I'm trying to track down the originator of the quote:

"Chicanery girds the robes of infidels..."

...from Mhilleas Cearrbhach's erziehungrsroman Hope to Recoup. The novel is no longer published and I can't find anything on Google, though I've gone at it from so many directions.

Cearrbhach develops the above quote like a leit motif in an opera throughout his novel--and I'm sure the quote must come from a religious writer. But I'm coming up with nada.

Thanks for helping if you can.

Do you know if that was the author's real name? I ask because Googling it turned up this:

Súil le cúiteamh a mhilleas an cearrbhach.
Hope to recoup is what ruins the card player (gambler).

If it was a pseudonym, it may be possible to contact the author or his estate, and ask directly. It appears that the publishers, Déanaim Neamhshuim Pty Ltd, may be your best bet for finding an answer.

Further to this, it appears that the author's real name is Simon Breac, if this helps.

His actual name was Mhilleas Cearrbhach. His mother took his name from the proverb--she'd been abandoned by Cearrbhach's father and consequently decided to give Cearrbhach a name independent of any father. The proverb had been a kind of life maxim for her--ergo the title of Cearrbhach's novel "Hope to Recoup," which is strictly autobiographical.

I'll check out Déanaim Neamhshuim Pty Ltd--that may help.

Simon Breac was Cearrbhach's father.

Sorry, my Googling skills are obviously a bit rusty. I will keep looking, though.

What good luck! I'm a serendipitous genius!
Try googling Mhilleas Cearrbhach using only one "H".
Eurekas!! ...34 hits! One with a lengthy biography.
The guy was a nutcase.

the mother was a bit of a witch. The father said he would support the child if she'd give him a Breac, but she refused.

Which brings up a pet peeve of mine that I'm seeing more and more often. Using break when brake is required. From a major news site: Be sure and check the breaks on your car.

Argh!

Be sure and check the breaks on your car

Might be entirely appropriate if your car is into rap ...

- Pfranz

I dunno, Dubdub--I don't think it necessarily had to have been a religious writer. I'll try to do some checking and get back to you at the end of the day.

Súil le cúiteamh a mhilleas an cearrbhach.
Hope to recoup is what ruins the card player (gambler).

From The Poker Encyclopedia:

"All veteran and professional poker players know that peculiar tug of desperate greed which lures the luckless deeper into the trenches of loss. It's when this sense of futility sets in that the chemistry of luck loses its winning edge completely, and further play can only result in more dire losses and the sure extermination of one's bankroll. This point of no return is captured in the old proverb, 'Hope to recoup is what ruins the card player,' from the Mhilleas Cearrbhach novel, Hope to Recoup. Happy are the veteran players who find a novice at their table who does not know when he has reached this precipice of loss."

Your post reminded me of Bob Dylan. I wonder if that is relevant? Was the novel written at around the same time?

http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/infidels.html

Jackie,

The reason I think the quote might be one of a mystic or some kind of religious writer is because the quote always appears in the bar sections of the story where Cearrbhach consistently visualizes the bartenders as priests. At one point in one bar scene Cearrbhach has two minah birds each chant one part of the leit motif:

Minah #1: Chicanery girds..

Minah #2: Robes! Infidels!

Everyone sitting around the anti-hero lifts the tankards on cue and guzzles them outright everytime the second minah says, "Infidels!".

The book was published in 1928, was only moderately well-received, but was published again in 1989. I think it's interesting because of the subplot that deals with quantum physics, perhaps the first novel to take a close look at a science that cannot be easily understood by gamblers.

Your post reminded me of Bob Dylan. I wonder if that is relevant? Was the novel written at around the same time?

No, based on your link, jmh, http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/infidels.html
Dylan's Infidels was written in 1983. Of course, the fact that many poker addicts are also prone to infidelity is well known. So your suspicion of a connection there is understandable.

the subplot that deals with quantum physics... a science that cannot be easily understood by gamblers.

as opposed to metaphysics. you've got to know when to hold 'em, you've got to know when to fold 'em

holy $#!+, Hope to recoup is what ruins the card player is the epigram of Tim Powers' _Last Call_!

Two AWADers sent me two contrary responses to the true authorship of Cearrbhach's quoted "Chicanery girds the robes of infidels." One declares that Hank E. Panky is the author and the other says it's a well-known observation of Póg Mo Thón. Since Póg Mo Thón coincidentally (or not) was the owner of Déanaim Neamhshuim Pty Ltd way back in 1928 when Hope to Recoup was first published, I'll put my money on Póg Mo Thón as the originator of the quote. So, Jackie, you were correct. Póg Mo Thón wasn't a mystic at all.

And if you believe any of the above balderdash, poppycock and malarkey, consider the date of these posts.

P.S. Thanks to sjm, milum, Ted, Cap, Jackie, Whit', jmh and tsuwm for adding to the fun of the day.