AN GAODHAL.
657
The Hundred Irish Words, Continued
All these words have kindred terms in the Lat¬
in, French, and Welsh — as anima (Latin), soul ;
corpus, body ; mens, mind; intin, (mind),
inchinn, brain, is from inn, in, and cinn,
head.
Neart, strength, is from an old word
expressive of manliness and power, we
find ner in "nerve"; and in the proper
name Nero, a man of power and strength.
Sláinte, health, is found in "salute,"
as slán in salvus, safe, sound, well — in
health, Hence, do shláinte, your health,
a drinking toast,
FINAL DIVISION.
Workman and
soldier,
Fear oibre agus
soighdiúr.
Green and red.
Glas agus ruadh.
False and faithful,
Fealltach & dílis.
Old and new.
Sean agus nuadh.
Hate and love,
Fuath agus grádh.
EXPLANATION.
Fear-oibre, the Latin, "vir operis,"
vir operandi.
Soighdiúr, is derived from soighead,
an arrow (Latin, sagitto), and fear, a man —
soighdiúr means "sagittarius," but is at
present applied to any man in the ar¬
my.
Ruadh is a common term applied to dis¬
tinguish men, as Aodh Ruadh, Red Hugh
(Latin, rufus).
Sean, old, is found in "senex" ; nuadh
new is common to many languages.
It is well to note that the verb to be
in the present tense is tá.
tá mé. I am; tá tú, thou art; tá sé.
he is ; tá sinn, we are; tá sibh, ye are,
and tá siad, they are; tá sí, she is.
Present form of asking questions is
bh-fuil; as, bh-fuil mé? am I bh-fuil tú?
art thou? bh-fuil sé? is he? bh-fuil sí?
is she? bh-fuil sinn? are we? bh-fuil
sibh? are you? bh-fuil siadh? are they?
[It will be observed that sibh, you, is
not applied to the singular number in
Irish — E. G.)
Past Tense.
Raib mé? was I? raibh tú? wast
thou? raibh sé? was he? raibh sinn?
were we? raibh sibh? were ye? raibh
siad? were they? Bhí mé, I was; bhí tú,
thou wast; bhí sé, he was; bhí sinn, we
were; bhí sibh, you were; bhí siad, they
were.
One Compound Pronoun — agam.
The compound pronouns formed of
ag, "at," and mé, tú, sé, sí, sinn, sibh,
siad, are; agam, at me, agat, at thee,
aige, at him, aici, at her, againn, at us,
agaibh, at you, aca, at them.
The word for “on" or "for" is air.
Hence one can put together any num¬
ber of sentences in perfect Irish idiom,
thus, Bh-fuil grádh agat air Dhia, have
you love for God? literally, is there
love at you for God. Answer, Tá grádh
agam air Dhia, I have love for God, Bh-
fuil grádh no fuath aige air a thír? Has
he love or hatred for his country? Tá
grádh aige air a thír, he has a love for
his country. — End of the hundred.
AN LEANBH SIGHE. [The Fairy Boy.]
(From the Gaelic Journal.)
Do tháinic bean go sroth cois leasa,
Le h-eirghe 'n lae ag gul 'sa caoidh,
So mar dubhairt sí bualadh a bas, 'sa
Glaodhach ós árd air ríoghan na sigh';
"Cad fá 'r mheall tú leat mo leanbh,
A chur fé dhraoidheacht le cealg suiridhe
Táimse 'nois 'san saoghal gan taithneamh,
Cad fá 'r fhuadais searc mo chroidhe?
"Air na sléibhtibh, trís na gleanntaibh,
Mar righn' mo leanbh súgra tráth,
Le bláth 'gus min-sgoth 'g fás 'na theannta
An rúd am' fhánuighe táim gach lá ;
Am fhánuighe tráite, le croidhe cráidhte,
I n-diagh mo leinbh an fhuilt bhuidhe,
Ag glaodhach le h-uaill air mhacaibh-alla,
Go saorfaidís mo bháibín sighe.
"Acht, monuar! ní tugthar aire
Air mo chaoidh ná 'r mo ghearrán,
Leis na sluaigh ag sgléip 'sa gáire,
'Seadh bheidheas feasda mo leanán;
Slán go deoigh leat! 'nois am aonar,
Táim ad' dhiagh gan aon t-sólás,
Acht beidhmíd fós araon go seunmhar,
I bh-flaitheas Dé le congnamh a ghrás."
