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Harvard College Library
ACADEMIAE
CHRISTO
VARDIANAE
FO ED
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WIS ONON
FROM THE FUND OF
CHARLES MINOT
Class of 1828
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live lot
Cover

Cult 1380 5
KING AND HERMIT
A COLLOQUY BETWEEN KING GUAIRE
OF AIDNE AND HIS BROTHER MARBAN
BEING AN IRISH POEM OF THE TENTH
CENTURY EDITED AND TRANSLATED
BY KUNO MEYER
LONDON
DAVID NUTT, 57-59 LONG ACRE
1901





KING AND HERMIT
A COLLOQUY BETWEEN KING GUAIRE
OF AIDNE AND HIS BROTHER MARBAN
BEING AN IRISH POEM OF THE TENTH
CENTURY EDITED AND TRANSLATED
BY KUNO MEYER
LONDON
DAVID NUTT, 57-59 LONG ACRE
1901


Celt 1380.5
HARVARD
COLLEGE
DEC 6 1901
IBRARY
Minot fund.


ΤΟ
DAMER HARRISSON
JOHN MACDONALD
WALTER RALEIGH
JOHN SAMPSON
LIVERPOOL
March 10, 1901.
Kamlé pralále,
WHEN, a few years ago, we five, like Marban the Hermit,
exchanging for awhile the flockbed of civilisation for the
primitive couch of the earth, went agypsying into Wales, and
every evening pitched our tent now by a murmuring brook,
now upon the shingle of the sea, then again among the
heather on a mountain-side, or in some woodland glade, where
the hundred-throated chorus of birds awoke us at dawn, and
the hooting owl startled us out of our slumbers at night,
some of you, town-born and bred like myself, felt for the first
time that exquisite charm of an intimate intercourse with
nature which has found such beautiful expression in these
verses of a nameless Irish poet. In memory of those happy
times I dedicate this little book to you.
Tumaro pral shom
K. M.
1*





Preface.
THE following poem is here edited and translated for the
first time from the only manuscript copy known to me. This
is to be found on fo. 42b of Harleian 5280, a wellknown and
often described vellum of the British Museum, compiled by
various scribes, but mainly by Gilla Riabhach O'Clery, early
in the 16th century. The original from which this copy is
derived may, on linguistic grounds, be safely assigned to the
10th century.¹)
The circumstance that this singularly beautiful poem
should have reached us in a single and late copy only is
¹) That our poem was composed in the 10th century, and probably
in the early part of that century, is proved by the vitality of the neuter
in bend 'peak, gable' (Gaul. bennum in Canto-bennum), dat. dia bend (10),
lenn 'cloak' (ib.), and mag 'plain' in úas maig móethlach (28); also by
the use as disyllables of the following words which in the poetry of the
11th century count as monosyllables:
cúäch 'cup' (6. 22; in 5 for mo chúach-sa read mo chúach). Cf.
Saltair na Rann, 11. 6388 and 6390.
cuäid in docúäid (7), which according to Zupitza's ingenious analysis
(Zeitschrift III, p. 276) stands for do-cú-faith (perf. of do-fethim). Cf.
Salt. 1. 3297, 4776; monosyllabic in 1. 3711, 4745.
Dúäid 'David' (7); cf. Dúid, SR. 5680.
5718 &c. ZCP. III, 18, 14. 20, 31. 21, 2 &c.
dochoid, 7754.
5713 &c. Dauid 5712.
róë ‘field' (11), monosyllabic in LL. 144 a 6.
,
scíäch, gen. of scé 'hawthorn' (21), as in LL. 156 b 32: clíath draigin
is dergscíäch.
sien 'strain' (10). See Festschrift für Stokes, p. 6.
súairc 'pleasant' (23). Cf. dúäirc, Salt. 5752. Monosyllabic in
Salt. 5779. 5975.


- 6
―
worthy of consideration. While Irish manuscripts of all times
abound with copies of the compositions of school and court-
poets, the anonymous poetry of Ireland is but scantily re-
presented in them. It is no doubt this fact among others
which has prompted Professor Atkinson's remarks in the
Introduction to the Yellow Book of Lecan on the paucity
and monotony of Irish literature when compared with the
other vernacular literatures of the Middle Ages. But this
charge, which has caused much heart burning among the
lovers of Irish literature, falls to the ground when two facts
are taken into account the great age of the literature of
Ireland, and our imperfect acquaintance with it. It is not
permissible to institute a comparison, as Professor Atkinson
has done, between Old -Irish literature and that of France,
England or Germany in the twelfth and following centuries,
while it may legitimately be compared with the national and
vernacular literature of those countries before 1100 A. D. It
will then be found that the literature of France and Germany
during that period has next to nothing to place by its side,
while even the rich literature of Anglo-Saxon England is
quite thrown into the shade when compared either in wealth
or variety with that of early Ireland. As is wellknown, it
was the antinational spirit of continental Christianity that
led to the neglect of the vernacular literature, while it was
probably Irish influence and Irish example that taught the
Anglian monk to value his national literature, to write it
down and to preserve it.
――――――――
-
When speaking of our imperfect acquaintance with Old-
Irish literature I refer not only to the great mass of material
that has been irretrievably lost whole legendary cycles
revealed by casual references only, tales of which nothing
but the title, poems of which the initial lines only have been
preserved ¹) but also to what is still extant but unexplored
¹) The metrical treatise of the ninth or tenth century edited by
Thurneysen in the third volume of Irische Texte contains in illustration


7
in the manuscripts deposited in the British Museum and the
Dublin libraries, to mention only the chief storehouses of Irish
literature. It is true, of Irish prose a good deal has been
published and translated, so that any one can form an idea
of its merits; but for Irish poetry next to nothing has hither-
to been done. The metrical festologies, the topographical,
historical, chronological, geographical, grammatical, lexico-
graphical compositions, which mainly for philological reasons
have received the first attention of editors, do not represent
Irish poetry. They were written for purposes of instruction
or as a memoria technica by learned professors at the
monastic schools. Indeed, the true appreciation of the merits
of Irish poetry has often been obscured by the fact that
metrical productions of this class have been taken as the
offspring of the Irish Muse. But Oengus the Culdee, Flann
of Monasterboice, Mac Coisse and Gorman are not the great
poets of Ireland. Their works loom large indeed in our
manuscripts, but they were copied so busily for the sake of
the information which they conveyed in a convenient form.
Meanwhile the genuine poetry of Ireland, which is to be found
in such anonymous poems as the one here published, was
relegated to the margins and blank spaces of vellum manu-
scripts, or, written on paper, has the more easily disappeared.
What is left of such poetry is rarely to be met with in the
great and celebrated tomes; it has to be searched for.
It may be safely predicted that these anonymous and
neglected poems, once properly collected, edited and translated
will strongly appeal to all lovers of poetry. There is in them
such delicate art, so subtle a charm, so true and deep a note,
that, with the exception of the master-pieces of Welsh poetry,
I know nothing to place by their side. The poem here
published affords a good example of that marvellous descrip-
tive art of Irish poets, which they share with the Welsh
of the various metres no less than 340 quotations from poems, very few
of which have, so far as I know, been preserved in their entirety.


8
bards. As the Old Woman of Beare¹) draws her imagery
from the flood-tide and ebb-tide of the wide Atlantic, so our
poet, like Dafydd ap Gwilym, turns to the open beauty and
hidden charms of woodland scenery. These he calls up before
us like an impressionist by light and skilful touches in a
quick succession of images and pictures. An element of subtle
humour also enters, of ever varying fancy, or a pathetic turn.
Such poems are the despair of the translator.
It is fortunate that the single manuscript copy of our
poem is carefully and accurately written. The lacunae in my
translation are due, not to a corrupt text, but to our imperfect
knowledge of the older language.
With regard to the personages mentioned in the poem,
the following facts are known about them.
King Guaire mac Colmain of Aidne 2) is a wellknown
historical character. He was a powerful king of Connaught
in the seventh century,³) and early became the centre of a
cycle of stories several of which have came down to us. 4)
The Life of St. Cellach 5) represents him as a treacherous and
revengeful ruler; but his unbounded generosity was proverbial.
In a hitherto inedited poem ascribed to Colum Cille, which I
print in Appendix I, his conversion to the practice of liberality
is said to have been brought about by that saint, though this
of course involves an anachronism.
1) The Song of the Old Woman of Beare, edited and translated in
Otia Merseiana vol. I, pp. 119–128 (Wohlleben, London, 1899).
2) The ancient name of a district coextensive, according to O'Donovan,
with the diocese of Kilmacduagh in the county of Galway.
3) The Annals record his death under the year 662 A.D. The Book
of Leinster in a list of the kings of Connaught (p. 41a) gives the duration
of his reign as twelve years. He seems to have succeeded his brother
Laidgnen mac Colmain in 650 (see the Four Masters sub anno).
4) Such as the Battle of Carn Conaill (ed. Stokes, Zeitschrift für
Celt. Phil. III, pp. 203-219); the story of Guaire and Oennu (Silva Gad. II,
p. 437); the story of Mac Teline (Yellow Book of Lecan p. 133b and
Harl. 5280, fo. 25 a).
5) See Silva Gad. II, pp. 50-69.


9
Guaire's half-brother Marbán 'turned his back upon the
world', as the Irish phrase is, and led the life of a recluse,
combining with it, according to the story called Imthecht na
Tromdáime,') the herding of his brother's swine, whence
perhaps the repeated mention of those animals in our poem,
as well as the introduction of the crain or sow, evidently
Marbán's household pet, in the fifth and sixth stanzas. Glenn
in Scáil is said to have been his favourite abode. 2)
Of the fosterbrothers mentioned in the fourth stanza
Ailirán is the celebrated saint with the cognomen 'of the
Wisdom' (ind ecnai), who died A. D. 664 of the yellow plague
called Buide Conaill. Laidgén or Laidgnén³) the Leper
(Lobor or Clam), the son of Báithbandach, was an ecclesiastic
at Clonfert-Mulloe or Kyle in the Queen's County, where he
died in 661. Oengus the Culdee calls him 'the explainer
of Christ's mysteries', and perhaps he was the 'Ladkenus
Hibernensis' who, according to Denis, made an abstract from
the Moralia of Gregory the Great.
Of Ornait nothing is known; but a quatrain lamenting
the death of Laidgnén is ascribed to her in Cormac's Glossary.
(See Appendix II.)
Which of the several Lugna mentioned by Gorman and
in the notes to the Félire of Oengus is the one appearing in
our poem I have no means to determine; nor do I know any-
thing about Cluithnechán.
¹) Marbhán mucaidhe prímfáidh nimhe 7 talmhan, agus fa mac máthar
do Ghuairi hé 7 is é ba mucaidh do Ghuairi. Agus is airi 'na mhucaidh
ar comadh usaide dó creidiumh 7 crábhadh do dhénamh bheith 'na mhuc-
aidh a bhfeadhaibh 7 a bhfásaighibh, Oss. Soc. V, p. 46.
2) See Oss. Soc. V, pp. 48 and 88.
3) Also spelt Laidcenn. See Stokes, Irish Glosses, p. 133.
a
K. M.


[Gúaire.]
1. A Marudin, a dīthriubaig,
cid na cotla for colcaid?
pa menci doid fess amoig,
cend¹) doroig for lár ochtgaigh.
[Marbán.]
2. Nicon cotluim for colcaid
ge bethear com imslanud:
ataid sochaidi 2) amoig
atraicc hocim imrädud.
3. Ni marutt ar comolta,
scarad friu nīnlūaidi:
acht mad ōinsessior namā
nī ma[i]r nech dīouh, a Guaire!
4. Ornait ocus Lugna län,
Laidgen ocus Ailiran,
ată cechturde fri dan,
Marbān ocus Cluit[h]nechan.
5. Rochluinis mo tiomna-sa
frie huair techta don³) domun:
mo qhuach-sa din 4) dīt[h]rebach,
mo chrain do Laidgen lobhor.
¹) cedn MS.
2) Added on upper margin.
3) leg. din.
4) leg. mo chúach don.


Guaire.
1. O Marban, O hermit,
Why dost not thou sleep upon a quilt?
More often thou sleepest abroad,
Thy head stretched upon a pitch-pine floor.
Marban.
2. I do not sleep upon a quilt
Though it were for my health's sake:¹)
There are many abroad
Who come to share my meditations. 2)
3. Our fosterbrothers live no more,
Parting from them does not move us:
Save a single six only
Not one of them remains, O Guaire!
4. Ornait and Lugna the perfect,
Laidgen and Ailiran,
Both of them are at their work,³)
Marban and Cluithnechan.
5. Thou hast already heard my bequest
At the hour of leaving the world:4)
This cup of mine to the hermit,
My household pet to Laidgen the leper.
"
1) Literally, though one were at making me healthy'.
2) Literally, 'who rise at my meditating'.
³) Cf. Messe ocus Pangur bán, cechtar náthar fria saindán, Ir. Texte
p. 136.
4) Cf. in úair techta don talmain, Cath Finntr. p. 89.
2*


12
6. Mo scian is mo spedudhud, ¹)
ma trebad i Tuoim Aidhc[h]i,
mo lourc, mo chrain, mo cuach,
mo tīag lethoir, mo cairchi.
[Gúaire.]
7. A Maruāin, a dīthriubaig, 2)
cid dia tiomna docuaid,
di don for cerda a rath,
acht a brath do Mac Duaid.
[Marbán.]
8. Atā ūarboith dam hi coild
nísfitir³) acht mo Fiadai:
uinnius disiu, coll anall,
bili ratha nosnïoadai.
9. A da ersainn fraich fri fulong,
ocus fordorus fethe:
feruid in coill imma cress
a mes for muca méthe.¹)
10. Mett mo boithi becc nat beg,
ba ili sett sognath:
canuid sïen bind die bend
ben al-lenn co lon-dath.
11. Leangoid doim Droma Rolach
assa 5) sruth rōe-glan:
foderc essib) Roigne rūadh,
Mucraimi muad, Maonmag.
1) leg. spetugud?
2) ditr-uip MS.
3) níisfitir MS.
4) méche MS.
5) leg. issa.
6) leg. essi, viz. from the hut.


13
―――――
6. My knife and my spetugud,')
My dwelling in Tuaim Aidchi,
My cudgel, my pet, my cup,
My leathern satchel, my musical instrument.
Guaire.
7. O Marban, O hermit,
Though the hour has come to make thy will,
To the craftsman his reward, 2)
But His betrayal to David's Son.
Marban.
8. I have a shieling in the wood,
None knows it save my God:
An ashtree on the hither side, a hazelbush beyond,
A huge old tree³) encompasses it.
9. Two heath-clad doorposts for support,
And a lintel of honeysuckle:
The forest around its narrowness sheds
Its mast upon fat swine.
10. The size of my shieling tiny, not too tiny,
Many are its familiar paths:
From its gable a sweet strain sings
My lady in her cloak of the ousel's hue.
11. The stags of Oakridge leap
Into the river of clear banks:
Thence red Roigne¹) can be seen,
Glorious Mucraime and Maenmag. 5)
-
1) This is, to me, a dлağ λɛyóμevov.
2) I can make nothing of di. See the Glossary.
3) Literally 'an old tree of a rath', such a tree as grows on a rath.
Cf. in less mbilech, Imr. Brain, p. 56, 17.
Aisl. M. p. 69, 15.
) A plain in the present barony of Kells, co. Kilkenny. Cf. gabsat
rám ós Raigni rúad, LL. 201 b 34. tulchad Ráigne rúaid, ib. 47 a 24.
5) Wellknown plains in Connaught.


――――
14
12. Mennután dĩamuir desruid
die mbi sealb setrōis:
die dexin ni raga liom,
rufinnfet a cetmōuis.
13. Mong celiubair
noasta cel:
cain in magan,
darsin sin.
14. Aboll ubull, măr a rath,
mbruignech¹) mbras:
barr dess dornach
crōebach nglas.
15. Glere firtiprat
uais do dig:
bruindit [b]ioulair,
fidhuid ³) fir.
iubair éou-glais
mäurglas darach
muca allta,
bruicnech bruic.
ina erc[h]oill
aluind sin!
collan cnōbeac2)
16. Foilgid impe mucai centa,
cadlaid, oirc,
¹) leg. mbruidnech.
2) croibgech nó cnobeac MS.
3) caora nó fidhvid MS.
*) leg. airgelti.
es ouisci
cōera iobair,
oiss airccellti,')
17. Buidnech sithech, sluag tromm tīrech,
dal dom tigh:
tecoid cremt[h]ainn,


15
12. Hidden, lowly little abode,
Which has possession of ...,
To behold it will not be granted me,
Yet I shall be able to find its .
1)
13. A hiding mane of a green-barked yew-tree
Which supports the sky:
14. A tree of apples
Beautiful spot! the large green of an oak
Fronting the storm.
..
great its bounty!
Like a hostel, 2) vast:
A pretty bush, thick as a fist, of tiny hazelnuts,
Branching, green.
15. A choice pure spring and princely water
To drink:
There spring watercresses, yew-berries,
Ivy-bushes of a man's thickness.
16. Around it tame swine lie down,
Goats, pigs,
Wild swine, grazing deer,
A badger's brood.
17. A peaceful troop, a heavy host of denizens of the soil,
Atrysting at my house:
To meet them foxes come,
How delightful!
1) I am unable to translate sétróis and cétmóis.
2) Cf. Uhland's poem Einkehr, beginning:
'Bei einem Wirte wundermild,
Da war ich jüngst zu Gaste,
Ein goldner Apfel war sein Schild
An einem langen Aste.'


16
18. Caine flathu tecoid mo teg,
tarccud tric:
uisci iodun, barra[i]n bit[h]chai,
brata[i]n, pric.
19. Barran cōert[h]ainn,
droigin duind,
tuari, dercna,
lecna loim.
cōera loma,
20. Līne huoga, mil, mes melle,
Dia dotrōidh:
ubla mildsi, mōnuinn dercui,
dercna frōich.
21. Couirm co luouhair,
somblas snōa,
Sioluch sciach,
airni, cnóa.
22. Cuach co medh
condal ndaith,
durchāin donna,
mertain maith.
curar, orcain,
glaine glas.
airne dubui,
23. Mad fri samrad
somblas mblas,
logg di subuip,
dercu iuech,
collain, condla,
dristin mongu,
suairc snōbrat
foltain glaise,
24. Ceōla fer mbrundederg forglan,
forom ndil,
dordan smölcha, cōei gnäthc[h]ai
uós mo tigh.


17
18. Fairest princes come to my house,
A ready gathering!
Pure water, perennial bushes,
Salmon, trout.¹)
19. A bush of rowan, black sloes,
Dusky blackthorns,
Plenty of food, acorns, pure berries,
Bare flags.
20. A clutch of eggs, honey, delicious mast,
God has sent it:
Sweet apples, red whortle-berries,
Berries of the heath.
21. Ale with herbs, a dish of strawberries,
Of good taste and colour,
Haws, berries of the yew,
Sloes, nuts.
22. A cup with mead of hazelnut, blue-bells,
Quick-growing rushes,
Dun oaklets, manes of briar,
Goodly sweet tangle.
23. When pleasant summertime spreads its coloured mantle,
Sweet-tasting fragrance!
Pignuts, wild marjoram, green leeks,
Verdant pureness!
24. The music of the bright redbreasted men,
A lovely movement!
The strain of the thrush, familiar cuckoos
Above my house.
¹) Or, perhaps, 'speckled salmon'. Cf. écne brecc, Imr. Br. 54. ich
bricc, ib. 38.


-
18
25. Tellinn, ciárainn,
certan cruinde,
crīnān se[i]mh:
gigraind, cadhoin, gair re samuin,
se[i]nm gairuh ceir.
26. Caincinn gestlach, drui donn descclach
don craib cuild,
snaic-ar-daraigh,
cochvill älainn,
aidbli druing.')
27. Tecait cainfinn, corra, failinn,
foscain cuach,
nī ceōul ndoccrai,
a fraech ruad.
29. Fogur gaithi
forglas neol,
essa abhai,
alaind ceoul.
28. Rascach samhaisci a samradh,
svillsiv sion!
nī serb söet[h]rach
mellach min.
30. Caine ailme
cercai odrai
frie fiod flescach
essnad ealao,
ní 'arna chrec:
do Crisd gecach2)
olttas det.
uas moig mōethlach
ardommpetead,
31. Cid maith let-sa
mō cech main,
buidech liom-sa
om Christ cain.
¹) draing MS.
2) geca- with mark of aspiration, MS.
nī mesa dam
a ndomel-siv,
doberr dam-sa


19
―――――――
25. Swarms of bees and chafers, the little musicians of the world,
A gentle chorus:
Wild geese and ducks, shortly before summer's end,¹)
The music of the dark torrent.
26. An active songster, a lively wren
From the hazelbough,
Beautiful hooded birds, woodpeckers,
A vast multitude!
27. Fair white birds come, herons, seagulls,
The cuckoo sings in between,
No mournful music!
dun heathpoults
Out of the russet heath.
28. The lowing of heifers in summer,
Brightest of seasons!
Not bitter, toilsome over the fertile plain,
Beautiful, smooth!
29. The voice of the wind against the branchy wood
Upon the deep-blue sky:
Cascades of the river, the note of the swan,
Delightful music!
30. The bravest band makes music to me,
Who have not been hired:
In the eyes of Christ the ever-young I am no worse off
Than thou art.
31. Though thou rejoicest in thy own pleasures,
Greater than any wealth,
I am grateful for what is given me
From my good Christ.
1) Cf. hi féil Cíaráin maic in tsáir | tecait giugraind dar fairge úair
LL. 356 marg. sup. St. Ciaran's day is the 9th September.


20
32. Cen huair n-augrai, cin delm debt[h]a
immo¹) toich,
dobeir cec[h] maith
buidech don Flaith
dam im boith.
[Guaire.]
33. Dobér-sa mo rīgi rān
lam qhuid 2) comhoirb-siv Colmáin,
a dīlsiv co huair mo bais
ar beth at gnais, a Marbäin!
A Marbain .a.
¹) inmo MS.
2) i. e. chuid.


21
32. Without an hour of fighting, without the din of strife
In my house,
Grateful to the Prince who giveth every good
To me in my bower.
Guaire.
33. I would give my glorious kingship
With my share of Colman's heritage,
To the hour of my death let me forfeit it
So that I may be¹) in thy company, O Marban!
1) Literally, 'for being'.


Glossary.
ab f. a river. gen. essa abhai, 29. See my Contributions and add: ar
brú Aba Móri, LL. 353 a.
aball f. a tree. aboll ubull an apple-tree, 14.
aidble f. vastness. aidble druing vastness of a crowd, 26.
airne a sloe.
n. pl. airni, 21. na háirni, LL. 297 a 38. áirne dubdroigin,
SG. 102, 5.
air-geilt grazing. gen. airccellti? 16. But see Contributions s. v. air-
cheltach (1).
ar-petim I make music.
pettet, LU. 57 b 20.
ar-dom-petet they make music to me, 30. arus-
arpetitis, ZCP. III, 39, 15.
barrán m. a top-branch, twig, bush, 18. 19. fri dath barrán sobairchi,
YBL. 127 b 25. barrán bude, ib. 27.
ben f. woman, used of a female bird, 10. Cf. fer, 24.
bend n. peak, gable. dat. dia bend, 10.
bilar watercress biror, Wi. n. pl. bilair, 15.
bithach? everlasting? barráin bithchai, 18?
both f. a hut, cabin, shieling. gen. boithe, 10. dat. boith, 32.
brecc m. a trout. n. pl. bricc, 18. bric cíordubha (leg. cíardubha?),
FM. 866 (p. 510). bric fa brúachaib a habann, SG. 102, 11.
brocc m. a badger. gen. bruicc, 16.
bruicnech n. a badger's brood or nest, a badger-warren? 16.
bruidnech like a hostel (bruiden), 16.
bruindit, 15.
bruinnim I spring forth, dart, shoot.
brunne-derg red-breasted. fer br. a robin redbreast, 24.
buidnech n. a troop, band, 17.
-
cadan m. a barnacle duck. n. pl. cadain, 25. gen. elta chadan ná chorr
LL. 265 a 48. caud .i. cadán, LU. 67 a 24. LL. 71 b 19.
cadla a goat. .i. gabhar, O'Cl. n. pl. cadlaid, 16.


23
caincinn 26, the name of some singing bird. Cf. cáince melody, Stokes,
Acallaim Index. (Ir. Texte IV, p. 385.)
cáine f. goodness, excellence. cáine flatho, 18. cáine ailme, 30. tucad
cáine bíd dóib, LL. 54 b 35. See Imram Brain, Index s. v.
cáin-finn 27, fair-white, the name of some bird.
cairche a musical instrument, 6. cairchi ciúil chóir, LL. 154 b 45.
cél sky, 13. Borrowed from Lat. caelum.
celiubair 13, seems O'Reilly's ceilubhra (sic) concealment.
cennaid tame. cendaid, Ir. Texte III, 86. n. pl. f. centa, 16. There is
also a nom. sing. cennta (cf. allta, Contrib.). ár cenntai 7 altai, AU.
certán = cerddán, diminutive of cerdd (1) art, (2) artist, artificer
musician, 25. mingur gringur certan cruinne, O'Mulc. 830e.
cét-móis 12?
cíar dark, brown, swarthy. Wi. fíach cíar, Bor. 81. gen. m. céir, 25.
f. circi céiri, MR. 110, 5. dat. din chaill chéir, LL. 356 m. sup. etir
móin céir 7 cráib, ib. 265 a 46.
cíarann m. a chafer. n. pl. cíarainn, 25. Cf. ciaróc a chafer, O'Br. a
diminutive of cíar.
cnó-bec having small nuts, 14.
cochull m. the name of a bird, so called from cochull hood. n. pl.
cochuill, 26.
collán m. a hazelnut, 14. gen. med colláin mead made out of the hazel-
nut, 22. Cf. Nóisi co mid chollán chain Noisi with delicious mead
of hazelnuts, Longes mac nUsn. 17 (Ir. Texte I, p. 77, 15).
com-orb m. heritage. gen. comoirb, 33.
condal n. a stalk, rush, 22. A diminutive coinline occurs Trip. 84, 8.
condla (n. pl.), 22 coinnle corra bluebells, Hogan, Luibhleabhrán, p. 17?
cráin f. the female of several animals, a sow, P. O'C. a goose, O'R.
craineóg now means a hedgehog. In v. 5 and 6 it evidently means
some pet animal such as hermits were wont to have about them.
gen. orcc cránai, LB. 201 b 35. BB. 469 a 17. adba crána, Acall.
(ed. Stokes) 1. 497 note. gen. pl. secht cét cráin, BR. 64.
cremthann m. a fox. crimthann, Metr. Gloss. n. pl. cremthainn, 17.
cress (1) narrow. ní haicde chress, LL. 161 b 2. (2) a narrow place,
cúach a cuckoo, 27. gen. pl. allgaire cúach, LL. 298 a 1. coiccetal na
bindguth cúach it chomnaide, ib. 193 a 37.
'curar 23. This I take to be the word from which we have the diminu-
=
tive cularán pignut, earthnut (RC. IX, p. 228), Welsh cylor. For
the interchange between r and cf. biror, later bilar watercress,
Corn. beler, and ilar eagle, W. eryr.
daith ready, smart, swift, eager, 22. .i. ésgaidh nó tapaidh nó luath,
O'Cl. gilla daith ba garb re goil a smart lad that was rough in


24
derc
dercu
fight, Eg. 90, 17a. mina fagar cabair ndaith unless I get speedy
help, Eg. 1782. leis rogæt co daith, LL. 18 a 3, 201 b 24. in drúi
daith, 197 a 2.
an acorn or mast, hence any berry, P. O'C. n. pl. dercu, 21.
glandes .i. dercu, H. 3. 18, p. 65 c.
a berry. n. pl. dercna, 19. dercna fróich, 20 = derce [f]ruich gl.
vaccinia, Bucolics 101; dærcae fróich gl. vaccinia, Sg. 49 a 10. dercain
a díthruib, LL. 297 a 33. derccain donn a drumnecha, Dinds. 160.
dat. nói cét míach a thorud de dircnaib, ib.
desclach adj. 26, a derivative of descol, LL. 45 a 34, which O'Curry
renders by battle.
desruid mean, despicable, 12. desruith .i. disruith .i. ní sruith, Corm. -
p. 16.
n. pl. cet lim cenptis desruithe, RC. XIII, p. 393. Cf. ib.
p. 397.
di? 7. Cf. do dí¹) at óenbé ocum? RC. XI, 129.
do-fóidim I send. Día do-t-r-óid 'tis God who has sent it, 20. bes is
Dia dodroid, YBL. 133 a 48. is mithig dúib anddoroided dúib do
thomailt, ib. 51. is uad doroided a mbiad, ib. 133 b 2.
donn dun. drúi donn, 26. Cf. dreaghan donn a wren, Highl. n. pl.
droigin duind, 19. durcháin donna, 22. In SG. 102, 4 it is likewise
an epithet of an oak: ar a dairghib donnaib ('russet').
dordán strain, tune. dordán smolcha, 24. oc ullán 7 oc dordan,
LB. 136 a 36. dam dían ag dordán, SG. 172, 5.
dornach like a fist, 14.
draigen a blackthorn, a sloe-tree, n. pl. droigin, 19. airni draigin gl.
pruna, Bucol. 103. sméra is áirne dubdroigin, SG. 102.
dristen briars, brambles. dristin, 22. Hence dristenach gl. dumetum,
Sg. 53 a.
drúi donn a wren, 26. Cf. dreaghan (= dreén, LB. 108b) donn, Highl.
durchán m. an oaklet. n. pl. durcháin, 22.
ela a swan. Wi. 29. LU. 62 b 6.
comnual na n-ela don tuind,
eó (1) a tree; (2) a yew-tree. Wi.
mar hela irricht aingil gil, SR. 1671.
LL. 298 a 31.
(1) rop éo úasind fid, ropo rígda ind
rail, LL. 147 a 32. (2) gen. dercu iuech, 21. Cf. caera an ibhair
craigi berries of the juniper, RC. IX, 234. dat. eu, RC. XIII, 460,
§ 62.
eo-glas having a grey or green trunk, 13. eu .i. stipes, Sg. 66 b 3.
erchoill = airchill, airichill (ex airfochill) preparing oneself, expecting, 17.
1) This is also the reading of a second copy of Uath Beinne Etair
in Betham 145, p. 13.


25
•
A
esnad music, strain, song. Wi. esnad elo, 29. esnad daim duind, 31.
n. pl. Esnada Tigi Buchat, LL. 271 a.
n. a waterfall. Wi. gen. fuaim essa na sroth, Ir. Texte III, p. 195.
fogur essa úair ra hall, LL. 298 a 13. enguba essa ra hail, ib. 28.
n. pl. essa abai, 29. acc. na hessa, LL. 264 a 7.
ess
fáilenn a sea-gull. foilenn, Wi. gl. alcedo, Karlsr. Prisc. 34a. fichi ugh
n. pl. fáilinn, 27. fairrge rúad a ngairit faoilind,
fregrait fáilinn 'má finnall, SG. 102, 12. gen.
fáilind, BR. 244.
Reeves Ad. 289, 6.
slúag na failend, ib.
Iflescach branchy, 29.
fodere visible, conspicuous, 11.
foltán 23, a shortened diminutive form of folt-chiab leek (lit. hair-tuft),
as dobrán is of doborchú.
for-dorus m. lintel,
fordorus bec úas a chind, LL. 278b1. SG. 111, 31.
féith woodbine, honeysuckle. Wi. mar nasces féith fidu, LL. 86 b 23.
103 a 19. amail timcillus féth fidh, Eg. 1782, 24 a 1. gen. féthe, 9.
fidu see idu.
garb n. a torrent. W. garw. gen. seinm gairb chéir, 25. In the Boroma
the word is feminine: gáir na gairbe, LL. 297 b 50. sniges risin
gairb a glór, 298 a 22.
gécach 30, if I extend the contraction correctly, is a derivative of géc
branch and seems to mean flourishing, vigorous, keen. di chumaid
gaind gécaig glúair, LL. 194 b 60. Also gécda in a similar sense: in
gasraid gegda sin, BB. 461 b 21.
gestlach active, 26. From gestal a deed, O'R. Wi. co ngestul grinn,
LL. 212 b 28.
gigrand a wild goose, a barnacle goose. giugrann, Wi. n. pl. gigraind,
25. giugraind gergga cocrait gáir, LL. 297 b 45. tecait giugraind,
LL. 356 marg. sup. gen. elta giugrand [n]gúr, 265 a 49.
glaise f. greenness. gen. glaise, 23.
glére f. excellence, 15. gléri læch lonnguinech, BB. 476 b 38.
rachuala glére a.gal, LL. 157 b 16.
dáig
idan pure. uisce idan, 18.
idu ivy. W. eiddew. mar nasces idu feda as ivy binds trees, LL. 108 b 46.
With prothetic f, n. pl. fiduid, 15.
im-slánim I make healthy, sound. inf. imšlánud, 2.
lenn n. a cloak, mantle. dat. il-lenn co londath, 10. Cf. brat brain, lenn
luin luim lúamnaig a raven's cloak, the mantle of a lean volatile
ousel, H. 3. 18, p. 17 m. sup.
S
lethar m. leather. gen. tíag lethair, 6.


26
líne f. a line, row. líne do crandaib, RC. IX, p. 464. líne oga a clutch
of eggs, 20. coméis lini óenchirce d'ugaib, Cog. G. 48, 19.
long f. a vessel. logg, 21.
lubar n. a collective of lub herb. gen. lubair, 21.
magan =
mellach delightful. Wi. 28.
melle f. delight, 20.
menic frequent. Wi. Compar. menci, 1. bá harget anas mencu bítis,
LL. 201 b 58.
magen f. place, spot, 13.
=
mennután a small dwelling, 12. Dim. of mennat, Wi. nirbo mennat
nach détlai, FM. 566. dat. asin mendut, LB. 204 a 41.
mertan smertan sweet tangle, sea belt? Hogan, Luibhleabhrán
n. pl. mertain, 22.
p. 71.
méth adj. fat. Wi. in bó méth, O'Dav. 60, 5. acc. pl. méthe, 9. mná
metha, LL. 215 a 27.
móethlach fruitful, fertile, 28. From móethal fruit. See Aisl. Maic
Congl. Index.
mónann
a whortleberry, cranberry. n. pl. mónuinn derca, 20. mónaind
na móna, LL. 297 a 31. monainn mháetha ar a mongaib, SG. 102, 3.
Cf. mónadán mínchorcra a smooth-crimson whortleberry, Tor.
Dhiarm. 60, 3.
mong f. a mane. n. pl. monga, 22. mónainn mháetha ar a mongaib on
her waving heather, SG. 102, 3.
octhgach as ardu alailiu gl. habies,
A derivative of ochtach .i. crand
ailm .i. crann giuis .i. ochtach,
ochtgach a pine. gen. ochtgaig, 1.
Bibl. Nat. MS. Lat. 7260, fo. 9b.
giúis, Laws IV, 148, 5. 150, 4.
BB. 325 a 50. gen. do chrund ochtga, ACC.
orcán¹) wild marjoram, 23. cardinis benedictus (labrum Veneris) .i. an
t-orcán, RC. IX, 228. Spelt oragán in Hogan's Luibhleabhrán p. 59.
rail f. an oak. ropo rígda ind rail, LL. 147 a 32.
gen. daim Droma
Rolach, 11. gesca ralach rodírge, 108 a 22. gen. pl. frema na ralach
romór, LL. 264 a 2.
rascach n. lowing, 28. Cf. rasc talk, O'R.
róë-glan having pure fields, 11.
scé a hawthorn. scí, Wi. in scé im-mullach Odba, FM. 607. gen. scíach
(two syll.), 21. imar cráibred dergscíach, LU. 80 a 8.
orcan (.i. uball) cruind
1) There is also a word orcan 'apple'
glas, Hib. Min. p. 47.
-
1


―――――――
27
-
sét-róïs 12? Perhaps the gen. of sét-róus (for *ro-fiss) great knowledge
of roads?
síën voice, sound, 10. sían, Wi.
sín f. (1) weather, season.
cia etergén sína? LL. 345 a. sína cach
threimse, 293b. dech do sínaib ceó, 345a. nauna 7 gortai 7 sína
sóeba, Harl. 5280, 39 a. (2) bad weather, storm. Wi. darsin sín,
13. glór na gáethi tresin sín, LL. 298 a 23. sín ná snigi ná snechtæ,
Goid. 19, 29. ima lúaidfe ilar sín, FM. 526.
sithech peaceful, 17.
smólach f. a thrush. gen. smólcha, 24.
snac-ar-daraig m.
snaicardaraigh, 26.
sno colour. snoa, 21.
snó-brat having a coloured mantle, 23.
so-mblas sweet-tasting. Wi. 21. 23. Hence somblasta, Alex. 1007.
petugud with prothetic s, verb noun of petaigim, a deri-
spedughud
woodpecker. snacardarach (perperam), O'R. n. pl.
=
vative of petim I play? Some musical instrument?
sub f. a strawberry. sub talman Erdbeere, RC. IX, p. 233. suib, O'Br.
n. pl. fraga .i. subi, Bucolics 8. suba, LL. 297 a 40. subha cumhra
Cuain Daire, O'Gr. Cat. 429. dat. subaib, 21.
=
tellenn a swarm of bees. mar teilleann a' labhairt i n-eibhioll like a
swarm of bees buzzing in the summer-heat, O'Curry Lect. III, p. 357.
n. pl. tellinn, 25. ba lir bech-teilleoin¹) as numerous as a swarm
of bees, Dinds. 126 SG. II, 476, 34. Cf. seillean, Highl.
tiag a satchel. tíag lethair, 6.
tírech terrestris, 17.
tricc
eager, quick, keen, ready. Wi. dar trethan trice, LL. 154 a 14.
bid toirthech dó in talam tric, BR. 8. tánic co tricc trén traig-
éscaid ina agid, TTr. 2019. ciarbo tric leo, Trip. 556, 11. nirbo
tricc i clud chille, LL. 5 b.
úais noble. uais do dig noble to drink, 15. uais .i. úasal, LL. 392 d.
Lism. L. Index.
úar-boith f. an outhouse, shieling, 8.
ubull f. an apple. n. pl. ubla, 20. gen. aboll ubull, 14.
uinnius an ashtree, 8. unnius, LL. 200 a 10, 16.
1) This form seems to have been influenced by én bird.


Appendix.
I.
Colum Cille and Guaire.
(Laud 615, p. 23.)
Colum Cille cecinit ag tegusg Guaire, or nī derna einech
reime sin 7 ba rofíal ösin amach tre bennachtain Coluim Cille
7 trēna theagasg.
Dēna, a Ghuaire, maith um ní,
na seōid dochī as dorn im ceō:
at aonur tanaig tū a clī,
dogebha ní an fad bĩa beō.
Sgail, a maic Colmain, do cradh,
is buaine blad ina seōid:
ante da tabair Dĩa ní,
nī maith rí 's a beth gu neóid.
A deghmhic Colmain na gcliar,
mochen is fial, mairg is gann,
na cuir sedh 'san saoghal sunn
's gan acht seal gach aoinfir ann.
Rigrad domhain, cuma a n-ég,
muna bhronnad séd is biadh,
muna chosnat fein a mbladh,
nī téid ar nem fer dur dĩan. De.


29
Is me Colum Cille cáidh,
beg do connmhus am laim fein:
ōn lo fa tānag a clī
nī dernus acht do deōin De. Dena a Guaire.
Translation.
Colum Cille sang (this) when teaching Guaire, who had
never before practised generosity, but henceforward, through
the blessing of Colum Cille and his teaching, became most
generous.
Do good, O Guaire, for something!
The wealth thou seest is like a hand round mist:
Alone, thou camest into thy body,
Thou wilt get something while thou art alive.
Distribute, O Colman's son, thy goods,
More lasting is fame than wealth:
He to whom God giveth something,
A king that is niggardly is not good.
O brave son of Colman of the bands,
Welcome is a generous man, woe to a mean!
Fix not thy thoughts upon this life,
Wherein each man is but a while.
The kings of the world, their death is sorrow,
Unless they spend wealth and food,
Unless themselves they contend for fame:
No hard, no harsh man goes to Heaven.
I am Colum Cille the pure,
Little have I-kept in my own hand:
From the day that I came into my body.
I never did but according to God's will.


30
II.
Ornait's Lament for Laidgnen.
Cormac's Glossary (Translation, p. 26).
(H. 3. 18, p. 64c and 633.)
Breisiu .i. teibrisi, ut dixit Ornait oc cainiud ¹) Laidgēin:2)
Dethbir dam cẽ nī antais
adām abra³) di brēisi:4)
nī pa failid Laidgēn³) clam,
cid e marad) tarm ēisi.
Translation.
Bréisiu i. e. flowing, ut dixit Ornait when lamenting
Laidgen:
Meet for me, though my two eyelashes
Should not cease from flowing:
Laidgen the leper would not be joyous
Though he were living after me.
1) Guaire no add. Corm.
2) Laidgnein H.
3) abrat H. leg. abrait.
4) breisiu H. 633.
5) Laignen Corm. Laidhgnén H. 64. Laidenen H. 633.
6) mara H. 64. marus H. 633.





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