The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #21628   Message #232191
Posted By: McGrath of Harlow
22-May-00 - 07:32 PM
Thread Name: BS: Gaelic 'Mots D'Heures' or Ladle Rats
Subject: RE: BS: Gaelic 'Mots D'Heures' or Ladle Rats
There are another two books in the series (all published by Angus & Robertson) - one is N'heures souris rames

The other is Guillaume Chequespierre and the Oise Salon>/I> "an anthology selected and edited by John Hulme".

It includes works by Guillaume Chequespierre, and also by Jean Quittce, Guillaume Bleque, Henri Longuevelo and a number of others.

For example here is a poem by Guillaume Bleque, with the annotations supplied by John Hulme::

Tailles guerre, tailles guerre, beurre naine brailles-te
Un deux gforeuse; t'ouef de nailles-te?
ou oter mort ta lande or ail. Coude-frais me taille fiere foule si; mettre-y!

Tailles guerre:"War waists" - a popular name for tye Paris fashions during the 1870-71 siege (cf "to tighten one's belt").

beurre naine brailles-te: To brawl.A female dwarf arguing over some butter is compared to a drilling machine.

Un deux g=foreuse; t'ouef de nailles-te?
ou oter mort ta lande or ail
: He wishes she would go away with her egg, or that death would takem her off to her "heathland of golden garlic" - presumably the Cote d'Or, whose gastronomic delights include snails in garlic butter.

Coude-frais : "Cool elbow" - a slightly warmer version of the cold shoulder.

me taille fiere foule si; mettre-y!: "Put it there!" She says she is proud of her waist-line in any crowd, and invites him to shake on it.

It all feels frighteningly plaussible to me...