Irisleabhar na Gaedhilge/Imleabhar 5/Uimhir 6/Anecdota from Irish MSS. XII

by Kuno Meyer

[ 93 ]

ANECDOTA FROM IRISH MSS.

XII.

Irische Texte III., p. 38.

Sian scoṫar,	The knife cuts,
rind reiṫes,	The
liag loṫas,	The spoon ladles (?)
tim teiċes.	The weakling flees.

[ 94 ]Instead of liag loṫas, one MS. has tiar toṫas, which is quite obscure to me. For tim, several MSS. read tind, which would hardly make sense.

ib., p. 50.

Ní ba dúnad cen rígu,
Ní ba fili cen scéla,
Ní ba ingen minap fial,
Ní maiṫ ciall ceiċ nád léga.

It is no stronghold without kings,
He is no file without stories,
She is no maiden if not generous,
Not good his sense who does not read.

ib., p. 38.
finan cecinit.
fégaid úaib,	Behold,
sair foṫúaid,	To the north-east of you
in muir múaid mílaċ,	The great sea full of beasts,
adba ron,	The abode of seals,
rebaċ rán,	Sportive, shining—
rogab lan línad.	The tide is full.
ib., p. 100.
Tallad a ulċa	To cut off his beard
de astiġ óil	From him in the tavern,
rim ḟear cumṫa	To my comrade
coċor bo ċóir.	Was not right.
ib. p. 99.
In t-én beg	The little bird
ro lég fed	Has piped a note
do rind guib glanḃuidi,	From the point of its pure-yellow beak;
foċerd fáiḋ	It has uttered a cry
ós Loċ Láiġ	Over Loch Láigh.
lon do ċráiḃ ċarn-ḃuidi.	The blackbird from a . . . yellow branch.

The MS. has carḃuide with a stroke over r. It might stand for carrḃuiḋe, and this for corḃuiḋe, to rhyme with glanḃuide.

Leaḃar Breac, p. 262, marg. sup.

The Crucifixion.

Do gabsat ó gairm in ċéteóin
’cot ċroċad, a ġrúad mar géis:
nís ċóir anad oc cói ċaidċe—
scarad lái is aidċe da éis.

At the cry of the first bird they began
To crucify Thee, O cheek like the swan:
It were not right to cease lamenting ever—
Parting of day and night after it

Kuno Meyer.

MS. 23. D. 5 (R.I.A.), p. 342.

This MS. was written in the beginning of the last century.

MS. B. (Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh), fo. 10a.

	[ 95 ] TRANSLATION.
[ 94 ] 1. Ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si déicsin gnúise dé, ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si biṫbeṫa ’maille.	[ 95 ] 1. It were my soul’s desire To behold the face of God, It were my soul’s desire Eternally to live with Him.
[ 94 ] 2. Ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si léiġionn leḃrán léir, ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si ḃeṫ fo riaġail réil.	[ 95 ] 2. It were my soul’s desire Studiously to read little books, It were my soul’s desire To live under a clear rule.
[ 94 ] 3. Ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si reṫinċe fri cáċ, ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si búaiḋ n-éiseirġe iar m-bráṫ.	[ 95 ] 3 It were my soul’s desire To be cheerful towards all, It were my soul’s desire Triumphantly to rise after Doom.
[ 94 ] 4. Ro ḃuḋ mian dom’anmain-si aomḋa cuirp iar m-búaiḋ, ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si iongnás ifrinn ḟúair.	[ 95 ] 4. It were my soul’s desire . . . . the body after triumph, It were my soul’s desire Not to know cold Hell.
[ 94 ] 5. Ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si aitreaḃ ríġṫeaċ réil, ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si taiṫneaṁ aṁail gréin.	[ 95 ] 5. It were my soul’s desire To dwell in the clear mansions of the King, It were my soul’s desire To glitter as the sun.
[ 94 ] 6. Ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si gnás do grés an ríġ ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si ilċiúil tré ḃeṫ ṡír.	[ 95 ] 6. It were my soul’s desire To be for ever in the company of the King, It were my soul’s desire (To listen to) many strains throughout the ages.
[ 95 ] 7. Ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si riaċtain niṁe nél, ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si tonna diana dér.	[ 95 ] 7. It were my soul’s desire To reach Heaven of clouds, It were my soul’s desire (To shed) vehement waves of tears.
[ 95 ] 8. Ro ḃuḋ mian dom anmain-si déirġe doṁain ċé, ro ḃuḋ mian dom’ anmain-si dicsin gnúise dé.	[ 95 ] 8. It were my soul’s desire To forsake this world, It were my soul’s desire To behold the face of God.

[ 95 ]I am indebted to Father O’Growney and to Professor Mackinnon of Edinburgh, for copies of the above poem from the two MSS., which I will call D and E respectively. D has throughout: so ba mian dom ṁeanmuin-si. Instead of déicsin it has d’faicsin. In V. 3 D has ré cinne re cáċ, E rehinche fri cáċ. In V. 4 E is rather illegible, but seems to have noaem . . for aomḋa. The line is obscure to me. V. 5 and 6 are almost illegible in E. For ríġṫeċ D has riġṫiġe, but this would make one syllable too much.

KUNO MEYER.