'When she saw the _young devils_ tied up in their chains She up with her crutch and knocked one of their brains.'
'Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.' The people of Munster do not always put it that way; they have a version of their own:--'Time enough to bid the devil good-morrow when you meet him.' But an intelligent correspondent from Carlow puts a somewhat different interpretation on the last saying, namely, 'Don't go out of your way to seek trouble.'
'When needs must the devil drives': a man in a great fix is often driven to illegal or criminal acts to extricate himself.
When a man is threatened with a thrashing, another will say to him:--'You'll get Paddy Ryan's supper--_hard knocks and the devil to eat_': common in Munster.
'When you sup with the devil have a long spoon': that is to say, if you have any dealings with rogues or criminals, adopt very careful precautions, and don't come into closer contact with them than is absolutely necessary. (Lover: but used generally.)
'Speak the truth and shame the devil' is a very common saying. { 63}
'The devil's children have the devil's luck'; or 'the devil is good to his own': meaning bad men often prosper. But it is now generally said in joke to a person who has come in for an unexpected piece of good luck.
A holy knave--something like our modern Pecksniff--dies and is sent in the downward direction: and--according to the words of the old folk-song--this is his reception:--
'When hell's gate was opened the devil jumped with joy, Saying "I have a warm corner for you my holy boy."'
A man is deeply injured by another and threatens reprisal:--'I'll make you smell hell for that'; a bitter threat which may be paraphrased: I'll persecute you to death's door; and for you to be near death is to be near hell--I'll put you so near that you'll smell the fumes of the brimstone.
A usual imprecation when a person who has made himself very unpopular is going away: 'the devil go with him.' One day a fellow was eating his dinner of dry potatoes, and had only one egg half raw for _kitchen_. He had no spoon, and took the egg in little sips intending to spread it over the dinner. But one time he tilted the shell too much, and down went the whole contents. After recovering from the gulp, he looked ruefully at the empty shell and blurted out--_the devil go with you down_!