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1. a tirib ingnath. This curious use of what is, apparently, the undeclined adjective after the noun is also found in the phrase tré bithu sír, iS. See Windiseh, s.v. sír.

ib., for láur. The old dative form láur is found in H alone, while all the other MSS. have the later form lár. Similarly, in § 2 R, and in F 62, B alone have preserved the dative form Braun.

ib., robátar ind liss dúntai. The plural of the word less, which generally means either the space enclosed by earthen ramparts, or the buildings in the centre of the enclosure, seems here to be used of the ramparts themselves. That this may have been the original meaning, the analog of Ir. ráith and Teutonic tún seems to show.

a. ar a bindi. I do not know what to make of the form bindem or bindim which most of the MSS. have.

ib., ísin. Most of the MSS. leave out this Old Irish form.

ib., cachaín. None of the MSS. have preserved the Old Irish form cechuin.

3. This quatrain is composed in the metre called rannaigecht cetharchubaid recomarcach (Thumeysen, Mittelir. Verslehren, p. 143). There is internal assonance in Emain: semail, fora: glano.

ib., abaill. It is possible that abaild is the older form; at least this may be concluded from abailt, the spelling of E, and apuillt, that of H. An Old Ir. abald would agree well with the A.S. apuldr.

ib., dofed. This I take to be the 1st sing. of the present indicative of dofedim, 'I bring,' ex to-ved-ó.

ib., glano. Here and in 12 (trilsi glano) B alone preserves this old form, the genitive sing. of the i-stem glain. Other MSS. write glana as if it were the nom. plur. of glan, 'pure.'

4. This and all the following quatrains are composed in various kinds of debidc. There are two examples of debide garit in 34, 35; 36

p. 37

but the stricter laws of poetical composition, as formulated in the córus bard cana bardni (Thumeysen, Mittelir. Versl.) and by O’Molloy, are not consistently observed in this old poetry. The rule, e.g., that the final words of the second and fourth lines should exceed those of the first and third by one syllable, is not carried through. A hiatus is allowed to stand where, according to O'Molloy's rule (Thumeysen, l.c., p. 127), synizesis should take place, e.g., asa taitni | in nél find, 24, os mé | im’ charput di chéin, 33, etc. Again, there are many lines in which alliteration is entirely wanting. This rudimentary character of the poetry seems to speak for its age.

ib., gabra réin. The 'kenning' groig mic Lir referred to on p. 4, note 5, also occurs in a quatrain quoted in H. 3. 18, p, 6½: cuthal .i. tlaith, ut dixit in file:

'Dia m-[bad] cuthal craidi tlaith,
rombuthad for mortuind muaith,
matain mir dochoid, ba moch,
groidh [leg. groig] mic Lir iar loch fot[h]uaid.'

ib., tóibgel tondat. The adjective attribute is put before the noun, as in ilmíli m-brecc m-ban, 19.

ib., cetheóir cossa. The old feminine form cetheóir being no longer used or understood, the MSS., with two exceptions (HB), have either misread or altered it. As to the four feet on which the island rests, cf. 'The Voyage of Mael Duin,' Rev. Celt. x. p. 63, as translated by Stokes: 'Then they see another island (standing) on a single pedestal, to wit, one foot supporting it. And they rowed round it to seek a way into it, and they found no way thereinto; but they saw down in the base of the pedestal a closed door under lock. They understood that that was the way by which the island was entered.'

5. Findarggat. The use of the undeclined form is curious. In 8, Arggatnéul stands in apposition to the dative maig.

6. findrune. It is possible that findbruine (B) is the older form.

7. In the description of Mag Meld in Serglige Conculaind (Ir. Texte, p. 218) a similar quatrain occurs without reference to the Hours.

'Atát ar in dorus sair
tri bile do chorcorglain,
dia n-gair in énlaith búan bláith
don macraid assin rigráith

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8. datho. Here, and in 13, B alone preserves this old form of the gen. sg. of the u-stem dath.

ib., móithgretho. Most of the MSS. have moiter gretha--a blunder, having arisen from confusing the mark of aspiration over the first t with the horizontal stroke used as a compendium for er. B and S have preserved the final o.

9. écóiniud. Perhaps écóine (B, H) is the right reading.

ib., etargnath rhyming with mrath shows that through loss of stress gnáth has become short. Compare such rhymes as tan: crithlam, Salt, 1456.

ib., ní bíi nach garg fri crúais. I have no doubt that crois, croais of the MSS. stands for crúais, just as clois, cloais in the next line is for clúais; oa evidently was the spelling of the archetypus for the more usual úa; cf. oas, daroasat, oad, load, etc., infra. L, reading bíi as a monosyllable, inserts guth to make up the seven syllables.

11. fía. My rendering is taken from O’Reilly fia (for fiadh?), and is very doubtful. Perhaps fía is cognate with W. gwy, and means 'water.'

ib., ní fríthid bíd a cía. The same phrase occurs in LU. 64 a, 23: ní fríthid bid essine em .i. ní inund ocus én dogabáil, 'This is not the same as carrying (lit. taking) birds,' says Medb, referring to the way in which Láeg carries the head of an enemy on his back. As to cía= céo, meaning 'haze' or perhaps 'hue,' cf. O’Cl. deann céidheamhain .i. lí nó do amhail chéo bealtaine.

12. trilsi glano. Cf. the note on glano, 3.

13. étatho, if I read rightly, seems the gen. of é-tath, the opposite of tath .i. searg, 'dryness, decay, consumption,' O’Cl. and P. O’C.

ib., fíno óingrindi. The genitive attribute is put before the noun, as in de betho bróu, 29, fíne fírbolud, 43. See Rev. Celt. v. 350-51.

15. In the description of Mag Meld quoted above from Serglige Conculaind a similar quatrain occurs:

'Atát ar in dorus tíar
isind áit hi funend grían
graig n-gabor n-glas, brec a mong,
is araile carcordond

ib., ualann. I have taken this to be a sister-form of oland, 'wool' Cf. uamun and ŏmun, 'fear.' But it might be a word cognate with ualach, 'burden.'

16. dofeith. This seems cognate with dofaith, 'ivit' (Wind. s.v.),

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dufaid (dofoid), 'venit,' Trip. Life, p. 72, 16, and táidim, 'I come,' Fél. Index. L changes to dofaeth, 'will fall.'

17. dond licc leur. Another such musical stone is mentioned in the following lines from Togail Bruidne Dá Chocæ (H. 3. 18, p. 711):

'do thimpán créda is fiu máin,
binnithir lic Locha Láig
'thy timpani of bronze, it is worth a treasure,
more melodious than the stone of Loch Láig.'

19. bésu. This form occurs twice in the Würzburg glosses, 6 b, 23: bésu dagduine, 'who may be a good man,' ib. 24: bésu maith. It should be compared with césu, 'although it be,' and seems to be made up of the 3rd pers. sing. injunctive of bíu, with an unexplained pronominal suffix -su.

20. esnach, if I read rightly, may be cognate with esnad, 'music, song,' which is sometimes used of the notes or cries of animals, as, e.g., esnad daim, 'the bellowing of the stag.'

21. cach ági. Though this is the reading of none of the MSS., R alone coming near it, yet it seems to me highly probable. áge, 'period,' seems a masc. io-stem; cf. LU. 134 b, 13: tánic de int áge hísin.

22. erfind. This is a very doubtful reading, based upon the ailler find of L.

24. i n-adig. This old spelling of adaig, preserved by R and E, caused L to alter into ina tig = mod. ina dtigh.

25. diìb. Though none of the MSS. offers it, this old dissyllabic form is demanded by the metre, just as in Salt. 375: samlaim cech dí[i]b fo feib. Cf. Salt. 437.

28. findchride. The spelling of the archetypus was no doubt finchride, which most of the MSS. retain.

29. de betho bróu. The only one among the many meanings of bró that seems to fit here is one given by O’Clery, .i. iomad.

32. isin charput iarsin muir. Thus in Serglige Conculaind (Ir. Texte, p. 225) Manannán comes in a chariot across the sea:

'Atchíu dar in muir ille--
nínacend nach meraige--
marcach in mara mongaig,
ni lenand do sithlongaib.

ib., nogigned mac úad. See Compert Mongáín, printed infra, p. 42.

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35. cennderga. L reads cen terca, a good example of the wilful alterations of this version.

41. óimin. Cf. the spelling áimin, Goid. p. 20, 11.

43. duilli co n-órdath. Cf. the following quatrain in the description of Mag Meld quoted above:

'Atá crand i n-dorus liss,
ní hétig cocetul friss,
crand airgit ristatin grian,
cosmail fri hór a roníam

48. dorearúasat seems corrupt. It does not rhyme with húasai. I have translated it as if it were dorúasat with the pronoun of the 1st pers. plural (-r-) infixed.

49. In delb hé. Cf. combad hé Find Mac Cumaill Mongán, LU. 133 a, 25. This construction reminds one of a similar one in Anglo-Saxon.

50. Moninnán. A hypocoristic form of Manannán, also found in LU. 133 a, 24. Cf. Monann, 51.

ib., i curp criad gil. Cf. LU. 18, 22: Héle 7 Énóc ina corpaid críad etir ainglib nimc = LL. 280 a, 51.--B, reading criad as a monosyllable, alters gil into ad-gil to make up the seven syllables.

51. coniec. This old form, the 3rd sing. of the s-future of con-ligim, was no longer understood by the glossator. From our passage the word with the gloss got into Cormac's GIossary (Transl. p. 49).

ib., maccu. None of the MSS. have preserved this Old Ir. word, which seems to have become obsolete very early.

ib., Lirn. The n is here a merely graphic addition to have complete assonance for the eye.

ib., adndidma, 3rd sg. of the red. future of ad-damim, with infixed pronoun. CL alumdidmæ, 'Thou wilt acknowledge me,' Fél. Epil. 494.

52. adfii, 3rd sg. of the s-future of adfiadaim. CE adfias-[s]a, 'I shall relate,' Salt. 1785.

55. suis ???, 3rd sg. Of the s-future of sligim.

56. I have not been able to restore this quatrain, which has been handed down in a very corrupt form in all MSS. Most of them leave out bid in the first line, which may be right.

ib., fochischer airchend a Íli. Stokes thinks that airchend here= W. arbenn, 'a chieftain.' The translation would then be, 'I shall send a chieftain out of Islay,' which would refer to Artur Mac Bicoir.

p. 41

57. arungén. This I take to be the 1st sg. of the red. future of argníu, with infixed pron. of the 3rd person.

58. bes n-guirit. As to bes with following relative n, cf. ML 54 a, 4: bes n-duthrachtach .i. duarngir-som beta n-duthrachtaig a gnímai-som do dia.

ib., oircthi. This seems the 3rd sg. pres. ind. of vircim with affixed personal pronoun.

59. Loch Láu. In the glossed copy of Cinaed húa hArtacáin's poem beginning Fianna bátar i n-Emain (Eg. 1752, fo. 53 a, 2) I find the following gloss on the line mentioning Mongin's death (see above, p. 26, note 5): .i. fian Chind-Tíri romarb Mongan ar brú Locha LoLocha Inncil (Mencii?). A Loch Ló is also repeatedly mentioned in Togail Bruidne Dá Chocæ.

ib., gébtha. This looks like the 3rd sg. of the red. future of gabim (gébid) with an affixed personal pronoun.

61. oc ginig. Most of the MSS. have gignig, which is obscure to me. Gínig seems the dat. fem. of a word ginach, a derivative of gin, 'mouth.'

ib., reris. This seems the 3rd sg. of the s-pref. of a verb rerim, the 3rd sg. rel. of the pres. ind: of which occurs in LU. 133 a, 10: intan reras in cath díaraiiu, 'When one army is drawn up (ranged) against the other.'

63. éulchairc. Though this word sometimes has the general sense of 'longing,' as in Echtra Condla, 4 (gabais eólchaire íarom inní Condla immon mnái atchonnairc) it seems originally to have denoted 'longing for home, home-sickness'; from éol, 'home,' and -caire=W. -caredd. As to this meaning of éol, cf. the following gloss from Harl. 5280, fo. 49 b, 2: eol .i. gnáth, ut est:

'Ránic coa euol fén an fer
tar gach ler co n-ilur glond

and see Rev. C. xiii. p. 2. In LL 170 b, 30, for coa ṡeol read cos eol, 'to his home,' as in BB. 402, 47. dia eol, ib. 403 a, 2.

65. cen nech dobir toind usci glain. The line has one syllable in excess. Perhaps dorat, 'who gave,' is a better reading than dobir, 'who gives.'

Next: I. The Conception of Mongán