Bhí teach beag deas cluthar aige ag bun cnoic ar thaobh na fathana.

I translated this as "He had a small fine house at the foot of a hill on the slope of a ravine."

Bhí mealbhóg mine aige ar crochadh in aice na tine...

He had a satchel on a hook beside the fire....

I'm lost on mine. Meal?

Lá dá raibh sé ag déanamh bróg.

One day he was making a shoe...

I don't get the Lá dá raibh part, though. Anybody care to try and clarify?

Ní athróinn ach cúpla focal a James:


He had a nice small cosy house on the lee-side (=sheltered) at the foot of a hill.


He had a satchel of meal hung beside the fire....


Lá dá raibh sé ag déanamh bróg. One of the days he was making shoes...

Of a day when he was making ....

quote:

Lá dá raibh

I don't get it either. The best I can make out is that dá is being used, as one of the possibilities indicated in FGB, with the past subjunctive or conditional (sorry about the fancy terminology, but that's what it says in the book). So maybe it's something like:

[On] a day had he been making shoes.

That's my meagar attempt.to show the possible use of the subjunctive or conditional.

Au revoir

Lá dá raibh... A day or one day [when] he was....

Seanfhear

Roghnaigh Mícheál Davitt '... lá des na laethanta i Sráid Grafton, ...' lena rá ar bhealach níos Páiliúla, níos Graftonúla.

An té a bhéarfas droim láimhe don chineál sain leagain, 'lá des na ..' agus 'lá/uair/tráth dá rabhas ...' a ghlacadh chuige féin ní fada go dtiocfaidh sé leis gan stró.

Dillon/Ó Cróinín seem to think this is another dá entirely. To wit:

quote:

Note lá dá rabhas ann "one day when I was there", where dá "when" is an old conjunction, quite distinct from dá the preceding example. [i.e. an cailín is deise dá bhfacaís riamh "the prettiest girl that you ever saw"]. (p. 152)

quote:

Note lá dá rabhas ann "one day when I was there", where dá "when" is an old conjunction

Tá sé sin suimiúil. Níl aon iontráil don fhocal sin in FGB. Caithfidh mé súil a thabhairt ar DIL.

Dinneen and de Bhaldraithe seem to consider it a specific instance of the contraction between de and the generalising relative particle a (ecl.), i.e. "[a] day of [all] those". (Is dócha go raibh níos mó ná aon lá ann agus Séadna ag déanamh bróg!)

An míniú céanna a thugtar i Stair na Gaeilge mar gheall ar dia na Sean-Ghaeilge, focal arbh ann dó agus arbh fhéidir a úsáid mar chónaisc (más fíor dóibh - ní sean-Ghaeilgeoir mé in aon chor.)

(Message edited by abigail on August 15, 2008)

Is fíor go raibh an focal "dia / día" againn sa tSean-Ghaeilge mar chonásc. Bhí dhá chiall leis:

a) "when" leis an aimsir chaite: día lluid co Críst = nuair a chuaigh sé go Críost

b) "if" leis an bhfoshuiteach: dia ructar ar mná daera úainn biait ar mná soera for bróintib = dá mbéarfaí ár mná daora uainn beidh ár mná saora (ag obair) ar na brónna (ag meilt gráin)

Tá (b) beo fós sa teanga mar "dá" = counterfactual "if".

Ach is dócha go raibh an ceart ag Myles Dillon. Bhí abairt le día / dá (= when) + fechtus nó lá sách coitianta sa tseanteanga:

fechtus dia mbui E. hi Frémainn... = one time /once when E. was in F.

lá airithi da ndeachaid C. do Temraig... = one day when C went to T.

what does "an cailín is deise dá raibh riamh ann" mean in english?

'the nicest girl that ever was'.

Or "prettiest".