Comments on: Hellhounds on my trail

Question: Hellhounds on my trail

punkbitch — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 10:32:36 -0800

Trying to find the spelling for an Irish phrase which means something like "wet-black hounds from the abyss."

"dower-cue" or "dower-que" is what it sounds like.
I was told it was the Irish version of the Spanish notion of "duende."

"dubh" and "cú" are black and hound respectfully.
anybody got any ideas?

By: empath

empath — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 10:41:21 -0800

Does any of the information on this site help?

By: Gator

Gator — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 10:49:30 -0800

I was going to suggest "deamhain cú" as deamhain apparently means "devil," and failing that I was going to suggest asking on these guys' forums, but... :)

By: acoutu

acoutu — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 13:37:23 -0800

This might be a starting point. I remember the phrase from a poem about apparitions of black dogs. I studied it in a Canadian Lit class. I think the poet was from Newfoundland, but my Google-fu fails me.

By: amro

amro — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 15:45:43 -0800

An Irish friend says he thinks it's "Dubh ur cu o duibhecan" (pronounced dove oor coo o duivicaan), although he's not 100% sure. Dubh ur Cu is black wet hound, and abyss/black/darkness is something along the lines of duibheacan.

By: Wilder

Wilder — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 03:18:31 -0800

Dubh ur Cu...Amro's phrase is as close as you'll get to the standard spelling, and I like the solution for Abyss, which translates simply as Blackness.
I would pronounce the bh as a V sound (regional variations) so it would sound like Duv ur Coo. But in other regions the h makes the B silent so it will sound exactly as you descibe it.
You need to remember about spelling that although now standardised, Irish had/has quite a few dialects and typical of mainly oral traditions spelling is contentious!