Collop; a standard measure of grazing land, p. 177.
Collop; the part of a flail that is held in the hand. (Munster.) See Boolthaun. Irish _colpa_.
Come-all-ye; a nickname applied to Irish Folk Songs and Music; an old country song; from the { 238} beginning of many of the songs:--'Come all ye tender Christians,' &c. This name, intended to be reproachful, originated among ourselves, after the usual habit of many 'superior' Irishmen to vilify their own country and countrymen and all their customs and peculiarities. Observe, this opening is almost equally common in English Folk-songs; yet the English do not make game of them by nicknames. Irish music, which is thus vilified by some of our brethren, is the most beautiful Folk Music in the world.
Commaun, common; the game of goaling or hurley. So called from the _commaun_ or crooked-shaped stick with which it is played: Irish _cam_ or _com_, curved or crooked; with the diminutive--_camán_. Called _hurling_ and _goaling_ by English speakers in Ireland, and _shinney_ in Scotland.
Commons; land held in common by the people of a village or small district: see p. 177.
Conacre; letting land in patches for a short period. A farmer divides a large field into small portions--¼ acre, ½ acre, &c.--and lets them to his poorer neighbours usually for one season for a single crop, mostly potatoes, or in Ulster flax. He generally undertakes to manure the whole field, and charges high rents for the little lettings. I saw this in practice more than 60 years ago in Munster. Irish _con_, common, and Eng. _acre_.
Condition; in Munster, to 'change your condition' is to get married.
Contrairy, for _contrary_, but accented on second syll.; cross, perverse, cranky, crotchety, 102.
Cool: hurlers and football players always put one of their best players to _mind cool_ or _stand cool_, i.e. to stand at their own goal or gap, to intercept the ball if the opponents should attempt to drive it through. Universal in Munster. Irish _cúl_ [cool], the back. The full word is _cool-baur-ya_ where 'baur-ya' is the goal or gap. The man standing cool is often called 'the man in the gap' (see p. 182).
Cool; a good-sized roll of butter. (Munster.)
Cooleen or coulin; a fair-haired girl. This is the name of a celebrated Irish air. From _cúl_ the back [of the head], and _fionn_, white or fair:--_cúil-fhionn_, [pron. cooleen or coolin].