partan

-ain, -an, sm Small edible sea-crab of a black colour and 3 or 4 in. long and 2 or 3 in. broad. 2(CR) Crab smaller than crùbag, with a dark shell reddish underneath and not used for food — W. of Ross-shire. 3(AF) Crab louse, pubic louse (phthirus pubis). 4 The sign Cancer (♋) in the zodiac. 'S fheàrr am partan-tuathal na bhith gun fhear-taighe, better the unnatural crab than to be without a husband — a sarcastic phrase used when a woman consents to marry a diminutive man — the partan always moves north-wise, or against the sun's course, [lit. partan-tuathal is applied to the hermit crab in some parts, which would suggest a rich wife and a husband who was poor and who, like the hermit crab, occupies a house which is another's]. NGP explains the saying as follows: two women lived together, one of whom stole the other's meal out of her bag, the sufferer then put a live lobster (crab) in her bag and the next time the thief put her hand in she was caught; she cried out “tha an Donas 'nad phoca-sa,” (the devil is in your bag), “tha,” said the other, “nuair tha thus' ann,” (yes, when you are there).

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