The letter 'C (15).

caha In 'binnue caha' (F)=* begging'. Meaning uncertain.

cahik 'what' (cawheke (2), (10)). Ca is Irish for 'what', but hik
is not explained.

cai See caoi.

caibhde ' a horse ' (L) .

caibhire 'a horse' (L). These two words are doubtless perversions
of the ordinary Irish word capalL

MLS 16

242 BEARLAGAIR na sAer

caid A word meaning ' presence ' or the like, in such expressions
as dr gcdid [he will give] 'to us' (16); am chdid 'into my
presence', 'towards me' (14); i g(c)did 'in the neighbour-
hood of (38).

caid ' a stone ' (coda, cadth F) . Genitive caide, as in airig caide
'stonemason' (coda, F and (29)): but not declined in (35).
Dual, da chaid (35). Cadauc (41) is possibly a nom. plur.
'Cadth soukeness' (F) said to mean 'top stone', 'chief corner
stone' (incidentally, two very different things!). 'Cadth
thno-hid' (F), i.e. caid tnuthuid 'stone of fire', 'coal'.

cailid ' a goat ' (kalidh F) .

caineadh 'chewing', 'eating' ((20), cainiughadh (19)).

caistrioman ' a key ' (L) .

caoi 'a road', 'a way': cai (M). chaoi 'from the road' — 'out
of the way', 'away'. O rrichal 'out of my way' (1). chiath
(12), o chia (21) are no doubt perversions of this formula.

caora-airneis 'sheep-cattle', i.e. sheep (kehemish F).

cara 'a friend*. Vocative a chara (n).

carnore See cearnog.

carra 'drunk' (F).

carrabhan 'a drunken spree' (carrawaun F).

carrakeenah See giarradh-cine.

carran 'flesh-meat', 'a dinner' (carrann (22), corin F). Genitive

carruinn (19). C.fearbuighe 'cow-meat', 'beef.
casar 'a hammer' ((37), cossar F). Irish casur.
caugh See cabh.
cawheke See cahik.

ceann 'a head'. Genitive chinn (30). Dative cionn (35).
ceapair 'a pigeon' (22).

cearnog 'a constable', 'policeman' ((37), JS). 'Carnore' (F) 'a
soldier '.

ceo (29). Meaning unknown.

cia ((21), ciath (12)). See caoi.

cian 'a space of time', 'a while ago'. Mar a gcian (31) 'as
before' (?); 6 cian beatka (28) 'from a time of life', 'in all
(my) life'.

cian See cm.

cianruis 'snuff (keenrush F).

cibir 'dung', 'manure' (32).

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 243

cifeanach ' a weaver 1 (cifenuch F). Part reversal of figheadoir , the
Irish word with the same meaning.

cifrehawn See scuifreachan.

cin 'a house' (MS, cine L, keene A, keena F, cian (23)). Cin
a' bhuirb (keenabuirb F) 'a house of worship' (lit. 'priest's
house'); cin a diogla (misprinted cin digabha (H), cin a
duigili (S), cine diogla (L)) 'a drink-house' 'public-house';
cine na laidiana ' soldiers' house ', ' barracks ' ; cine na mearuldn
'children's house', 'school'. Genitive cine: eis na cine 'man
of the house'; buadh na cine 'woman of the house'.

cina 'food', 'a meal' (kinah F).

cinide 'sheep' (L).

clobhar ' cud ' of a cow. Genitive ciobhair (20) . Irish cior,

cionnas 'how? ', 'in what way? ' (conus (4)). Irish.

civ'up'(?) (40).

clapuach 'you would (beat (?)) ' (15). For clap-ochtha, 2 sing, of
conditional.

clutach 'a hen' (cluite H, clutog L, clutoch F). Gen. plur. clutach;
cruinnecdin clutach 'hens' eggs'.

cnapach 'a cat' (18) (knopuck, F).

cnapaire 'a cat' (cnapara J, cnawpare A).

cnoc 'a potato' (kunuk F).

co— go t prefix turning adjectives to adverbs. Co neatnhthriatham-
hail 'uselessly' (L).

co . . . mar In comparisons, ' so ... as ... ' (28).

cobcowil See geab-cabhaill.

cd-bhuadh See comh-.

coda See caid.

co-eis See comh-.

cohi See cuithi.

coine 'a body' (F).

coing 'a table' (F).

coiseadraman 'a beard' (coshedremon F).

coistreaman 'a chimney', 'soot' (coshtramon F).

coistriughadh [ko§tr'u]. A word used of motion in any direction,
intransitively or transitively: 'come' (12), 'go' (1), 'hurry'
(8), 'move' [an object] (14), 'drive' [cattle] (31). Verbal
noun coistriughadh (36) (coshdrea F, coistrig, cuistrig H,
coisdre M, custrig A (8), custru (31)). Anglicized present
participle coistriu-ing (37), conditional 1 sing, coistioroinn (38).
Anglicized past participle passive coshtru'd 'gone away' (S).
Imperative coshdrea (F) 'be off', 'run away'.

coithire See cuithire.

16-2

244 BEARLAGAIR na sAer

colla'ahat' (F).

comh-bhuadh 'a fellow-woman', 'a sister' (co-bhuadh L).

comh-eis 'a brother' (co-eis L).

conus See cionnas.

coonogue See cuanog.

copero-seo See cabroseo.

corin See carran.

cosamhail 'like'. Miswritten gos- in (20).

cossar See casar.

costraman 'a road' (custramann F).

cou (3). See ca.

coulth. A man who has not served apprenticeship. Merely the
Munster pronunciation of the English word 'colt' (F).

cowilt See cabhaill.

cowruing See cabhro.

criabhog 'a potato' (crevock F).

crith Probably Irish cruit ' a fiddle '. * Aish crith ' (F) ' a musician \

cruinneacan Anything round, like a ball. C.fiuic 'c. of timber',
'an apple'; c. clutach 'c. of hens', 'an egg\ Cruinneacan
ith t or ip (cronikconith F, cruadh chnuip L ' a head ' : the
meaning of the second word is uncertain; possibly the expres-
sion should be cruinneacan coine 'knob of the bpdy'. [Ith
would be pronounced 1, or !h.]

cuanog ' a brogue ', ' a shoe ' (coonogue F) . Gen. plur. cuanog (38) .

cuilene (22). Meaning uncertain.

cuithi 'tobacco' (cuthi H, cuhee F, cohi S).

cuithire 'a dog' (ML, cuhiree F). Coithire na aipeise 'a fox': the
last word is obscure.

culahee 'porter' (the drink) (deegla culahee F).

custru See coistriughadh.

D

da causing lenition, 'two' (35).

dafaddir: 'dafador' (S) 'a useless person'; 'dhofudhore' (F) 'a

tell-tale'. Perhaps do-fuadoir would be a better spelling.
dail 'presence', 'company', in such adverbial phrases as a dhail

'in the presence of (32); am dhail 'in my company' (28);

ad dhail 'before you' (27).
dam Preposition do + pronoun me 'to me'. Dham (28).
damhsaman 'dancing' (dousamaun F).
davow See mus.
dearc 'eye' (M, derco F, therka (10)).

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 245

degluing See diogla.

deid 'teeth' (L).

dercu 'courting' (dherkoo-ing F). Perhaps 'ogling' would more
closely express the meaning of the word.

des'land' (M).

dho- For words beginning thus, see do-.

dingir 'a rat' (A).

diogla 'drink' (intoxicating) (deegla F, duigili S). Ctn a! diogla 'a
tavern'. Deglu-ing (F) 'drinking'. Dtgabha (H) is probably
erroneous. 'Deegla culahee' (F) 'porter'; 'deegla fuke'
( = ' timber drink ' ) ' cider ' .

dit for duit, which see. 'In tuadihe dit' 'Is it given to you?'

' Do you understand? ' (39).
diu 'land' (due F).

do causing lenition : preverbal particle of preterite tense (22) .
do Preposition 'to'.

do causing lenition: possessive pron. 2 pers. sing, 'thy' (15), (34),
(36). In (34) doplaicibh should be do phi-.

dobhar 'water', 'a river* (M, dobair L, dour, duvar F). Old-Irish

word.
dobhar-thriath 'lordly water', 'whisky' (L).

dobharuighim ' to draw water' : ' to shower ', ' rain ' : 3 sing, present
dobharuighidh (written dooroid (41)). Anglicized participle
dhonrue-ing (F).

dofai : dof e (F) ' anything bad ' ; ' dhof u ' (F) ' to speak ill of a person '
(see dafadoir); 'dhofical luda' (F) 'bad or ugly work'. This
latter word is probably do-feicedl 'what should not be seen'.
Lud or luda is ' work '.

doordid See dobharuighim.

doun-caucha 'whisky' (F), probably a miswritten form of L's

dobharthriath.
dour See dobhar.
dousamaun See damhsaman.
duarcan luirce 'a midwife' (L). See luirc.
due See diu.
duigili See diogla.
duile 'a mouth' (L).
duit Preposition do + personal pronoun til 'to thee' (15).

durke 'an ear' (F). Probably a mistake, as 'derco' is given as
meaning 'eye'.

24 6 BfiARLAGAIR NA SAER

E

fc'if (23).

Sagracan 'a fish' (aigracawn A, egnakooing F).

ealp See alp.

Sarpach 'long* (?) (21).

eash See eis.

eis 'a man' (L, eash F, aes MH, aois (12), aish A). Eis na ctne,
or lis triath na cine 'the man* or 'goodman of the house';
eis na bhfearbach (so read (33)) 'man of the cows 1 ; eis ctne
an dtogla ' a publican ' ; ' aish crith ' (F) ' a musician ' ; this eis's
mus (36) 'this man's personality ' = ' this fellow ' ; eis cuanbg
('eash coonuch' F) 'a brogue-maker'; eis na luda 'foreman',
' master ' [of work] ; eis seabhru ' watchman ' ; eis gearra ctne
('eash carra keenah' F) 'a hungry man' [perhaps eis ag
iarraidh ctne ' a man seeking for food '] ; lis clutach ' a dunghill-
cdck ' ; lis ' garabuch ' ' a turkey-cock '. ' Eistriu ' (33) is probably
lis triath 'a good man', an expression which b translates
wrongly 'Lord of man'.

erem = ar mo 'upon my' (F).

erin ~aran f upon the ' (5) .

euch 'butter' (F).

F

faig' teeth' (F).

faisgia (30). Meaning unknown.

fatraman 'a father' (L).

f e* Preposition ' under ' (34) .

fearbach 'a cow' (L, farabuch, farabee F, farabuc A). Gen. sing.
fearbuighe (20), (21). Gen. plur. (?) farabuch (21); ace. plur.
fearbach (31).

femin Said to mean 'horn', but more probably 'tail' (21). Plur.
femtnt.

nab (29). Meaning unknown. Norn, plur. fiaba.

fiuc ' timber ' : ' fiuch ' (M) ' a tree '. Gen. fiuic : airigf ' a carpenter \
cruinneacdn f. 'an apple'; dtogla f 'cider'; *fuke' (F),
apparently the same word as L's airic % fiathbuidhe* 'a car-
penter'.

fiumadoir 'a painter' (fhlmador S). But F gives 'fumadhore'
'a tailor'.

foruch 'a foreman' (J)-.

fucama 'smoke' (foukama F).

fuinc 'a penny' (founk F). Compare puinc.

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 247

ga=prep. ag+ possessive pron. 3 pers., the latter indicating the
object of the verbal noun. Gd luarcu (38) literally 'a-kissing
of her'.

ga=prep. do + possessive pron. 'of his' (38).
ga.~dd 'if', used to introduce a condition expected to be unful-
filled: gd sdroinn (38) 'If I were to see'.

gab 'small'. See geab.

gab ' idle ' (perhaps the same word as the preceding) . ' Gabing ' (F)
' idling '. Geabaig ' work easy ! ' (16).

gabanta 'idle', 'lazy* (26).

gad 'a horn' (?). Nom. plur. gaid (21).

gahegan 'a wrong bond', or wrongly keyed arch (F).

gall-thairiseach Literally a person 'with foreign loyalty'. 'Goul-
threeshuch ' (F) ' a person of different religion ' : gall-tnnseach
(L) 'a gentleman*.

garabuch 'eash garabuch' (F) 'a turkey-cock'.

geab ' small ' : back-slang for Irish beag. In B-S always precedes
the substantives to which it is attached. Comparative (?)
gabanthu (10). Geab-eis (15), (37) 'a small man', 'a boy',
' an apprentice ' (gabesh FS, vocative geabaois (15)) ; geab-borb
(gab borab S) 'a clerical student'; 'gabcarra'' (F) 'partly
drunk'; 'gab-founk' (F: see filinc) ' a half penny ' ; 'gab-lish'
(F) 'a small hand', 'a finger', also 'an inch'; 'gab scabogue'
(F) 'a small boat'; 'gab scraub' (F=geab scrub) 'a small
shilling', 'a sixpence'; geab-cabhaill (cob-cowil A) 'a small
horse', ' a mule'.

geab Imperative, 'keep on ! ' (36).

ghes (10). Prefix of comparative degree (?).

giarradh-clne (J): 'carra keena' (F) 'hungry'. Ag iarraidh cine
'seeking food'.

giomla (30). Meaning uncertain.

Giosan ' John ' (Gissaun F) .

glaidin 'a knife' (gladeen F).

gleamadoir 'a piper' (glaumadhore F, glamador S); but 'glama-
doir' (L) 'a smith'.

go 'to', 'till' (32), (38). Go dft 'to', 'towards' (8), (13), rendered
'agudine' in (8).

gosamhuil (20). See cos-.

goulthreeshuch See gall-thairiseach.

248 bEarlagair na sAer

grifinthu 'foxy', i.e. red-haired (F).

gudth 'woman of bad character* (F).

gut go = that + ro, preverbal particle of preterite (28).

H

hik 'heke' (9). Meaning unknown.
hueso See mus.

I
i 'in'. / gaid (38), see caid.
iad'they' (21).
Ian 'so', 'thus' (?) (13).
iarr-cin 'a pawnshop* (J). Theare-keen F.
idir ' between ' (35) .
in — an, interrogative prefix (39).
ip See cruinneacan.
is Irish verb, 'it is\
is Abbreviation for agus 'and',
isaugh See assi.
ith See cruinneacan.

K

kalidh See cailid.
keenabuirb See cin.
keenrush See cianruis.
keful See cabhaill.
kehernish See caora-airneis.
knopuck See cnapach.
kunuk See cnoc.

L

laidiana 'a policeman' (L). Cm na laidiana 'barracks'.

lais 'a hand' (M, luis L). Geab-lais 'a finger', 'an inch'.

lamog 'a mason's level' (lamogue F).

lar an ingire 'a plumb-rule' (laureneringa F). Ingir is Irish for
' a plumb-rule ' : the B-S expression means literally ' middle
of the plumb-rule' in which the plumb-bob hangs.

le 'with'. After words denoting resemblance, 'like to' (20).

leabhracan Diminutive of leabhar 'a book': 'leebrecawn' (F)
' a book ', ' a pound note '.

leith 'a tongue' (F).

lenhuing See long-shuain.

limin 'a trowel', 'a watch', or, in general, 'a tool' (limeen F),

B£ARLAGAIR NA SAER 249

Hbog 'a midge' : libogue (10). Perversion of Irish mloltog.

lirke See luirc.

lisln 'head' (lisheen F).

lofu 'to steal' (loffoo F).

lofudoir 'a thief (loffudhore F).

longain See long-shuain.

long-shuain 'ship of sleep', i.e. 'a bed' (M, (29), lenhuing F,
longain M).

lorcshown dawin 'an old woman' (A). See luirc, and sean-dan.

Iou-ine See luinnidhe.

luadhaim 'to move', 'to go'. The d is de-aspirated in B-S: thus
we have the imperative luadaig ' work ! ' ' be quick ! ' ' look
sharp!' (16); the verbal noun lududh 'working' (38); the
noun luda or lud 'work' (F, (24)); and the third person
singular of the present tense, luadhaidh, represented by F's
ludhe. 1

luarcu 'kissing' (38).

lud, luda See luadhaim.

luinnidhe 'feet' (L). Lou-ine (F) 'legs',

luirc ' ahag ', ' old woman ' (L) . ' Lirke' F, ' lorc-shown-dawin' (A) —
this latter is a compound of luirc + sean-dan 'old person'.

luis See lais.

luis Miswritten in (28) for muis. See mus.

luisead 'a bag' (L).

M

mailide 'a pig' (mailide L, maunlish F, mawnlit A).
mairidh Imperative, 'let it remain': mairig (13), morag (40).
mar Conjunction, 'as', 'how' (4): mar a, causing nasalization,

'like' (31).
maralaun See mearulan.
matal ' mother 1 (L).
maulu See meabhlughadh.
maunlish See mailide.
mavousa See mus.
mawnlit See mailide.

meabhlad 'day': vouludhe (4), mouleadth (F).
meabhlughadh 'scolding' (maulu F).

1 In F's phonesis dh and th do not imply aspiration, but are attempts
at the thick sound of the Irish non-palatalized gingival d, t (the ' broad'
d, t, of Irish grammars). The same expedient is frequent on the pages
of stage-Irish humour.

250 BEARLAGAIR NA SAER

Meanan 'Michael' (meanaun F).

mganla 'a sow*. Genitive meanla (20).

mearulan 'a child' (maralaun F, mearullan L). Vocative mhearu-

lain, miswritten bhearularn (29). Cin na mearulan ' a school',
miandubh 'devil': also biandubh (15).
minighim In Irish 'to make fine', in B-S 'to redden'. First

person subjunctive mineochad (14).
mo Possessive pronoun, ' my'. Causes lenition of initial following.
monetrea See muintriath.
moragian (40). See mairidh and ian.
mort 'mortar' (40) (murth F).
mouleadth (F). See meabhlad.

muin ( a neck'. Gen. sing, tnuine, not muine as in (15).
muintriath 'good morrow' ((n), monetrea F). See analysis under

sentence (n) : literal meaning, 'May the Lord bless'.
murth See mort.
miis Something like 'personality', used (like d'll in Shelta) with

possessive pronouns to form personal pronominal expressions.

Mo mhus or mo mhus-sa (mavousa F) ' I ', ' me ' ; do mhus 1 thou ',

'thee'; this eis's mils 'this fellow' (36). Shek-eremhueso (F)

explained as ' discharged, or sent off from the work ' is seic ar

mo mhus-sa 'a stoppage on myself.

N

na The Irish article in gen. sing. fern. (10), (29), nom. plur. (41),

dat. plur. (34) : causing nasalization in following initial in

gen. plur. (33).
na for no 'or', 'nor' (15).
na After comparatives, 'than' (10).

na for nach, prefix to interrogatives in a negative form (15).
nach 'that not* (15).
nara 'may it not be so' (32).
nawgre (9). Meaning uncertain,
neamh-thriathamhail 'unexcellent', 'useless', 'unpleasing' (ne-

t[r]o-hu-l F). Negative of triathamhail, q.v.
Neathus'Ned' (F).
ni 'not' (28).
nu~ no 'or' (20).
nunlig 'a working day', 'the hours of light'. Nunlig Triath,

'Lord's day', 'Sunday'; also Sunday ceremonies, 'Mass' (13).

BEARLAGAIR NA SAER 251

o

6 'from*. Causes aspiration, 6 chiath (12): '6 caoi' (34) should
be 6 chaoi, as in'o chee luda' (F), said to mean 'time for
stopping work*. Om* = dmo t from my \ ... go ... * from . . .
to . . .'.

6igeanta 'young' (L, ogunthu F).

6s 'over', 'above': os clown 'above the head of (see ceann),
'over' (35).

plaic 'a plack\ tJ hurthingl small coin' (34), dat. plur. plaicibh.

preampach 'a tailor' (proumpach F).

prosimig 'to pull out', 'to work hard' (F).

puinc 'money' (L, pynke F). Compare fuinc 'a penny'.

pumpa 'a scaffold' (40).

R

ratachan Rendered by L into Irish suistn, i.e. 'a settle', 'a small

bed' (38).
reac 'a jaw'? (20).

rlarpog 'a perch' (sic) of work (rerepogue F).
rochan 'clothing'. Rochane F 'a suit of clothes'. Rochdn tuir

'trousers*.
rodamioman 'a road' (L).
rud 'a thing' (10).

S

y s~is 'it is' (21).

-sa Emphatic suffix (22).

samhar anus (38). Gen. samhair.

scaid 'night' (M, sglod (38), sgaoid (28), sckueed F). Gen. scaide

(M).
scaochlong 'a candle' (14). Accus. -luing.
scaochnuid 'the sun' (scaechnuid M, sgaunid F). Scaochnuid

scaide (M) ' sun of night ', ' the moon \ But F has sgaunid tea

for ' moon ' (rae = ' moon ' is Irish) .
see vela 'a window' (F).
sciath ' night ' (L), dat. plur. sciathaibh (34). Probably same word

as scaid.
scirtin (skirteen F). S. cnis 'a shirt'. Skirteen is diminutive of

English 'skirt': cnis is genitive of Irish cneas 'skin'.
scit 'a trowel* (J).

252 BEARLAGAIR NA SAER

scrab 'a shilling' (scraub F). Scrub triath (scraub treah F) 'big
shilling', 'a pound'.

scraban Diminutive of scrab. S. triath (16) 'a crown'; s. puinc
(16) 'a pound'.

scuabog 'a ship' (H, scabogue F). S. triath ( a big ship'.

scuifreachan 'a dog' ((15), cifrehawn F). Vocative -din,

se 'he' (she (5)).

seabhradoir ' head inspector ' (shouradore F) .

seabhruighim ' to look ', ' look at ', ' watch '. Imperative seabhruigh
(18), and, spelt searaid (27), shourig (F); pret. 1 sing.
seabhraigheas (22), spelt searais (28); conditional 1 sing.
seabhrochainn, spelt saroinn (38). Searacdn (34) is perhaps
a diminutive verbal noun, in ironical sense * keeping a little
watch '.

sead 'dirty' (15), (23), (26).

sead 'long', 'far' (21), (31), (32), (34). Sead 6 chaoi 'far away'.
Rhyming slang for Irish fad 'length'.

seadmanach 'lengthy' (21). See the analysis there.

seamhas 'luck' (shous (2)).

sean-dan 'old man' (L, shown-dawin A, shoundhaune F), not
apparently the ordinary Irish word sean-duine.

sear For words so beginning see seabhr-.

seic ' a stoppage ' by dismissal, death, or any other cause : English
'check' (?). On the sheic (S) — 'struck down*. Used impera-
tively seic air 'a stoppage upon . . . !' 'put a stop to . . . !'.
Verbal forms based on this stem are seiciughadh (36) ' act of
stopping', Anglicized present participle shek-uing (7); Angli-
cized past participle passive shekude (seicu'd) (F) meaning
killed, seicedd (S) exhausted. Sheku (F) 'to murder', 'to
spoil a piece of work'. Present passive seicir, 'you are
stopped' (32).

seirc 'water' (M).

seo le6 Meaningless lullaby-crooning sounds (29).

sg- For words beginning thus, see sc-.

sh- For words beginning thus, see se- or si-.

siadog 'a policeman' (sheedhouge (sic) F).

siske ' a chair ' (F) .

sneith 'a nose' (F).

soin 'there' (17).

sprisanue 'fighting' (F).

BEARLAGAIR na sAer 253

spugnig (F), who says that s. llmln means 'six o'clock', 'time for

leaving off work'.
stlmire 'a pipe', 'tobacco-pipe' (14) (stheemaree F).
suas 'up' (17).

T

ta 'is' (19): thau (5).

theare-keen 'a pawn-house', 'a gaol' (F). See iarr-cln.

therka 'eye' (10). See dearc.

thoilinn (28). Meaning doubtful.

tiarpach See Alptiarpach.

tlompalan Anything round, a measure of any kind (as a pint,

quart, etc.): thimpalaun (F). Perhaps L's triompalan, q.v.,

is a mistake for this word.

tnuth 'fire' (M) ; also tnuthach (M). F has thinuche, thnohid 'fire',
tnuhuh 'venereal'.

tnuthughadh 'to boil', 'to cook' (22).

toghla 'taking', 'laying up' (?) (30), toglu (29).

triath ' a lord ' ; used regularly for ' God ' (rhyming with Irish word
Dia). Compare the frequent evasion, in oaths, ftadh, com-
monly rendered into English in the phrase 'the deer knows'
[usually misspelt 'dear'].

triath As adjective, 'great': tria (AF). Eis triath na ctne* the
goodman of the house '.

triathamhail A much overworked adjective meaning 'good',
'excellent' and the like. Expresses an affirmative response
to a statement or command (13). Precedes the substantive
(compare gedb), as shewn by these examples from F — ' trehule
eashe ' ' a fine man ', ' trehule rochane ' ' a good suit of clothes '.
Trihooil (21).

triompalan 'whisky' (L). The word in Irish means 'a beetle' (the
insect). Perhaps a mistake for tlompalan (q.v.) and really
meaning ' a measure ' of the drink.

trise 'a treat' (trisha F). 'Trisha deegla' (dlagla) was the 'drop
of drink ', the footing, with which every newly installed crafts-
man was expected to entertain his future comrades. See tuis.

tu 'thou', 'you' (17) : thu (4). Tufein 'yourself.

tuaitighim 'to give', 'impart'. There are several parts of this
verb, with a perplexing variety of spellings. Past part, tuada :
ni tuada dham 'it is not given to me', 'I do not think' (28),
or tuadihe, in tuadihe dit ' understood of thee ' (39) and tuaite
in ni tuaite dhuitB na C ' you haven't been taught the alphabet '
(15), Future tuatdig and tuitcoig 'he will give' (both in (16)).

254 BEARLAGAIR NA SAER

tuis 'a drop* or 'sup' (of drink) (tuish S),

tuis (L) : translated into Irish beann, i.e. 'point', 'peak', 'corner'.

tur anus (thouir F).

U

uagainte 'young' (A). See Sigeanta.

vaurimaun 'a mother' (F), Probably a misheard vocative,
a mhathair ionmhuin 'mother dear'.

viadul See biadal.
vouludhe See meabhlad.

THE SECRET
LANGUAGES OF IRELAND

i

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Macalister,.. Robert Alexander > Stewart, I87O-I950
The secret languages of Ireland.

.Pr.^ 1 ^ ^- he; 193? Sd * P ublishe * ^ the University
pPress, Cambridge. °

JU Shelta. 2. Irish language-Writing. 3. Cant.

t' So T? e ";5J St0iy - 5. Druids and druidism.
II. Sampson, John, I862-I93I. II. Title

1^9001.^2 1974 U 9 1'.6 lh-^22

■^sarfr-di+iU-6115-5 (lib.bdg.)

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE
TO THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF

THE SHELTA LANGUAGE

partly based upon Collections and Manuscripts of
the late

JOHN SAMPSON, Litt.D.

Sometime Librarian of the University
of Liverpool

by

R. A. STEWART MACALISTER

Litt.D., LL.D.

Professor of Celtic Archaeology, University College
Dublin

Limited 100 Copies

Manufactured in the United States of America.

Folcroft Library Editions

Box 182

Folcroft, Pa : 19032

CAMBRIDGE

AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1937