The Infinitive often takes before it the Nominative of the Agent; in which case the Preposition _do_ is either expressed or understood before the Infinitive; as, feuch, cia meud a mhaith, braithre do bhi 'n an comhnuidh ann sith! _behold how great a good it is, that brethren dwell in peace!_ Psal. cxxxiii, 1. Is e mi dh' fhantuinn 's an fheoil, a 's feumaile dhuibhse, _my abiding in the flesh is more needful for you_, Phil. i. 24, Cha n'eil e iomchuidh sinne dh' fhagail focail Dé, agus a fhrithealadh do bhordaibh, _it is not meet that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables_, Acts vi. 2. The Preposition _do_, being softened as usual into _a_, readily disappears after a Vowel; as, air son mi bhi a rìs a lathàir maille ribh, _by my being again present with you_, Phil. i. 26[104].
OF THE AGREEMENT OF ONE NOUN WITH ANOTHER.
When in the same sentence two or more Nouns, applied as names to the same object, stand in the same grammatical relation to other words, it should naturally be expected that their Form, in so far as it depends on that relation, should be the same; in other words, that Nouns denoting the same object, and related alike to the governing word, should agree in Case. This accordingly happens in Greek and Latin. In Gaelic, where a variety of form gives room for the application of the same rule, it has been followed in some instances; as, Doncha mac Chailain mhic Dhonuil, _Duncan the son of { 153} Colin the son of Donald_; where the words Chailain and mhic denoting the same person, and being alike related to the preceding Noun mac are on that account both in the same Case. It must be acknowledged, however, that this rule, obvious and natural as it is, has not been uniformly observed by the speakers of Gaelic. For example; instead of mac Ioseiph an t-saoir, _the son of Joseph the carpenter_, many would more readily say, mac Ioseiph an saor; instead of thuit e le laimh Oscair an laoich chruadalaich, _he fell by the hand of Oscar the bold hero_, it would rather be said, thuit e le laimh Oscair an laoch cruadalach. The latter of these two modes of expression may perhaps be defended on the ground of its being elliptical; and the ellipsis may be supplied thus: mac Ioseiph [is e sin] an saor; laimh Oscair [neach is e] an laoch cruadalach. Still it must be allowed, in favour of the rule in question, that the observance of it serves to mark the relation of the Nouns to each other, which would otherwise remain, in many instances, doubtful. Thus in one of the foregoing examples, if we should reject the rule, and write mac Ioseiph an saor; it would be impossible to know, from the form of the words, whether Joseph or his son were the carpenter.