A' chàirdean,

I came across this seann fhacal (old saying) in my reading today. It
belongs to a genre of seann fhaclan purporting to give advice on
choosing a wife. This one's of interest here because it outlines the
motivations behind the choice of wife of "Mac Cormaig", a Gaelic
character with various forms of name and linked to marriage themes.

It might be of interest to Gaelic harp enthusiasts because of the
stories of a harper bearing the cinneadh of Cormac who played a
deuchainn ghleusda in order to put a household to sleep so he could
kill a nobleman and elope with the nobleman's daughter. In the
famous version of the story, he is dissuaded from the murder by
another young man who tells him basically that there are lots more
fish in the sea. The harper departs broken-hearted.

The legendary figure might well have drawn his name from the
otherwise forgotten (in Scotland at least) saint Mac O Charmaig of
Eilean Mór in Cnapadail (Knapdale in Argyll). The name might derive
from ancient 'Moccu Cormaic' which is a complete surname in the
modern sense.


"Ciamar a thaghadh Mac Cormaig bean?

Pìobair na tobhta,
dh'iarr Cormag a sheachnadh,
meall air slugan is guc air sgòrnan
dh'iarr Cormag a sheachnadh,
gleadhradh mhór a' ghàrraidh
dh'iarr Cormag a sheachnadh,
té mhór odhar an doras an t-sabhail
dh'iarr Cormag a sheachnadh,
ach ciarag bheag air dath na lucha,
na sir is na seachain ise."


How would Son of Cormac choose a wife?

Piper of the (roofless) ruin,
Cormac desired to avoid,
lump on gullet and sprout on throat
Cormac desired to avoid,
loud noise from the enclosure (wall)
Cormac desired to avoid,
big dun woman in the door of the barn
Cormac desired to avoid,
but the little grey woman the colour of the mouse,
don't seek and don't avoid her.

The first four examples refer to a wife who makes too much verbal
noise. The last example expresses the common wisdom that plain women
treated their husbands better than beautiful women.

Beannachdan,



Alasdair