These two stories substantially dating from the seventh century, and perhaps formed into shape long before that time, are preserved in the oldest miscellaneous MSS. which we possess, and throw more light upon pagan manners, customs, and institutions than perhaps any other.[1]
The period in which the Court-of-Dá-Derga story is laid is about coincident with that of the Red Branch Cycle, only it does not deal with Emania, and the Red Branch, but with Leinster, Tara, and the High-king of Erin, who was there resident. The High-king at this time was the celebrated11 Conairè the "Great," and rightly, if we may believe our Annals, was he so called, for he had been a just, magnanimous, and above all fortunate ruler of all Ireland for fifty years.[2] So just was he, and so strict, that he had sent into banishment12 a number of lawless and unworthy persons who troubled his[Pg 389] kingdom. Among these were his own five foster brothers whom he was reluctantly compelled to send into exile along with the others. These people all turned to piracy13, and plundered15 the coasts of England, Scotland, and even Ireland, wherever they found an opportunity of making a successful raid upon the unarmed inhabitants.[3] It so happened that the son of the King of Britain, one Ingcel, also of Irish extraction, had been banished17 by his father for his crimes, and was now making his living in much the same way as the predatory Irishmen. These two parties having met, being drawn together by a fellow-feeling and their common lawlessness, struck up a friendship, and made a league with one another, thus doubling the strength of each. Soon after this the High-king found himself in Clare, called thither18 to settle, according to his wont19, some dispute between rival chiefs. His business ended, he was leisurely20 taking his way with his retinue21 back to his royal seat at Tara, when on entering the borders of Meath he beheld22 the whole country in the direction of his city a sheet of flame and rolling smoke. Terrified at this, and divining that the banished pirates had made a descent on his capital during his absence, he turned aside and took the great road that, leading from Tara to Dublin, passed thence into the heart of Leinster. Pursuing this road the King crossed the Liffey in safety and made for the Bruighean [Bree-an] or Court of Dá Derg on the road close to the river Dothar or Dodder, called ever since Boher-na-breena,[4] the "road of the Court," close to Tallacht, not far from Dublin. This was one of the six great courts of universal hospitality[5] in Erin, and Dá Derg, its master, was delighted and honoured by the visit from the High-king.
[Pg 390]
The pirates having plundered Tara, took to their vessels23, and having laden24 them with their spoils were now under a favourable25 breeze running along the sea coast towards the Hill of Howth, when they perceived from afar the King's company making in their chariots for Dublin along the great high road. One of his own foster brothers was the first to recognise that it was the High-king who was there. He was kept in view and seen at last to enter Dá Derg's great court of hospitality. The pirates ran their ships ashore26 to the south of the Liffey, and Ingcel the Briton set off as a spy to examine the court and the number of armed men about it; to see if it might not be possible to surprise and plunder14 it during the night. On his return he is questioned by his companions as to what he saw, and by this simple device—familiar to all poets from Homer down—we are introduced to the principal characters of his court, and are shown what the retinue of a High-king consisted of in the sixth or seventh century, about which time the saga probably took definite shape on parchment, or in the second or third century if we are to suppose the traits to be more archaic27 than the composition of the tale. We have here a minute account of the King and the court and the company, with their costumes, insignia, and appearance. We see the King and his sons, his nine pipers or wind-instrument players, his cupbearers, his chief druid-juggler28, his three principal charioteers, their nine apprentice29 charioteers, his hostages the Saxon princes, his equerries and outriders, his three judges, his nine harpers, his three ordinary jugglers, his three cooks, his three poets, his nine guardsmen, and his two private table attendants. We see Dá Derg, the lord of the court, his three doorkeepers, the British outlaws30, and the king's private drink-bearers. Here is the description of the King himself—
"'I saw there a couch,'[6] continued Ingcel, 'and its ornamentation was more beautiful than all the other couches of the Court, it is curtained[Pg 391] round with silver cloth, and the couch itself is richly ornamented31. I saw three persons on it. The outside two of them were fair both hair and eyebrows32, and their skin whiter than snow. Upon the cheek of each was a beautiful ruddiness. Between them in the middle was a noble champion. He has in his visage the ardour and action of a sovereign, and the wisdom of an historian. The cloak which I saw upon him can be likened only to the mist of a May morning. A different colour and complexion34 are seen on it each moment, more splendid than the other is each hue35. I saw in the cloak in front of him a wheel broach36 of gold, that reaches from his chin to his waist. Like unto the sheen of burnished37 gold is the colour of his hair. Of all the human forms of the world that I have seen his is the most splendid.[7] I saw his gold-hilted sword laid down near him. There was the breadth of a man's hand of the sword exposed out of the scabbard. From that hand's breadth the man who sits at the far end of the house could see even the smallest object by the light of that sword.[8] More melodious38 is the melodious sound of that sword than the melodious sounds of the golden pipes which play music in the royal house.... The noble warrior39 was asleep with his legs upon the lap of one of the men, and his head in the lap of the other. He awoke up afterwards out of his sleep and spake these words—
"'"I have dreamed of danger-crowding phantoms40,
A host of creeping treacherous41 enemies,
A combat of men beside the Dodder,
And early and alone the King of Tara was killed."'"
This man whom Ingcel had seen was no other than the High-king.
The account of the juggler is also curious—
"'I saw there,' continued Ingcel, 'a large champion in the middle of the house. The blemish42 of baldness was upon him. Whiter than the cotton of the mountains is every hair that grows upon his head.[Pg 392] He had ear-clasps of gold in his ears and a speckled white cloak upon him. He had nine swords in his hand and nine silvery shields and nine balls of gold. He throws every one of them up into the air and not one falls to the ground, and there is but one of them at a time upon his palm, and like the buzzing of bees on a beautiful day was the motion of each passing the other.'
"'Yes,' said Ferrogain [the foster brother], 'I recognise him, he is Tulchinne, the Royal druid of the King of Tara; he is Conairè's juggler,[9] a man of great power is that man.'"
Dá Derg himself is thus described—
"'I saw another couch there and one man on it, with two pages in front of him, one fair, the other black-haired. The champion himself had red hair and had a red cloak near him. He had crimson43 cheeks and beautiful deep blue eyes, and had on him a green cloak. He wore also a white under-mantle and collar beautifully interwoven, and a sword with an ivory hilt was in his hand, and he supplies every couch in the Court with ale and food, and he is incessant45 in attending upon the whole company. Identify that man.'
"'I know that man,' said he, 'that is Da Derg himself. It was by him the Court was built, and since he has taken up residence in it, its doors have never been closed except on the side to which the wind blows; it is to that side only that a door is put. Since he has taken to house-keeping his boiler46 has never been taken off the fire, but continues ever to boil food for the men of Erin. And the two who are in front of him are two boys, foster sons of his, they are the two sons of the King of Leinster.'"
Not less interesting is the true Celtic hyperbole in Ingcel's description of the jesters: "I saw then three jesters at the fire. They wore three dark grey cloaks, and if all the men of Erin were in one place and though the body of the mother or the father of each man of them were lying dead before him, not one of them could refrain from laughing at them."
In the end the pirates decide on making their attack. They marched swiftly and silently across the Dublin mountains, surrounded and surprised the court, slew48 the High-king caught there, as in a trap, and butchered most of his attendants.
[Pg 393]
After this tale of Dá Derg come a host of sagas, all calling for a recognition, which with our limited space it is impossible to grant them. Of these one of the most important, though neither the longest nor the most interesting, is the account of the Boromean or Boru tribute, a large fragment of which is preserved in the Book of Leinster, a MS. of about the year 1150.
When Tuathal or Toole, called Techtmhar, or the Possessor, was High-king of Ireland, at the close of the first century, he had two handsome daughters, and the King of Leinster asked one of them in marriage and took and brought home to his palace the elder as his wife. This was as it should be, for at that time it was not customary for the younger to be married "before the face of the elder." The Leinster men, however, said to their king that he had left behind the better girl of the two. Nettled49 at this the King went again to Tara and told Tuathal that his daughter was dead and asked for the other. The High-king then gave him his second daughter, with the courteous50 assurance "had I one and fifty daughters they were thine." When he brought back the second daughter to his palace in Leinster she, like another Philomela, discovered her sister alive and before her. Both died, one of shame the other of grief. When news of this reached Tara steps were taken to punish the King of Leinster. Connacht and Ulster led a great hosting with 12,000 men into Leinster to plunder it. The High-king too marched from Tara through Maynooth to Naas and encamped there. The Leinstermen were at first successful; they beat the Ultonians and killed their prince; but at last all the invading forces having combined defeated them and slew the bigamist king. They then levied51 the blood-tax, which was as follows:—Fifteen thousand cows, fifteen thousand swine, fifteen thousand wethers, the same number of mantles52, silver chains, and copper53 cauldrons, together with one great copper reservoir to be set up in Tara's house itself, in which would fit twelve pigs and twelve kine. In addition to[Pg 394] this they had to pay thirty red-eared cows with calves54 of the same colour, with halters and spancels of bronze and bosses of gold.
The consequences of this unfortunate tribute were to the last degree disastrous55 for Ireland. The High-kings of Ireland continued for ages to levy56 it off Leinster, and the Leinstermen continued to resist. The Fenians took part in the conflict, for they followed Finn mac Cúmhail in behalf of the men of Leinster against their own master the High-king. The tribute continued to be levied, off and on, during the reigns57 of forty kings, whenever Leinster seemed too weak to resist, or whenever the High-king deemed himself strong enough to raise it: until King Finnachta at last remitted58 it at the close of the seventh century, at the request of St. Molling.[10]
"It is beyond the testimony59 of angels,
It is beyond the word of recording60 saints,
All the kings of the Gaels
That make attack upon Leinster."[11]
Of course the unfortunate province, thus plundered during generations, lost in some measure its nationality, and no doubt it was partly owing to this that it seemed more ready than any other district to ally itself with the Danes. The great Brian is said to have gained his title of Borumha or Boru through his having reimposed the tribute on Leinster, but though he conquered that province and plundered it, I am aware of no good authority for his actually re-imposing the Boru tribute.
Some of the early saints' lives, too, may be considered as belonging almost as much to historico-romantic as to hagiological literature. From one of these, at least, we must give an extract, so that this voluminous side of Irish literature may not remain unrepresented. Here is a fragment of the life of St. Ceallach [Kal-lach] which is preserved in that ample repository[Pg 395] of ecclesiastical lore62 the Leabhar Breac, a great vellum manuscript written shortly after the year 1400. The story[12] deals with the dispute between Guairé [Goo-ǎr-yǎ], a well-known king of Connacht, and St. Ceallach, the latter of whom had during his student life left St. Ciaran and his studies, and thus drawn down upon himself the prediction of that great saint that he would die by point of weapon.
Guairé having banished Ceallach, against whom his mind had been poisoned by lying tongues, the fugitive63 took refuge in an island in Loch Con3, where he remained for a long time. Guairé, still excited against him through the lies of go-betweens, invited him to a feast with intent to kill him. He refuses however to go. The King's messengers then requested him to at least allow his four condisciples, the only ones who had remained with him in his solitude64, to go with them to the feast, saying that they would bear the king's messages to him when they returned. "I will neither prevent them from going nor yet constrain65 them to go," answered Ceallach, the result of which was that the four condisciples returned along with the envoys66, and the king was greatly pleased to see them come, and meat and drink, with good welcome, were provided for them. After this the saga proceeds.
DEATH OF CEALLACH.
"Then a banqueting-house apart was set in order for them, and thither for their use the fort's best liquor was conveyed. On Guairé's either side were set two of them, and—with an eye to win them that they might leave Ceallach—great gifts were promised to them; all the country of Tirawley, four unmarried women such as themselves should choose out of the province, and, with these, horses and kine, sufficient marriage dowry for their wives (such gifts by covenant67 to be secured to them), and an adequate equipment of arms to be furnished to each one.
"That night they abode68 there, but, at the morning's meal, with one accord they consented to kill Ceallach.
[Pg 396]
"Thence they departed to Loch Con, and where they had left the boat they found it, and pulling off they reached Ceallach. They found him with his psalter spread out before him, as he said the psalms69, nor did he speak to them. When he had made an end of his psalmody he looked at them, and marked their eyes unsteady in their heads, and clouded with the hue of parricide70.
"'Young men,' said Ceallach, 'ye have an evil aspect, since ye went from me your natures ye have changed, and I perceive in you that for King Guairé's sake ye have agreed to murder me.'
"Never a tittle they denied, and he went on, 'An ill design it is, but follow now no longer your own detriment71, and from me shall be had gifts, which far beyond all Guairé's promises shall profit you.'
"They rejoined, 'By no means shall we do as thou wouldst have us, Ceallach, seeing that if we acted so, not in all Ireland might we harbour anywhere.' And, even as they spoke72, at Ceallach they drave with their spears in unison73; yet he made shift to thrust his psalter in between him and his frock. They stowed him then in the boat amidships, two of themselves in the bow, and so gained a landing-place. Thence they carried him into the great forest and into the dark recesses74 of the wood.
"Ceallach said: 'This that ye would do I count a wicked work indeed, for in Clonmacnois [if ye spared me] ye might find shelter for ever, or should it please you to resort rather to Bláthmac and to Dermot, sons of Aedh Sláine, who is now King of Ireland [ye would be secure].'"
[Then Ceallach utters a poem of twenty-four lines.]
"'To advise us further in the matter is but idle,' they retorted, 'we will not do it for thee.'
"'Well then,' he pleaded, 'this one night's respite75 grant to me for God's sake.'
"'Loath76 though we be to concede it, we will yield thee that,' they said. Then they raised their swords which in their clothes they carried hidden, and at the sight of them a mighty77 fear took Ceallach. They ransacked78 the wood until they found a hollow oak having one narrow entrance, and to this Ceallach was committed, they sitting at the hole to watch him till the morning. They were so to the hour of night's waning79 end, when drowsy80 longing61 came to them, and deep sleep fell on them then.
"Ceallach, in trouble for his violent death, slept not at all, at which time it was in his power to have fled had it so pleased him, but in his heart he said that it were misbelief in him to moot81 evasion82 of the living God's designs. Moreover, he reflected that even were he so to flee they must overtake him, he being but emaciated83 and feeble, after the Lent. Morning shone on them now, and he (for[Pg 397] fear to see it and in terror of his death) shut to the door, yet he said: 'to shirk God's judgment84 is in me a lack of faith, Ciaran, my tutor, having promised me that I must meet this end,' and as he spoke he flung open the tree's door. The Raven85 called then, and the Scallcrow, the Wren86, and all the other birds. The Kite of Cluain-Eó's yew87 tree came, and the red Wolf of Drum-mic-dar, the deceiver whose lair88 was by the island's landing-place.
"'My dream of Wednesday's night last past was true,' said Ceallach, 'that four wild dogs rent me and dragged me through the bracken, and that down a precipice89 I then fell, nor evermore came up,' and he uttered this lay:—
"'HAIL to the Morning, that as a flame falls on the ground; hail to Him, too, that sends her, the Morning many-virtued, ever-new![13]
"'O Morning fair, so full of pride, O sister of the brilliant Sun, hail to the beauteous morning that lightest for me my little book!
"'Thou seest the guest in every dwelling90, and shinest on every tribe and kin10; hail O thou white-necked beautiful one, here with us now, golden-fair, wonderful!
"'My little book with chequered page tells me that my life has not been right. Maelcróin, 't is he whom I do well to fear; he it is who comes to smite91 me at the last.
"'O Scallcrow, and O Scallcrow, small grey-coated, sharp-beaked fowl92, the intent of thy desire is apparent to me, no friend art thou to Ceallach.
"'O Raven that makest croaking93, if hungry thou art now, O bird, depart not from this same homestead until thou eatest a surfeit94 of my flesh!
"'Fiercely the Kite of Cluain-Eó's yew tree will take part in the scramble95, the full of his grey talons96 he will carry off, he will not part from me in kindness.
"'To the blow [that fells me] the fox that is in the darkling wood will make response at speed, he too in cold and trackless confines shall devour97 a portion of my flesh and blood.
"'The wolf that is in the rath upon the eastern side of Drum-mic-dar, he on a passing visit comes to me, that he may rank as chieftain of the meaner pack.
"'Upon Wednesday's night last past I beheld a dream, I saw the wild dogs dragging me together eastward98 and westward99 through the russet ferns.
[Pg 398]
"'I beheld a dream, that into a green glen they took me, four there were that bore me thither, but methought, ne'er brought me out again.
"'I beheld a dream, that to their house my condisciples brought me, for me they poured out a drink, and to me did they a drink quaff100.
"'O tiny Wren most scant101 of tail, dolefully hast thou piped prophetic lay, surely thou art come to betray me and to curtail102 my gift of life![14]
"'O Maelcróin and O Maelcróin, thou hast resolved upon an unrighteous deed, for ten hundred golden ingots Owen's son[15] had ne'er consented into thy death!
"'O Maelcróin and O Maelcróin, pelf103 it is that thou hast taken to betray me; for this world's sake thou hast accepted it, accepted it for the sake of hell!
"'All precious things that ever I had, all sleek-coated grey horses, on Maelcróin I would have bestowed104 them, that he should not do me this treason.
"'But Mary's great Son up above me, thus addresses speech to me, "Thou must leave earth, thou shalt have heaven; welcome awaits thee, Ceallach."'"
The saint is then, as soon as the morning had fully44 risen, taken out of the tree by the four traitors105, and put to death. The kite and the wolf and the scallcrow tear his flesh. The remainder of what is really a fine saga describes the hunt for the murderers and their final death at the hands of Ceallach's brother, who wrested106 for himself all the territory that Guairé had given them, marries Guairé's daughter, and is, like Ceallach his brother, finally himself put to death by Guairé's treachery.
It would be quite impossible within the limits of a volume like this to give any adequate study of the evolution of Irish saga. All Irish romances are compositions upon which more or less care had evidently been bestowed, in ancient times, as is evidenced by their being all shot through and through with verse. These verses amount to a considerable portion of the[Pg 399] saga, often to nearly a quarter or even a third of the whole, and Irish versification is usually very elaborate, and not the work of any mere107 inventor or story-teller, but of a highly-trained technical poet. Very few pieces indeed, and these mostly of the more modern Fenian tales, are written in pure prose. It may be that the reciter of the ancient sagas actually sang these verses, or certainly gave them in a different tone from the prose narrative108 with which he filled up the gap between them. Whether the same man was both the composer of the verse and the framer of the prose narrative, in each particular story, is a difficult question to answer, but I should think that in most cases, at least in the older saga, incidents had been taken up by the bards109 and poets as themes for their verses, for perhaps ages before they were brought together by somebody and woven into one complete épopée with a prose intermixture. Dr. Sullivan thought that the Táin Bo Chuailgne was all originally written in verse, and has his own interpretation110 for the account given in the curious tale, the "Proceedings111 of the Great Bardic112 Institution," which tells us that the story was at one time lost, and that the Bardic Association was commanded to search for and recover it. This, according to him, meant that the verses had been lost, and that only a fragmentary form of it had been saved, the gaps being filled with prose. I do not quite know how far this is a probable suggestion, because it would appear to be reversing the processes which produce epic113 poetry in other literatures. The complete versified epic, the Iliad, the Odyssey114, the Mahābhārata, are indeed "the hatch and brood of time," embodying115 not the first but the last results of a long series of national poetry. But to this last result, so close to them, so easily attainable116, the Irish never arrived, and hence the various ballads117 that compose the books of their Red Branch Iliad, or Fenian Odyssey, remains118 separate to this day, and find their unity16, if at all, only by means of a bridge of prose thrown across from poem to poem, by men who were not poets. Had[Pg 400] the internal development of the Irish not been so rudely arrested by the Northmen towards the close of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth century, there is every reason to believe that both the Red Branch and the Fenian Cycle would have undergone a further development and appeared in poems of continuous verse.
The poems with which these sagas are intermixed are mostly of two kinds, one kind, speeches in the form of lays, placed in the mouths of the actors, prefaced by such words as "and he sang," "so that he spake the lay," or the like, and the other kind, which occurs less often, is as it were a résumé in verse of what had been just told in prose. In almost every case I should imagine that the narrative poems are the oldest, and of them the prose is not unfrequently, as it were, an explanation and an extension.
That the Irish had already made some approach to the construction of a great epic is evident from the way in which they attempted, from a very early date, to group a number of minor sagas, which were evidently independent in their origin, round their great saga the Táin Bo Chuailgne. There are twelve minor tales which the Irish called preface-stories to the Táin and which they worked into it by links, some of which, at least, were evidently forged long after the story which they were wanted to connect. Especially remarkable119 in this way is the story of the metempsychosis of the two swineherds, whose souls passed into the two bulls who occasioned the great war of the Táin,—a story which is of a distinctly independent origin, and which was forced to do duty as an outlying book, as it were, of the Táin Bo Chuailgne.
How very great the number of Irish sagas must have been can be conjectured120 from the fact that out of the list of one hundred and eighty-seven contained in the Book of Leinster, at least one hundred and twenty have completely disappeared, and of the majority of the remainder we have only brief digests, whilst very many of the ones still preserved, are not[Pg 401] mentioned in the Book of Leinster at all, thus proving that the list given in that manuscript is an imperfect one. A perfect one would have contained at the very least two hundred and fifty prime stories and one hundred secondary ones, for this was the number which every ollamh or chief poet was obliged, by law, to know. The following are some of the best known and most accessible of the earlier sagas which we have not yet mentioned, and which do not belong to any of the greater cycles. This list is drawn up, not according to the age of the texts or the manuscripts which contain them, but according to the date of the events to which they refer, and round which they are constructed.
SIXTH CENTURY B.C—The destruction of Dinn Righ, otherwise called the exile of Labhraidh [Lowry] the Mariner121. This appears to have been one of a group of lost romances which centred round the children of Ugony the Great,[16] of some of which Keating has given a résumé in his history.[17]
SECOND CENTURY B.C—The King of the Leprechanes' journey to Emania, and how the death of Fergus mac Léide, King of Ulster, was brought about.[18]
The triumphs of Congal Clàringneach, which deals with a revolution in the province of Ulster, the death of the King of Tara, and accession of Congal to the throne.[19]
The Courtship of Etain by Eochaidh Aireach, King of Ireland, who came to the throne 134 years B.C., according to the "Four Masters."[20]
[Pg 402]
FIRST CENTURY B.C.—The Courtship of Crunn's wife.[21] To this century belong the Red Branch tales.
FIRST CENTURY A.D.—The Battle of Ath Comair, fought by the three Finns, brothers of Mève, Queen of Connacht.[22]
The Destruction of the Bruidhean [Bree-an] Da Choga, in West Meath, where Cormac Conloingeas, the celebrated son of King Conor mac Nessa, was killed about the year 33.[23]
The Revolution of the Aitheach Tuatha, and the Death of Cairbré Cinn-cait by the free clans122 of Ireland.[24]
SECOND CENTURY A.D.—The Death of Eochaidh [Yohy], son of Mairid.[25]
The progress of the Deisi from Tara.[26]
The Courtship of Moméra, by Owen Mór.[27] (The Fenian tales and tales of Conn of the Hundred Battles, and Cormac mac Art, relate to this and the following century.)
THIRD CENTURY.—The Adventures of Teig, son of Cian [Kee-an], son of Oilioll Olum.[28]
The Siege of Drom Damhgaire, where Cormac mac Art attempted to lay a double tribute on the two provinces of Munster.[29]
FOURTH CENTURY.—The History of the Sons of Eochaidh Muighmheadhon [Mwee-va-on] father of Niall of the Nine Hostages.[30]
Death of King Criomhthann [Criv-ban or Criffan] and of Eochaidh Muighmheadhon's three sons.[31]
[Pg 403]
FIFTH CENTURY.—The Expedition or Hosting of Dáithi, the last pagan king of Ireland, who was killed by lightning at the foot of the Alps.[32]
SIXTH CENTURY.—Death of Aedh Baclamh.[33]
Death of King Diarmuid—he who was cursed by St. Ruadhan.[34]
The birth of Aedh [Ae] Sláine,[35] the son of Diarmuid, who came to the throne in 595, according to the "Four Masters."
The Wooing of Becfola, in the reign33 of Aedh Sláine's son.[36]
The Voyage of the Sons of Ua Corra.[37]
SEVENTH CENTURY.—The Proceedings of the Great Bardic Institution.[38]
The Battle of Moyrath.[39]
Suibhne's Madness, a sequel to the last.[40]
The Feast of Dún na ngedh,[41] a preface tale to the Battle of Moyrath.
The Voyage of Snedgus and Mac Riaghla.[42]
The Love of Dubhlacha for Mongan.[43]
The Death of Maelfathartaigh, son of Ronán,[44] who was King of Leinster about the year 610.
[Pg 404]
EIGHTH CENTURY.—The Voyage of Maelduin.[45]
There are very few sagas, indeed, which deal with events posterior to the eighth century, and among those which do (like the stories about Callaghan of Cashel and the Danes, or the Leeching123 of Cian's leg, which relates to the reign of Brian Boru, or O'Donnell's Kerne, which seems as late as the sixteenth century) there are not many whose literary merits stand high. It is evident from this, that, apart from the poets, almost all the genuine literary activity of Ireland centred around the days of her freedom, and embraced a vast range of time, from the mythical124 De Danann period down to the birth of Christ, and from that to the eighth century, and that after this period and the invasions of the Northmen and Normans, Irish national history produced few subjects stimulating125 to the national muse126; so that the literary production which still continued, though in narrower channels and in feebler volume, looked for inspiration not to contemporaneous history, but to the glories of Tara, the exploits of Finn mac Cúmhail, and the past ages of Irish greatness.
The number of sagas still surviving, though many of them are mere skeletons, may be conjectured from the fact that O'Curry, in his manuscript lectures on Irish history, quotes from or alludes127 to ninety different tales, all of considerable antiquity, whilst M. d'Arbois de Jubainville, in his "Essai d'un Catalogue de la littérature épique de l'Irlande," gives the names of no less than about 540 different pieces.
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[1] There is an almost complete copy of this saga in the Leabhar na h-Uidhre. Like the Táin Bo Chuailgne, it has never been published in a translation. The language is much harder and more archaic than that of the Táin. I have principally drawn upon O'Curry's description of it, for I can only guess at the meaning of a great part of the original. Were all Europe searched the scholars who could give an adequate translation of it might be counted on the fingers of both hands—if not of one.
[2] According to the "Four Masters" he was slain128 in AM. 5161 [i.e., 43 B.C.], after a reign of seventy years. "It was in the reign of Conairè," the "Four Masters" add, "that the Boyne annually129 cast its produce ashore at Inver Colpa. Great abundance of nuts were annually found upon the Boyne and the Buais. The cattle were without keeping in Ireland in his reign on account of the greatness of the peace and concord130. His reign was not thunder-producing nor stormy. It was little but the trees bent131 under the greatness of their fruit." It is from Conairè the Ernaan tribes were descended132. They were driven by the Rudricians, i.e., the Ultonians of the Red Branch, into Munster, and from thence they were driven by the race of Eber [the Mac Carthys, etc. of Munster], into the western islands.
[3] It appears to have been partly in order to check raids like this, that the High-kings maintained the Fenians a couple of centuries later, for their chief duty was "to watch the harbours."
[4] A constant rendezvous133 for pedestrians134 and bicyclists from Dublin, not one in ten thousand of whom knows the origin of the name or its history.
[5] For a description of another of these courts see above p. 355.
[6] Here is the original as given by O'Curry, "Manners and Customs," vol. iii. p. 141. This will show the exceeding difficulty of the language: "Atcondarc and imdae acas bacáimiu acomthach oldáta imdada in tigi olchena. Seolbrat nairgdidi impe acas cumtaige isin dimdae. Atcondarc triar ninni," etc.
[7] Keating says that according to some Conairè reigned135 only 30 years.
[8] The allusion136 appears to be to a bright steel sword in an age of bronze. Perhaps the music referred to means the vibration137 of the steel when struck. The "Sword of light" is a common feature in Gaelic folk-lore. Of course iron was common in Ireland centuries before this time, but the primitive138 description of Sword of light, transmitted itself from age to age.
[9] "Cleasamhnach," from cleas, "a trick," a living word still.
[10] See above p. 236.
[11] Broccan's poem in the Book of Leinster translated by O'Neill Russell, in an American periodical.
[12] Translated by Standish Hayes O'Grady in "Silva Gadelica," whose vigorous rendering139 I have closely followed.
[13] "Is mochean in maiten bán
No taed for lár, mar47 lasán,
Is mochean do'n té rusfói
In maiten buadach bithnói"
[14] Compare the legend of the wren's having betrayed the Irish to the English, whence the universal pursuit of him made by boys on St. Stephen's day.
[15] Ceallach himself.
[16] For him, see above, p. 25.
[17] Some account of this saga is given in O'Curry's MS. Materials, p. 256, and by Keating, p. 253, of O'Mahony's translation. The entire saga is preserved in the Yellow Book of Lecan. My friend, the late Father James Keegan, made me a translation of another version, which he afterwards published in a St. Louis paper.
[18] Translated and edited by Standish Hayes O'Grady, p. 269 of his "Silva Gadelica."
[19] Only one copy of this tale was known to O'Curry in 205, Hodges and Smith, R. I. A.
[20] Edited without a translation by Windisch, in his "Irische Texte," i. p. 117, and referred to at length by O'Curry, "Manners and Customs," vol. ii. pp. 192-4; and summarised and examined by Alfred Nutt, in his "Voyage of Bran." See for this saga, p. 102, above.
[21] This was Macha who pronounced the curse on the Ultonians. See above, ch. XXIV note 3. The story is preserved in the Harleian MS. 5280, British Museum.
[22] There is a long extract from this battle given by O'Curry in his "Manners and Customs," vol. ii. pp. 261-3.
[23] Preserved in the Leabhar na h-Uidhre. See O'Curry, " Manners and Customs," vol. iii. p. 254. There is a full copy in H. 3. 18, T. C., D.
[24] In H. 3. 18, T. C., D. See above, p. 27.
[25] Edited from the Leabhar na h-Uidhre by O'Beirne Crowe, in the "Journal of the Royal Irish Historical and Arch?ological Association, 1870," and by Standish Hayes O'Grady, "Silva Gadelica," p. 265.
[26] See O'Curry, "Manners and Customs," vol. ii. p. 205. I think Kuno Meyer has translated this saga somewhere. See p. 40.
[27] Published by O'Curry for the Celtic Society as an appendage140 to the Battle of Moy Léana. See above, p. 368.
[28] Translated by O'Grady, "Silva Gadelica," p. 385, and studied at length by Alfred Nutt, in his "Voyage of Bran," vol. i. p. 201.
[29] See O'Curry's "Manners and Customs," vol. ii. p. 212, and MS. Materials p. 271. This saga is contained at length in the Book of Lismore.
[30] Translated in O'Grady's "Silva Gadelica," p. 368. Ibid., p. 373.
[31] Ibid., p. 373.
[32] This is one of the tales in the Book of Leinster list. Modern versions are common.
[33] See above, ch. XVIII, note 6, translated in "Silva Gadelica," p. 70.
[34] Ibid., p. 76.
[35] Ibid., p. 88.
[36] A short tale, translated in "Silva Gadelica," p. 91.
[37] Translated in the "Revue Celtique."
[38] Published by Professor Connellan for the Ossianic Society in 1860, vol. v.
[39] Published by O'Donovan in 1842 for the Irish Arch?ological Society.
[40] MS. 60, Hodges and Smith, R. I. A.
[41] Published by O'Donovan in 1842 for the Irish Arch?ological Society.
[42] Edited, with English translation, by Whitley Stokes, in "Revue Celtique," vol. ix., and translated into modern Irish by Father O'Growney in the "Gaelic Journal," vol. iv. p. 85, from the Yellow Book of Lecan.
[43] Edited by Kuno Meyer in "Voyage of Bran," vol. i. p. 58, from the Book of Fermoy. This version seems to have escaped the notice of D'Arbois de Jubainville, who says in his "Essai d'un Catalogue," "Cette pièce parait perdue." I have in my own possession a copy in a MS. written by a scribe named O'Mahon in the last century, which is at least twice as long as that published by Kuno Meyer.
[44] The story of an Irish Hippolytus, whose death at his father's hands is compassed by his step-mother, spret? injuria form?. O'Curry mentions this tale, MS. Materials, p. 277. It is one of the stories in the catalogue of the Book of Leinster, under the head of Tragedies. Another Hippolytus story is that of the death of Comgan, son of the King of the Decies, quoted by O'Curry, "Manners and Customs," vol. ii. p. 204, but I do not know from what MS.
[45] Translated, but not very literally141, by Joyce in his "Early Celtic Romances," and by M. Lot in D'Arbois de Jubainville's "épopée Celtique," critically edited by Whitley Stokes in the "Revue Celtique," t. ix. p. 446, and x. pp. 50-95.
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1
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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2
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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3
con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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4
sagas
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| n.萨迦（尤指古代挪威或冰岛讲述冒险经历和英雄业绩的长篇故事）( saga的名词复数 )；（讲述许多年间发生的事情的）长篇故事；一连串的事件（或经历）；一连串经历的讲述（或记述） | |
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saga
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| n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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7
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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8
mythological
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| adj.神话的 | |
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9
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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10
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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11
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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12
banishment
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| n.放逐，驱逐 | |
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13
piracy
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| n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害 | |
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14
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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15
plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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17
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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19
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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20
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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21
retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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22
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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23
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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24
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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25
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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26
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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27
archaic
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| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
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28
juggler
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| n. 变戏法者, 行骗者 | |
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29
apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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30
outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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31
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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33
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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34
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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35
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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36
broach
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| v.开瓶，提出(题目) | |
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37
burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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38
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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39
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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40
phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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41
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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42
blemish
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| v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点 | |
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43
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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44
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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45
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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46
boiler
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| n.锅炉；煮器(壶，锅等) | |
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47
mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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48
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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49
nettled
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| v.拿荨麻打，拿荨麻刺（nettle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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50
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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51
levied
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| 征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
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52
mantles
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| vt.&vi.覆盖（mantle的第三人称单数形式） | |
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53
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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54
calves
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| n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解 | |
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55
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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56
levy
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| n.征收税或其他款项，征收额 | |
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57
reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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58
remitted
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| v.免除（债务），宽恕( remit的过去式和过去分词 )；使某事缓和；寄回，传送 | |
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59
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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60
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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61
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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62
lore
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| n.传说；学问，经验，知识 | |
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63
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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64
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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65
constrain
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| vt.限制，约束；克制，抑制 | |
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66
envoys
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| 使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份 | |
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67
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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68
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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69
psalms
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| n.赞美诗( psalm的名词复数 )；圣诗；圣歌；(中的) | |
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70
parricide
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| n.杀父母；杀亲罪 | |
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71
detriment
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| n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源 | |
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72
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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73
unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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74
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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75
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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76
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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77
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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78
ransacked
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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79
waning
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| adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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80
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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81
moot
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| v.提出；adj.未决议的；n.大会；辩论会 | |
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82
evasion
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| n.逃避，偷漏(税) | |
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83
emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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84
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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85
raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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86
wren
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| n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员 | |
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87
yew
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| n.紫杉属树木 | |
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88
lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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89
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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smite
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| v.重击；彻底击败；n.打；尝试；一点儿 | |
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fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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croaking
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的现在分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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surfeit
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| v.使饮食过度；n.(食物)过量，过度 | |
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scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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quaff
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| v.一饮而尽；痛饮 | |
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101
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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curtail
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| vt.截短，缩短；削减 | |
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pelf
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| n.金钱；财物（轻蔑语） | |
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104
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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wrested
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| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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bards
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| n.诗人( bard的名词复数 ) | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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bardic
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| adj.吟游诗人的 | |
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epic
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| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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odyssey
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| n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险 | |
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embodying
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| v.表现( embody的现在分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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attainable
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| a.可达到的，可获得的 | |
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ballads
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| 民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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conjectured
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| 推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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leeching
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| 水蛭吸血法 | |
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mythical
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| adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的 | |
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stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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muse
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| n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感 | |
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alludes
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| 提及，暗指( allude的第三人称单数 ) | |
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128
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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concord
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| n.和谐；协调 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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134
pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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136
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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137
vibration
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| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
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138
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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139
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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140
appendage
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| n.附加物 | |
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141
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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