Cúaille feda i feilm n-airgit.

(stake * of wood * in * fence * of silver)

A wooden stake in a silver fence.

This is the first line of a message that the fool Lomnae carves in ogham into a wooden rod that he hands to Finn, alerting him secretly that the child borne to him by one of his wives is not really his own. A slightly different version runs “Is cúaille feada i n-airbe airgit inísin”, and both are quoted by Myles Dillon in “Stories from the Law-Tracts” (Ériu vol. 11, pt. 1). The same image is found in Sanas Cormaic #1018. Another traditional metaphor for a child of doubtful paternity is “áth i fochlucht”, an image of a poisonous plant (possibly Oenanthe crocata) growing in the midst of a patch of an edible stream plant (possibly Veronica beccabunga ‘brooklime’, or a type of Sium ‘water parsnip’).

Topics: Similes, Metaphors & Kennings