Three Irish Sayings
Three old sayings — one about friends, one about long life, one for the road — read by an old Irish voice over a minute's flight along the west coast at golden hour.
The words
There are good ships and wood ships,ships that sail the sea.But the best ships are friendships,and may they always be.
May you live as long as you want,and never want as long as you live.
May your neighbours respect you,may trouble neglect you,may the angels protect you,and may heaven accept you.
What to listen for
A saying is a poem stripped down to what fits in a doorway or on a wall. Short enough to remember, warm enough to repeat — and in Ireland they were repeated so often that nobody can tell you who wrote them.
Listen to how the first one is built: good ships, wood ships, then friendships. It is a joke made out of rhyme, and it only works out loud. That is why sayings survived — they were carried in the ear, not on paper.
The second is the shortest and the cleverest. Say it twice and you notice it wishes you two different things at once: a long life, and never being in need during it.
The last is a blessing shaped like a farewell at a doorway — respect, then quiet, then protection, then the door at the end of everything. It is usually the one said last, and the one said softly.
Traditional texts, public domain. Reading and film made for Planet Neverland.