Dá trian do mhíne re mnáibh...

Dá trian do mhíne re mnáibh
is re h-echlachuib urláir,
re h-aes dána dénta duan;
nárbhat dian re daescar-shlúagh.

(two * third * of * gentleness * to * women /
and * to * attendants * of floor /
to * folk * of poetry * of making * songs /
be not * severe * to * lowly people)

Two thirds of your gentleness to women,
and to domestic servants,
and to the poets who make songs;
don’t be hard on common folk.

This is the third stanza of a poem of thirteen stanzas found in “Acallam na Senórach” (580-606) in which Fionn gives Mac Lugach fatherly advice on how to comport himself as a gentleman.

Topics: Verse Maxims & Wise Counsel