cow 117 



Cha 'n i 'bho is airde geum a's mo bainne. 



The loudest lowing cow is not the best milker. 

 Cha sgeith bo fiar (feur). 



A cow won't vomit grass. Wise creatures won't quarrel with 

 their meat. 

 Cha shaothair bo-laoigh do shaothair, no deagh ghamhnach. 

 Your labour is not that of a calving cow, nor of a good farrow 

 cow. 

 Cha tig an crodh uile cho math do 'n bhuaile. 



All the cows do not come equally well to the fold. 

 Cha toir a bho do 'n laogh ach na th' aice. 



The cow can give her calf only what she has. 

 Chi sinn de 'n taobh a thig a mhaodal as a' mhart. 



We'll see on which side the paunch comes out of the cow. 

 A joke. (See Nicolson.) 

 Cho ceolar (no cho Ian ciuil) ris a mhart a dh' ith am piobaire. 



As musical (or as full of music) as the cow that ate the piper. 

 Ciuin ris a bho is garbh ris an each. 



Gentle to the cow^ and harsh to the horse. At one time 

 supposed to be the proper treatment. 

 Cho fad 's a bhios bainne geal aig boin dhuibh. 



As long as a black cow gives white milk. This is said to 

 have been the term of a lease in Uist. 

 Ciod a dh' iarradh tu air bo ach gnosd ? 



What would you expect from a cow but a groan ? This 

 means the subdued noise a cow utters as her ordinary 

 expression of feeling. 

 Co dhiubh 's ann air srath no 'n gleann, 's ann as a ceann a 

 bhlighear a bho. 



Whether on strath or in glen, 'tis from her head the cow's 

 milk comes. As she is fed (see before). 

 Coltach ri earball an t-seana mhairt, daonnan air dheireadh. 



Like the old cow's tail, always last. Said of a dilatory person. 

 Cuid a ghobha — an ceann. 



The smith's share — the head. His perquisite for killing a cow. 

 Diombuil buaile, bo gun laogh. 



A fold's reproach, a yeld cow. 

 Eadar a bhaobh 's a bhuarach. 



Between the fool and the cow-spaniel or fetter. Referring 

 to the superstition that a blow from the "buarach" 

 renders childless. 

 Far am bi bo, bidh bean, etc. 



Where a cow is, a woman will be, etc. St Columba. 

 Feumaidh fear na h-aona bha car dh' a h-earball, no a 

 sgathachan, mu dhorn. 



Sgathachan is an old word for tail. The man of one cow 

 must twist her tail round his fist. He must look well after 

 her. This is a Uist saying, though applicable elsewhere. 



