Oscar cách i ceird araili.

(ignorant * everyone * in * craft * of another)

Everyone is ignorant in another’s craft.

In other words, knowing how to write a legal contract doesn’t qualify you to repair brakes or set a broken bone. If you want it done right, leave it to a qualified professional. This proverb is quoted repeatedly in the Laws, in “Bretha Nemed Toísech” (CIH 2215.13, 2221.21) and at CIH 1147.1, and is quoted in O’Davoren’s Glossary, where “oscar” is glossed as “aineolach”. “Ainb” (ignorant) is used in place of “oscar” at CIH 2221.20. A line in “Immacallam in Dá Thúarad” dovetails quite neatly with this advice. When the poet Néide expounds his vision of the perfect society of the future, he says it will be fruitful, peaceful, and well-ordered. One of the characteristics of this perfect world is that everyone sticks to his own trade: “cách dia cheird”, literally “everyone to his craft”.

Topics: Proverbial Sayings