Châteaubleau tile
An important Gaulish inscription inscribed on a tile was found in the area. It has been interpreted as a curse by Mees, but most scholars (Lambert, Stifter, Meid...) read it as a kind of wedding proposal. ::1 ne mna liíumi beni ueíonna in corobo uido ::2 neí anmanbe gniíou ape ni te me uelle íexsetesi ::3 sue-regenia tu o quprinnopetamebissi íeteta ::4 miíi íegumi. suante ueíommi petamassi papissone ::5 sui-rexetesi íegiíinna anmanbe íeguisini ::6 siaxsiou. beíiassu nebiti mot upiíummi ateri ::7 xsi ín dore core. nuana íegumisini. beíassu se te ::8 sue cluiou se dagisamo cele uiro íonoue ::9 ííobiíe beíiassu se te rega íexstu mi sendi ::10 me. se tingi papi-ssone beíiassu se te me tingi se ::11 tingi beíiassu se te regarise íexstu mi sendiPartial tentative translation, following Meid
::1 I will bring no blame upon (any) woman. Desiring (you) as a wife, I will not openly ::2 name names in any contracts, so that others may not accuse you of wanting me. (Much of the rest of the text is unclear, but it seems to include a middle section which involves the suitor's purpose to speak to the beloved's family (''sue-regenia'', cf. Welsh ''rhieini''“parents”), and specifically to make his intentions known (''siaxsiou'' corresponding to Old Irish ''sïass-'', future of ''saigid'' "seak") to her father (''ateri-xsi'') with hopes of leading to a marriage contract (''in...cor'').) Lines 6 and 7: ''beíiassu'' “I would like to be it (your husband)!” (The final section seems to express the wish for mutual consent to the marriage, including the following phrases:) Lines 7 through 9: ''se te / sue cluiou'' (“if I hear you (say) so,”) ''se dagisamo cele, uiro íono ueííobííe'' (“(and) if you desire a very good husband, (and the) right man”) ''beíiassu'' (“(then) I would like to be it!”). ''se te rega'' (?)''íexstu mi sendi'' ("(But) tell me this!") Lines 10 through 11: ''me se tingi papi-ssone beíiassu'' (“If you will accept me as your husband, I shall be it!”) ''se te me tingi, se / tingi, beíiassu'' (“If you will accept me, if you (really) will, I shall be it!”)''íexstu-mi sendi'' ("(But) you should tell me this”)Notes
The opening ''ne mna(s) liyumi'' is literally "I do not blame women"; compare Old Irish ''líid'' “accuses, violates” and ''mnaH'' "women" (accusative plural), vs ''bein'' (acc. sg.) reflected in the next Gaulish form ''beni''. The phrase ''in corobo uido / neí anmanbe gniíou'' is literally “in contracts (compare Old Irish ''cor'' “contract”) publicly (= “wittingly” ''uido'') I do not do (''gniíou'' compare OIr. ''gniu'' "I make, do") it by name (''anman-'' cf. OIr. ''ainm'' in the dative plural)." The rest of line two, ''ape ni te me uelle íexsetesi'' is literally "“so that they (lit. “you”, plur.) could not say that you want me” with ''ape'' from *''at-kwe'', and ''íexsetesi'' is a second person plural s-subjunctive from the root *''iek-'' "speak" seen in Welsh ''ieith'' "speech." The sequence ''te me uelle'' is Latin, reflecting the mixed Latino-Gualish nature of the text.Meid, W. ''Gaulish Inscriptions'' Budapest, 2014. p. 56See also
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