Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 5, 1894.djvu/271

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Proverbs and Sayings of the Isle of Man.
263

204a. Cha nee yn wooa smoo eieys smoo vlieaunys = It is not the cow which lows most will milk the most (see Agriculture).

*Ny veggan as ny veggan, dee yn chayt y skeddan = Little by little, [as] the cat ate the herring (see Fish and Patience).
*Tra huittys ny maarlee magh, hig skeeal er ny kirree = When the thieves fall out tidings will come of the sheep (see Thieves and War).
*Ta moddey bio ny share na lion marroo = A living dog is better than a dead lion (see Death).
*Arc er e ghreeym = A young pig on his back. (Said of a sulky person.)
*Cha raagh as mannan = As wanton as a kid.

76b. — Birds.

222. Coontey ny heïn roish ta ny hoohyn guirt = Counting the chickens before the eggs are hatched.

223. Lhig dy chooilley ushag guirr e hoohyn hene = Let every bird hatch its own eggs (see Independence).

224. If the puffin's[1] nest was not robbed in the Calf of Man, they would breed there no longer (see Places).

18a. He is as fat as a puffin[2] (see The Body).

134a. Myr s'doo yn feeagh yiow eh sheshey = Black as is the raven he'll get a partner (see Marriage).

139a. Ta'n yeean myr e ghooie my vel clooie er y chione = The chicken is like its kind before down is on its head (see Parents).

151a. Cur meer da'n feeagh as hig eh reesht = Give a piece to the raven and he'll come again (see Poverty and Alms).

160a. Boayl ta gioee ta keck, as boayl ta mraane ta pleat = Where there are geese there's dirt, and where there are women there's talking [tattling] (see Womankind).

188a. Cha jean un ghollan-geayee sourey,

Ny un chellagh-keylley geurey =
One swallow will not make summer,
Nor one woodcock winter (see Weather Wisdom and Seasons).

  1. The sea-parrot.
  2. The sea-parrot.