Dlighidh coire cnáimh.

(deserves * cauldron * bone)

A cauldron is entitled to a bone.

The first poem in the MS Laud 615 begins with this line, which is clearly a proverbial saying. The wisdom text “Bríathra Flainn Fhína maic Ossu” contains more than forty maxims of the form “dligid X Y”, of which “Dligid óc eladain” in this collection is one. The meaning of “a pot is entitled to a bone” is made clear by a Scottish folktale entitled “Sanntraigh”, told by Alexander Macdonald of Barra and found in volume two of Campbell’s “West Highland Tales”. The tale tells about a woman owns a cauldron which a fairy woman borrows every day. When the fairy woman takes the cauldron away, the owner always recites this verse:

Is treasa gobha gual
Gu iarunn fuar a bhruith;
Dleasnas coire cnàimh
Is a thoirt slàn go tigh.

(A smith is stronger for coal
to heat cold iron;
the due of a cauldron is a bone
and bringing it safely home.)

The fairy woman always brought the cauldron back at the end of the day, “agus feoil is cnàmhan ann” (with meat and bones in it). The teaching of this proverb is that when one borrows a pot, one should always return it not just unharmed, but with a little food in it by way of thanks or “rent”. In a more general sense, one should always repay any loan with a little extra gift. “Dligid íasacht a idlacud re atarba” (a loan should be returned with increase) says a maxim collected in ACL (iii.234 §1). See also “Dlighidh gabha gúal” in this collection.

Topics: Proverbial Sayings