School: Abbeytown Convent N.S. (roll number 15043)

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1. Local Proverbs

   “Putting the cart before the horse.”

   

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   ''Putting the cart before the horse''. A story is told of a simple lad whose name was ''Faddy'' Higgins who resided at Quarry Street Boyle. He was always speaking backwards and one day he knocked at a shopdoor on which the shopkeeper asked him what did he want and he said ''Faddy Higgins''. On being asked his name he said ''a penny bun mam'' Thus ''Faddy Higgins'' is a password in our locality when anyone speaking puts ''the cart before the horse''.

   Many years ago there lived a man in Templevanny named Bartly Mc Gowan, he lived alone and was very poor, and so on that account he could not afford to buy a bank of turf. Some of his neighbours used to give him turf, but he always said that he could never have a real good fire without ''Cipíní''. He always told his neighbours that the secret of a good fire was ''to kindle the dry sticks and the green ones would catch themselves'' Ever since it has been used as an old proverb and
   when anyone goes into a house where there is a bad fire, he always says:-''Kindle the dry sticks and the green ones will catch'' like what Bartley did long ago.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. genre
      1. verbal arts (~1,483)
         1. proverbs (~4,377)

   Language

   English

   Informant

   Mrs S. Quinn

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Termon, Co. Roscommon