Monk, remove thy foot, Lift it off the grave of Nial. Too long dost thou heap the earth On him with whom I fain would lie; Too long dost thou, Monk, there Heap the earth on noble Nial. Thou brown-haired friend, though gentle, Press not with thy sole the earth. Do not firmly close the grave, O Priest, whose office is so sad. Raise off the fair, black-kneed Nial, Monk, remove thy foot. Mac O’Nial of finest gold, ’Tis not of my will thou’rt bound.[167] Leave his stone and his grave, Monk, remove thy foot. I am Gormlay, who order keeps, Daughter I of Flann the bold; Stand not thou upon his grave, Monk, remove thy foot. Monk.
The author of this is Phelim M’Dougall. [169]
’Tis not good to travel on Sunday, Whoever the Sabbath would keep; Not good to be of ill-famed race; Not good is a dirty woman; Not good to write without learning; Not good are grapes when sour; Not good is an Earl without English; Not good is a sailor, if old; Not good is a bishop without warrant; Not good is a blemish on an elder; Not good a priest with but one eye; Not good a parson, if a beggar; Not good is a palace without play; Not good is a handmaid if she’s slow; Not good is a lord without a dwelling; Not good is a temple without a burying ground; Not good is a woman without shame; Not good is a harper without a string; Not good is fighting without courage; Not good is entering a port without a pilot; Not good is a maiden who backbites; Not good is the poverty of a debtor; Not good is a castle without an heir; Not good is neglecting the household dogs; Not good is disrespect to a father; Not good is the talk of the drunken; Not good is a knife without an edge; Not good is injustice in judging; Not good is the friendship of devils For thy son, oh Virgin most honoured; Though he has saved the seed of Adam, Not good for himself was the cross. Not good is a reader without understanding; Not good for a man to want a friend; Not good is a poet without a subject; Not good is a tower without a hall; Not good is a web without fulling; Not good is sport without laughter; Not good are misdeeds when prosperous; Not good is marriage without consent; Not good is a crown without supremacy; Not good is ploughing by night; Not good is learning without courtesy; Not good is religion without knowledge. Not good.
Earl Gerald.[172]
Pity the man who overleaps his horse; Let him that likes, my meaning understand, That from myself my means have taken flight; ’Tis best to have nought to do with women. May my curse ’mongst women rest, Although for a time I mixed with them; As for men who still are single, ’Tis best to have nought to do with women. That man who early is on foot, Cannot but many evils find; Were I to tell what I have seen, ’Tis best to have nought to do with women. The man who has got a useless wife, Cannot do much before the foe, The first milch cows that bellow loud; ’Tis best to have nought to do with women. The wife who listens to my speech, Who listens to my voice and cry, Just as if wax were in her ears; ’Tis best to have nought to do with women. Her husband she to wrath provokes, Different her manner with all else, For them she lightly steps about; ’Tis best to have nought to do with women. Were she to see a weeping eye, With any youth of handsome form, To him she would not run but leap; ’Tis best to have nought to do with women. Where is the young and sprightly maid, Who would not quietly give her kiss, To any lips that she might meet? ’Tis best to have nought to do with women. Though married from th’ altar and the church, From the good priest’s worthy hand, Still are her way and temper bad; ’Tis best to have nought to do with women. ’Tis best to have nought to do with women, Wrath and annoyance they provoke; He who does not this proclaim Is sure to find a woe himself. Pity.
The author of this is Andrew M’Intosh.
The coquetry of Duncan from Taid’s daughter, The most impudent coquetry men have seen, The coquetry of the wife of David, Coquetting like the wind in her red-tailed skirts, Men had thought that I was dumb, Whilst I’d three reasons not to speak.