{"id":2241,"date":"2012-05-01T19:43:06","date_gmt":"2012-05-01T19:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/?p=2241"},"modified":"2013-05-12T23:00:04","modified_gmt":"2013-05-12T23:00:04","slug":"between-a-rock-and-a-may-day-fire-or-life-on-the-horns-of-a-dilemma-as-gaeilge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/between-a-rock-and-a-may-day-fire-or-life-on-the-horns-of-a-dilemma-as-gaeilge\/","title":{"rendered":"Between a Rock and a \u2026 May Day Fire? (or Life on the Horns of a Dilemma — as Gaeilge)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Whose horns? What dilemma?<\/p><\/div>\n

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Amongst the numerous phrases in English for being, essentially, stuck between two difficult choices, we have \u201cbetween Scylla and Charybdis,\u201d \u201cbetween the devil and the deep blue sea,\u201d and, perhaps most widely used of all, \u201cbetween a rock and a hard place.\u201d\u00a0 Irish, natch, has its equivalents.\u00a0 One is, fairly straightforwardly, \u201crogha an d\u00e1 dh\u00edogha a bheith agat<\/strong>\u201d (to have the choice of two \u201cworsts\u201d).\u00a0 That one\u2019s pretty much like saying \u201cto choose between the lesser of two evils.\u201d<\/p>\n

But let it not be thought that English has cornered the market for figurative speech.\u00a0 Irish keeps pace handily, metaphor by metaphor, simile by simile, and tagairt liteartha <\/strong>by tagairt liteartha<\/strong>.\u00a0 Just think of all those madra\u00ed<\/strong> b\u00e1na, dromanna muc, li\u00fadair (a iompra\u00edodh go Toraigh)<\/strong> and, of course, na laethanta go l\u00e9ir a bh\u00ed ag na Paoraigh \u00f3 th\u00fas ama.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 If that has you a bit mystified, let\u2019s just say those are fodder for future blogs.<\/p>\n

So, while \u201cSciolla<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cCair\u00edbdis<\/strong>\u201d may be an ancient analogy, so is the popular (and seasonal) Irish phrase, \u201ca bheith idir dh\u00e1 thine Bhealtaine<\/strong>\u201d (to be between two May Day fires), which is considered the Irish equivalent of being \u201con the horns of a dilemma.\u201d\u00a0 The Irish phrase works quite well in a literal interpretation, as long as one has a basic understanding of the importance of tinte cn\u00e1mh<\/strong> in ancient Irish ritual (and even into relatively recent modern times, as for example, in Brian Friel\u2019s Dancing at Lughnasa<\/em>, admittedly a fictionalized treatment).<\/p>\n

To be \u201cbetween two May Day fires\u201d refers to the traditional practice of driving a cow between two bonfires lit for this purpose on L\u00e1 Bealtaine<\/strong> (May Day).\u00a0 This is presumed to be a purification ritual and may have had further religious significance.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also been wondering whether this cattle-driving ritual also had something to do with preparation for taking the cattle up to the higher hills for the summer pasture (the formal name for the practice being \u201ctranshumance\u201d).\u00a0 May 1 is the beginning of summer in the Celtic calendar, so perhaps the cows could not be driven up to summer pasture until they had been purified?<\/p>\n

The phrase \u201ca bheith idir dh\u00e1 thine Bealtaine<\/strong>\u201d actually breaks down quite literally:<\/p>\n

a bheith<\/strong> [uh veh, with a short \u201ce\u201d pronounced, like \u201cvet\u201d], to be<\/p>\n

idir<\/strong>, between<\/p>\n

dh\u00e1<\/strong>, two, causes lenition to the following word (if lenitable)<\/p>\n

tine<\/strong>, fire; lenited after \u201cdh\u00e1<\/strong>\u201d so it becomes \u201cthine<\/strong>\u201d [HIN-yuh]<\/p>\n

Bealtaine<\/strong>, May; lenited after \u201cthine<\/strong>\u201d because the phrase is really \u201cof May\u201d (lenition indicates the \u2018of\u201d aspect)<\/p>\n

One can also be \u201cgafa idir dh\u00e1 thine Bhealtaine<\/strong>\u201d (lit. caught between two May Day fires, i.e. caught on the horns of a dilemma)<\/p>\n

Anyway, getting back to the English word \u201cdilemma,\u201d the usual Irish equivalent to \u201cdilemma,\u201d as such, is \u201caincheist<\/strong>\u201d ([an-hyesht] ain<\/strong>-, bad, unnatural, over-, intense\u00a0 + ceist<\/strong> [kyesht], question).\u00a0 That\u2019s a fine word, but it doesn\u2019t really deal with the two-pronged aspect of the situation.\u00a0 There are a few other choices, \u201ccruach\u00e1s<\/strong>\u201d (lit. hard situation), \u201cachrann<\/strong>\u201d (entanglement, tangled growth, strife) and \u201cs\u00e1inn<\/strong>\u201d (trap, fix, predicament), but again none of these use any of the prefixes for \u201ctwo-\u201c or \u201cbi-\u201c in Irish.\u00a0 So be it.\u00a0 I tried every combination I could think of combining \u201cd\u00e9<\/strong>-\u201c or \u201cd\u00e1<\/strong>-\u201c with \u201cleama<\/strong>\u201d but got nothing.\u00a0 A fheals\u00fanaithe, cad iad bhur mbar\u00falacha<\/strong> (since all this di-lemmatizing started with philosophy anyway)?<\/p>\n

It does seem a convenient figure of speech, though, to be on the horns of a dilemma as we drive cattle through the tinte Bealtaine<\/strong>.\u00a0 Not, of course, one of your muley-headed (i.e. hornless) cows, at least for present purposes.\u00a0 That\u2019s \u201cmuley-headed\u201d in its original, or at least agricultural sense, i.e. a polled or hornless cow.\u00a0 \u201cMuley\u201d here is based on a Celtic word for \u201cbald\u201d (Irish: maol<\/strong>, Welsh: moel<\/em>), of course, otherwise I wouldn\u2019t bring it up.\u00a0 Actually that\u2019s not true.\u00a0 I\u2019m equally interested in loanwords from languages as diverse as Narragansett, Basque, and Klingon (such as succotash, chaparral, and qep’a’).\u00a0I\u2019ll assume the last one qualifies as English now since I see it embedded in English sentences.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuley-headed\u201d can, of course, also mean plain ol\u2019 ornery stubborn (aka bull-\/hard-\/pig-headed), in which case it\u2019s not connected to \u201cmaol<\/strong>\/moel<\/em>,\u201d but in these cases, it\u00a0is simply comparing a person to a mule.\u00a0 Bhuel<\/strong>, come to think of it, I guess a \u201cmuley-headed\u201d calf could be both hornless and stubborn.\u00a0 If the \u201cmuley-headed\u201d calf has been missing for two days, as the song \u201cThe Old Chisholm Trail\u201d tells us, maybe it has a stubborn streak as well.\u00a0 Remember?\u00a0 \u201cSpent two days lookin’ for muley-headed calf \/ Ain’t been to sleep in a week and a half \/Come a ti yi yippy yay yippy yay come a ti yi yippy yippy yay.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Hmm, c\u00e9n Ghaeilge a bheadh ar an gcurf\u00e1 sin? Comataidhaigh-ghipp\u00ed-\u00e9-ghipp\u00ed-\u00e9, comataidhaigh-ghipp\u00edghipp\u00ed-\u00e9? \u00a0(Fuaimni\u00fa? \u00a0Th\u00edos!)<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cows, horns, and dilemmas notwithstanding, what I\u2019d really like to know is why heelless shoes are called \u201cmules.\u201d\u00a0 Eolas ag duine ar bith?\u00a0 \u00c1bhar blag eile, b\u2019fh\u00e9idir?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I do wonder, since we\u2019re talking about cattle and all, how the situation would pan out if we were driving a four-horned cow through the fire, in which case, would we be on the horns of a tetralemma?\u00a0 Although I can\u2019t find any attested Irish for that, I assume it\u2019d be \u201cteitrileama<\/strong> (teitri<\/strong>-, tetra- + leama<\/strong>, lemma).\u00a0 At least the territory hasn\u2019t already been claimed with the more general words for dilemma (just to review: aincheist, cruach\u00e1s, achrann, s\u00e1inn<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Bhuel, a l\u00e1n \u00e1bhar do bhlaganna eile as a bheith ag caint faoi aincheisteanna, faoi thinte, faoi Bhealtaine, agus faoi n\u00f3sanna cainte.\u00a0 Deacair an ch\u00e9ad \u00e1bhar eile a roghn\u00fa, ach d\u00f3igh amh\u00e1in n\u00f3 d\u00f3igh eile, d\u00e9anfaidh m\u00e9 \u00e9.\u00a0 SGF, R\u00f3isl\u00edn<\/strong><\/p>\n

P.S. Speaking of \u201cli\u00fadair<\/strong>\u201d (coalfish), you might remember the brief \u201ctagairt<\/strong>\u201d to them in the blog of 23 February 2010, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/notai-fuaimnithe-pronunciation-notes-don-bhlag-deireanach-or-not-your-abuela%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cua%E2%80%9D-vowel-sound\/<\/a> .\u00a0 As I recall, no one actually responded re: the presence of coalfish in the waters around Tory, but the comments section is always open.\u00a0 A iascair\u00ed?\u00a0 A iasceolaithe?\u00a0 A R\u00ed Thora\u00ed (i. A Phatsy Dan Mhic Ruair\u00ed)?\u00a0 Eolas ar bith agaibhse?<\/strong><\/p>\n

P.P.S.\u00a0 In writing this blog, I diligently searched for any examples I could find of a more literal approach to those old dilemmatic horns, but I didn\u2019t find anything using both \u201cadharca<\/strong>\u201d (horns) and \u201caincheist<\/strong>\u201d, or any related forms, except as a very occasional calque.<\/p>\n

Fuaimni\u00fa do churf\u00e1 an amhr\u00e1in <\/strong>“The Old Chisholm Trail”? Go d\u00edreach mar at\u00e1 s\u00e9 i mB\u00e9arla: <\/em><\/strong>Comataidhaigh <\/strong>[<\/em>Come a ti yi] <\/em>-ghipp\u00ed-\u00e9- <\/strong>[<\/em>yippy yay] <\/em>ghipp\u00ed-\u00e9 <\/strong>[<\/em>yippy yay]<\/em>, comataidhaigh <\/strong>[<\/em>Come a ti yi]<\/em>-ghipp\u00edghipp\u00ed- \u00e9 <\/strong>[yippy-yippy yay]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

(le R\u00f3isl\u00edn) Amongst the numerous phrases in English for being, essentially, stuck between two difficult choices, we have \u201cbetween Scylla and Charybdis,\u201d \u201cbetween the devil and the deep blue sea,\u201d and, perhaps most widely used of all, \u201cbetween a rock and a hard place.\u201d\u00a0 Irish, natch, has its equivalents.\u00a0 One is, fairly straightforwardly, \u201crogha an…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":2242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3898],"tags":[211623,211621,4297,211619,211618,211622,211616,211614,211620,6027,3295,211612,289700,211615,211624,211617,211613],"class_list":["post-2241","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-language","tag-achrann","tag-aincheist","tag-bealtaine","tag-between-two-may-day-fires","tag-charybdis","tag-cruachas","tag-devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea","tag-horns-of-a-dilemma","tag-idir-dha-thine-bhealtaine","tag-may","tag-may-day","tag-may-day-fire","tag-old-chisholm-trail","tag-rock-and-a-hard-place","tag-sainn","tag-scylla","tag-tine-bhealtaine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2241"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3993,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241\/revisions\/3993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/irish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}