Thumb

• "To bite one's thumb" - an indication of anger, vexation.

• When Fionn mac Cumhail is in need of divine inspiration, he often 'chews his thumb', often at the urging of his dog Bran.
  • The young Fionn mac Cumhail met the poet Finneces, or Finnegas, near the river Boyne and studied under him. Finneces had spent seven years trying to catch the salmon of knowledge, which lived in a pool on the Boyne: whoever ate the salmon would gain all the knowledge in the world. Eventually he caught it, and told the boy to cook it for him. While cooking it Fionn burned his thumb, and instinctively put his thumb in his mouth, swallowing a piece of the salmon's skin. This imbued him with the salmon's wisdom. He then knew how to gain revenge against Goll, and in subsequent stories was able to call on the knowledge of the salmon by sucking his thumb.