The Death Of Fraoch
*
"The Celtic Dragon Myth", by J.F. Campbell, [1911],
p. 18
The Death Of Fraoch 1
On Cluan Fraoich 2 a friend doth sigh
Where doth lie a warrior low
On his bier;
And his moan makes warriors grieve
And bereft of love his spouse.
For Idad's son she doth keen
For whom is named Cairn Laive:
Fraoch mac Idad of soft locks,
Idad's son of raven hair.
Westward there lies Fraoch mac Idad
Who fulfilled proud Mve's behest.
On Cruachan Shee (Sdh) a mother weeps:
Sad the tale--a mother's wail
She grieves sore for Fraoch her son.
Many a field in strifes of old
He had won and behold
Fraoch mac Idad lieth cold.
To Cluan Fraoich comes Find-abair:
She doth weep--a sad ladye;
With tresses soft and curling locks
And her hand
Of Queen Mve proud heroes sought.
p. 19
Fraoch 1
\"Auctor hujus an Caoch O Cluain"
1. H-osnadh caraid an Cluan Fhraoich
H-osnadh laoich an caiseal chr
H-osnadh dheanann tuirseach fear,
Agus dan guileann bean g.
2. Aig so shear 2 an carp fan bh-feil
Fraoch mac Fhiodhaich an fhuilt mhaoith,
Fear a rinn buidheachas baoibh
Is bhon sloinntear Carn Fraoich.
3. Gul aon mhna an Cruachan soir
Truagh an sgeul fa bh-feil a bhean
Is se bheir a h-osnadh gu trom
Fraoch mac Fiodhaich nan colg sean.
4. Si n aon bhean do nidh an gul
Ag dol da fhios gu Cluan Fraoich,
Fionnabhair an fhuilt chais ail
Inghean Mhaoidhbh 3 gam biaid laoich.
p. 20
Find-abair of golden hair
Ailill's one daughter she
Lies side by Fraoch to-night:
Of many loved, of many sought
But never a love
But Fraoch had Find-abair.
Her cause of hatred unprovoked Mve found
For Fraoch the best of knights,
Bravest and friendliest:
When love for him she found
Her passion he did scorn
And hence his wound:
Fraoch lies a corpse to-night.
Great was the wrong thus wrought by Mve:
Simply we still unfold
The story old:
(With woman-kind side not in ill)
His death her scheme foretold.
(On Cluan Fraoich a friend doth sigh.)
Ii
A rowan tree grew on Loch Mve--
Southwards is seen the shore--
Every fourth and every month
Ripe fruit the rowan bore:
Fruit more sweet than honey-comb,
Its clusters virtues strong,
Its berries red could one but taste
Hunger they staved off long.
p. 21
5. Inghean Orla 1 as r folt
Is Fraoch an nochd taobh air thaobh
Ge mr fear dha dtairgeadh i
Nior ghrdhaich si fear ach Fraoch.
6. Faigheas Meadhbh a muigh fuath
Cairdeas Fhraoich fa fearr an gliadh,
A chis fan chreuchd-ta a chorp
Tre gun lochd a dhanamh ria.
7. Do chuireadh e gu sa bhs
Taobh re mnaibh na tug an olc
Is mr am pudhar a thuit le Meadhbh
Innesad gun cheilg a nos.
H-osnadh.
Ii
8. Caorrunn do bhi air Loch Mi,
Do chidhmist an traigh fa dheas;
Gach[a] ridh [agus] gach m,
Toradh abaidh do bhi air.
9. Ssadh bdh na caora sin,
Ba mhillse na mhil a bhlth;
Do chongbhfadh an caorrann dearg
Fear gun bhiadh gu ceann naoi trth.
p. 22
Its berries juice and fruit when red
For a year would life prolong:
From dread disease it gave relief
If what is told be our belief.
Yet though it proved a means of life
Peril lay closely nigh;
Coiled by its root a dragon lay
Forbidding passage by.
A messenger for Fraoch was sent
By Eochaidh's daughter keen--
When sickness sore Mve rent:
"What ails?" quoth Fraoch, "the Queen?"
And Eochaidh's daughter made reply--
Eochaidh of the festive horns--
That neer would she be whole
Till her soft palm were full
Of berries from the island in the lake--
Fraoch's hand alone to pull.
"Such I neer culld," said Idad's son
Of blushing face;
Yet will I what I yet neer willed,"
Quoth Fraoch, out of grace.
Sir Fraoch moved forward to his fate
Forth to the lake and swam the tide;
He found asleep the dragon-snake
Around the tree, mouth open wide.
(On Cluan Fraoich a friend doth sigh.)
p. 23
10. Bliadhain air shaoghal gach fir
Do chuireadh sin fa sgeal dearbh
Gum bu fhirinn do luchd cneidh
Fromhadh a mheas is e dearg.
11. Do bhi anshstacht 1 na dhigh
Ge ba leigh a chobhar an t-sluaigh,
Pist nimh do bhi na bhun 2
Bhacadh dha cch dhul da bhuain.
12. Lan easlainte throm throm
Inghean Eochaidh nan corn saor,
Do chuireadh fios leath air Fraoch,
Dh fhiosraich an laoch ciod thainig ri.
13. A dubhairt Meadhbh nach bi sln
Mur faigh ln a boise maoith
Do chaoraibh an locha fhuair
Gun duine ga bhuain ach Fraoch.
14. Cnuasachd riamh ni dhearnadh mi
Ar Mac Fiodhaich go ngn dheirg
Ge gar dharnas e ar Fraoch
Rachsad do bhuain chaor do Mheidhbh.
15. Gluaiseas Fraoch, be fear an igh
Bhuain a shnmh air an loch
Fhuair a phist is i na suain
Is a ceann suas ris an dos.
H-osnadh.
p. 24
Iii
Fraoch, Idad's son, of weapon keen
Of the beast being unperceived,
Of berries red a lapful brought
Mve's longing to relieve.
Though good be that which thou hast brought,"
Quoth Mve of form so fair,
"Nought me relieves, O Champion bold
Save branch from trunk thou bear."
Fraoch gave consent: no fear he knew
But swam the lake once more:
But hero never yet did pass
The fate for him in store.
The rowan by the top he seized
From root he pulled the tree;
And the monster of the lake perceived
As Fraoch from the land made free.
With his gaping maw the hero's hand
He seized in the liquid tide:
Fraoch seized the monster by the jaw,
Would a knife were by his side!
p. 25
Iii
16. Fraoch mac Fiodhaich an airm ghir
Thinig on phist gun fhios di,
Thug a h-anultach chaor dearg
Far an robh Meadhbh dh a tigh.
17. \"Ach ge maith na tugais leat,"
Adubhairt Meadhbh as geal cruth,
"Ni fhir mis, a laoich luain
Ach slat a bhuain as a bun."
18. Togras Fraoch, s nior ghille tiom,
Shnmh a rs air an linn bhuig
Is nior fheud [ne]ach 1 ge mr gh
Theachd on bhs an robh a chuid.
19. Gabhas an caorrann air bharr,
Tharruing an crann as a fhrimh,
Tabhairt d [a] chos don tr
Mothaicheas do ris a phist.
20. Beireas air agus e air snamh,
Is gabhas a lamh na craos,
Do ghabh se-san is air ghiall,
Truagh gun an sgian aig Fraoch!
p. 26
Find-abair of lovely tresses
For Sir Fraoch her love,
Unperceived, a knife she bore;
Fraoch's fair skin the monster tore
And gnawing shore his arm away.
Fraoch, Idad's son, in conflict dire
With the monster's woeful ire:
On the southern strand they fought and fell
And blood the boulders dyed.
Nor short the conflict: in his hand
Fraoch held the monster's head;
Which when the maiden did perceive
On the strand she swooned as dead.
The maid then spake as she awoke
In her palm his hand she placed,
"Though now but food for birds-of-prey,
Thy renown on earth is traced."
And from the death the hero died
The lake doth take its name;
For ever is it hight Loch Mve,
And thus resounds his fame.
(On Cluan Fraoich a friend doth sigh.)
p. 27
21. Fionnabhair an fhuilt chais il
Do ran chuige sgian gun fhoir,
Liodair a phist a chneas ban
Is theasgadh a lmh air leodh.
22. Do thuiteadar bonn re bonn
Air traigh nan clach corr fo dheas;
Fraoch mac Fiodhaich is a phist,
Truagh, a Dh, mar thug an treas!
23. Ga cmhrag ni cmhrag garr:
Do rug leis a ceann na laimh;
Nar chunnaic an nighean e
Do chaidh na neul air an traigh.
24. ireas an nighean on tamh,
Gabhas an lamh, ba lamh bhog;
Ge ta so na cuid nan eun 1
Is mr an t-euchd a rinn a bhos.
25. On bhs sin do fhuair am fear
Loch Maidhbh gun lean den loch
Ata an t-ainm sin deth gu luan
Ga ghairm a nuas gus a nos.
H-osnadh charaid.
p. 28
Iv
His body to Cluan Fraoich is borne
A hero on his bier laid low;
And still the mead his name makes known
Ah! pity the survivor's woe.
Cairn-of-the-Hand beside me here
Is named from Fraoch Cairn Laive,
Back he neer turned his hand but fought
The foremost when alive.
Belovd the mouth that friends neer scorned
The lips which woman's lips had pressed;
Belovd the chief, of hosts the lord,
Belovd the cheeks the rosiest.
Cheek redder than the blood of fawn
Hair darker than the raven's crest,
And softer than the streaming foam,
Whiter than snow Fraoch's waist.
More fringed than meadow-sweet his locks,
Than violet his eye more blue;
Than rowans ripe his lips more red,
Whiter his teeth than woodbine hue.
p. 29
Iv
26. Beirear an sin gu Cluan Fraoich
Corp an laoich gu caisil chr;
Air an gcluain tugadh a ainm
Is mairg a mhaireas d[a is be].
27. Carn-laimh, an carn so re m thaobh
O laimh Fhraoich do bhidheast son,
Fear nar iompodhadh an treas
Fear ba dheise neart an trod.
28. Ionmhuinn am beul nar ob dimh
Dam bidis mnai a toirbheart phg
Ionmhuinn Tighearna nan sluagh
Ionmhuinn gruaidh nar dheirg an rs.
29. Duibhe na fitheach barr a fhuilt
Deirge a ghruaidh na fuil laoigh
Fa mhine na cobhar sruth
Gile na an sneachd cneas Fhraoich.
30. Caise na an caisean fholt
Guirme a rosg na eidhr-leac 1
Deirge na partan a bheul
Gile a dheud na blith feith.
p. 30
Than mast his spear was higher; his voice
More musical than lute:
No swimmer that with Fraoch could vie
His side by water put.
Broader than door-leaf was his shield,
Whoso could wield it, happy lord!
Long as his lance the arm of Fraoch
Than ship's plate more broad his sword.
Would that Fraoch by heroes bold,
The bestower of gold--fell;
Alas and alas! through a monster's hold
We hear his funeral knell.
(On Cluan Fraoich a friend doth sigh.)
p. 31
31. Aird a shleagh na cranna siil
Binne na teud chiil a ghuth
Snamhaidhe do bfhearr na Fraoch
Cha do shn a thaobh re sruth.
32. Ba leithn na comhla a sgiath
Ionmhuinn triath a bhi re druim
Co fad a lann is a lamh
Leithn a cholg na clr dhe luing.
33. Truagh nach an comhrag re laoich
Do thuit Fraoch a phronnadh r
Tuirs sin a thuiteam le pist
Truagh, a Dh, nach maireann fs.
H-osnadh.
Footnotes
18:1 Retold after the Book of the Dean of Lismore, a sixteenth century text. The tale might be entitled: The Tree of Life in Gadhelic Legend. Its teaching might be summarised: Thou shalt not break off the branches from the Tree of Life, nor attempt to uproot it; in the day that thou disturbest it thou shalt surely die. Its guardian is the serpent, the Dragon-Snake (the Mother of Mankind possibly thus typified).
18:2 Fraoch's mead, "i.e."
19:1 From the Book of the Dean of Lismore after Dr Cameron's transcription and transliteration in "Reliqui Celtic" (i. 63). His transliteration is in several places corrected; mac Fhiodhaich is dialectal for mac Fhiodhaidh, mac Idhaidh, old nominative Idad.
19:2 Shiar?
19:3 \"Recte" Maoidhbh.
21:1 \"Recte" Ailell.
23:1 Amsy = aimiseachd; aimsiughadh, "temptation": fascination? N aimcheist mhr a bha na dhiaidh ("Gillies; MacLagan").
23:2 A Bheithir gharg is miosa nimh (Cameron's "Reliq. Celt.", i., p. 225).
25:1 or, ach = howsoever.
27:1 na chodaibh un (traditional variant).
29:1 Yr lak (Dean of Lismores spelling). A plant is apparently meant as in the other lines: "feith woodbine, honeysuckle (Hogans Luibhleabhrn): "partan", "berry of the mountain ash" ("ib"., p. 60).
"The Celtic Dragon Myth", by J.F. Campbell, [1911],
p. 18
The Death Of Fraoch 1
On Cluan Fraoich 2 a friend doth sigh
Where doth lie a warrior low
On his bier;
And his moan makes warriors grieve
And bereft of love his spouse.
For Idad's son she doth keen
For whom is named Cairn Laive:
Fraoch mac Idad of soft locks,
Idad's son of raven hair.
Westward there lies Fraoch mac Idad
Who fulfilled proud Mve's behest.
On Cruachan Shee (Sdh) a mother weeps:
Sad the tale--a mother's wail
She grieves sore for Fraoch her son.
Many a field in strifes of old
He had won and behold
Fraoch mac Idad lieth cold.
To Cluan Fraoich comes Find-abair:
She doth weep--a sad ladye;
With tresses soft and curling locks
And her hand
Of Queen Mve proud heroes sought.
p. 19
Fraoch 1
\"Auctor hujus an Caoch O Cluain"
1. H-osnadh caraid an Cluan Fhraoich
H-osnadh laoich an caiseal chr
H-osnadh dheanann tuirseach fear,
Agus dan guileann bean g.
2. Aig so shear 2 an carp fan bh-feil
Fraoch mac Fhiodhaich an fhuilt mhaoith,
Fear a rinn buidheachas baoibh
Is bhon sloinntear Carn Fraoich.
3. Gul aon mhna an Cruachan soir
Truagh an sgeul fa bh-feil a bhean
Is se bheir a h-osnadh gu trom
Fraoch mac Fiodhaich nan colg sean.
4. Si n aon bhean do nidh an gul
Ag dol da fhios gu Cluan Fraoich,
Fionnabhair an fhuilt chais ail
Inghean Mhaoidhbh 3 gam biaid laoich.
p. 20
Find-abair of golden hair
Ailill's one daughter she
Lies side by Fraoch to-night:
Of many loved, of many sought
But never a love
But Fraoch had Find-abair.
Her cause of hatred unprovoked Mve found
For Fraoch the best of knights,
Bravest and friendliest:
When love for him she found
Her passion he did scorn
And hence his wound:
Fraoch lies a corpse to-night.
Great was the wrong thus wrought by Mve:
Simply we still unfold
The story old:
(With woman-kind side not in ill)
His death her scheme foretold.
(On Cluan Fraoich a friend doth sigh.)
Ii
A rowan tree grew on Loch Mve--
Southwards is seen the shore--
Every fourth and every month
Ripe fruit the rowan bore:
Fruit more sweet than honey-comb,
Its clusters virtues strong,
Its berries red could one but taste
Hunger they staved off long.
p. 21
5. Inghean Orla 1 as r folt
Is Fraoch an nochd taobh air thaobh
Ge mr fear dha dtairgeadh i
Nior ghrdhaich si fear ach Fraoch.
6. Faigheas Meadhbh a muigh fuath
Cairdeas Fhraoich fa fearr an gliadh,
A chis fan chreuchd-ta a chorp
Tre gun lochd a dhanamh ria.
7. Do chuireadh e gu sa bhs
Taobh re mnaibh na tug an olc
Is mr am pudhar a thuit le Meadhbh
Innesad gun cheilg a nos.
H-osnadh.
Ii
8. Caorrunn do bhi air Loch Mi,
Do chidhmist an traigh fa dheas;
Gach[a] ridh [agus] gach m,
Toradh abaidh do bhi air.
9. Ssadh bdh na caora sin,
Ba mhillse na mhil a bhlth;
Do chongbhfadh an caorrann dearg
Fear gun bhiadh gu ceann naoi trth.
p. 22
Its berries juice and fruit when red
For a year would life prolong:
From dread disease it gave relief
If what is told be our belief.
Yet though it proved a means of life
Peril lay closely nigh;
Coiled by its root a dragon lay
Forbidding passage by.
A messenger for Fraoch was sent
By Eochaidh's daughter keen--
When sickness sore Mve rent:
"What ails?" quoth Fraoch, "the Queen?"
And Eochaidh's daughter made reply--
Eochaidh of the festive horns--
That neer would she be whole
Till her soft palm were full
Of berries from the island in the lake--
Fraoch's hand alone to pull.
"Such I neer culld," said Idad's son
Of blushing face;
Yet will I what I yet neer willed,"
Quoth Fraoch, out of grace.
Sir Fraoch moved forward to his fate
Forth to the lake and swam the tide;
He found asleep the dragon-snake
Around the tree, mouth open wide.
(On Cluan Fraoich a friend doth sigh.)
p. 23
10. Bliadhain air shaoghal gach fir
Do chuireadh sin fa sgeal dearbh
Gum bu fhirinn do luchd cneidh
Fromhadh a mheas is e dearg.
11. Do bhi anshstacht 1 na dhigh
Ge ba leigh a chobhar an t-sluaigh,
Pist nimh do bhi na bhun 2
Bhacadh dha cch dhul da bhuain.
12. Lan easlainte throm throm
Inghean Eochaidh nan corn saor,
Do chuireadh fios leath air Fraoch,
Dh fhiosraich an laoch ciod thainig ri.
13. A dubhairt Meadhbh nach bi sln
Mur faigh ln a boise maoith
Do chaoraibh an locha fhuair
Gun duine ga bhuain ach Fraoch.
14. Cnuasachd riamh ni dhearnadh mi
Ar Mac Fiodhaich go ngn dheirg
Ge gar dharnas e ar Fraoch
Rachsad do bhuain chaor do Mheidhbh.
15. Gluaiseas Fraoch, be fear an igh
Bhuain a shnmh air an loch
Fhuair a phist is i na suain
Is a ceann suas ris an dos.
H-osnadh.
p. 24
Iii
Fraoch, Idad's son, of weapon keen
Of the beast being unperceived,
Of berries red a lapful brought
Mve's longing to relieve.
Though good be that which thou hast brought,"
Quoth Mve of form so fair,
"Nought me relieves, O Champion bold
Save branch from trunk thou bear."
Fraoch gave consent: no fear he knew
But swam the lake once more:
But hero never yet did pass
The fate for him in store.
The rowan by the top he seized
From root he pulled the tree;
And the monster of the lake perceived
As Fraoch from the land made free.
With his gaping maw the hero's hand
He seized in the liquid tide:
Fraoch seized the monster by the jaw,
Would a knife were by his side!
p. 25
Iii
16. Fraoch mac Fiodhaich an airm ghir
Thinig on phist gun fhios di,
Thug a h-anultach chaor dearg
Far an robh Meadhbh dh a tigh.
17. \"Ach ge maith na tugais leat,"
Adubhairt Meadhbh as geal cruth,
"Ni fhir mis, a laoich luain
Ach slat a bhuain as a bun."
18. Togras Fraoch, s nior ghille tiom,
Shnmh a rs air an linn bhuig
Is nior fheud [ne]ach 1 ge mr gh
Theachd on bhs an robh a chuid.
19. Gabhas an caorrann air bharr,
Tharruing an crann as a fhrimh,
Tabhairt d [a] chos don tr
Mothaicheas do ris a phist.
20. Beireas air agus e air snamh,
Is gabhas a lamh na craos,
Do ghabh se-san is air ghiall,
Truagh gun an sgian aig Fraoch!
p. 26
Find-abair of lovely tresses
For Sir Fraoch her love,
Unperceived, a knife she bore;
Fraoch's fair skin the monster tore
And gnawing shore his arm away.
Fraoch, Idad's son, in conflict dire
With the monster's woeful ire:
On the southern strand they fought and fell
And blood the boulders dyed.
Nor short the conflict: in his hand
Fraoch held the monster's head;
Which when the maiden did perceive
On the strand she swooned as dead.
The maid then spake as she awoke
In her palm his hand she placed,
"Though now but food for birds-of-prey,
Thy renown on earth is traced."
And from the death the hero died
The lake doth take its name;
For ever is it hight Loch Mve,
And thus resounds his fame.
(On Cluan Fraoich a friend doth sigh.)
p. 27
21. Fionnabhair an fhuilt chais il
Do ran chuige sgian gun fhoir,
Liodair a phist a chneas ban
Is theasgadh a lmh air leodh.
22. Do thuiteadar bonn re bonn
Air traigh nan clach corr fo dheas;
Fraoch mac Fiodhaich is a phist,
Truagh, a Dh, mar thug an treas!
23. Ga cmhrag ni cmhrag garr:
Do rug leis a ceann na laimh;
Nar chunnaic an nighean e
Do chaidh na neul air an traigh.
24. ireas an nighean on tamh,
Gabhas an lamh, ba lamh bhog;
Ge ta so na cuid nan eun 1
Is mr an t-euchd a rinn a bhos.
25. On bhs sin do fhuair am fear
Loch Maidhbh gun lean den loch
Ata an t-ainm sin deth gu luan
Ga ghairm a nuas gus a nos.
H-osnadh charaid.
p. 28
Iv
His body to Cluan Fraoich is borne
A hero on his bier laid low;
And still the mead his name makes known
Ah! pity the survivor's woe.
Cairn-of-the-Hand beside me here
Is named from Fraoch Cairn Laive,
Back he neer turned his hand but fought
The foremost when alive.
Belovd the mouth that friends neer scorned
The lips which woman's lips had pressed;
Belovd the chief, of hosts the lord,
Belovd the cheeks the rosiest.
Cheek redder than the blood of fawn
Hair darker than the raven's crest,
And softer than the streaming foam,
Whiter than snow Fraoch's waist.
More fringed than meadow-sweet his locks,
Than violet his eye more blue;
Than rowans ripe his lips more red,
Whiter his teeth than woodbine hue.
p. 29
Iv
26. Beirear an sin gu Cluan Fraoich
Corp an laoich gu caisil chr;
Air an gcluain tugadh a ainm
Is mairg a mhaireas d[a is be].
27. Carn-laimh, an carn so re m thaobh
O laimh Fhraoich do bhidheast son,
Fear nar iompodhadh an treas
Fear ba dheise neart an trod.
28. Ionmhuinn am beul nar ob dimh
Dam bidis mnai a toirbheart phg
Ionmhuinn Tighearna nan sluagh
Ionmhuinn gruaidh nar dheirg an rs.
29. Duibhe na fitheach barr a fhuilt
Deirge a ghruaidh na fuil laoigh
Fa mhine na cobhar sruth
Gile na an sneachd cneas Fhraoich.
30. Caise na an caisean fholt
Guirme a rosg na eidhr-leac 1
Deirge na partan a bheul
Gile a dheud na blith feith.
p. 30
Than mast his spear was higher; his voice
More musical than lute:
No swimmer that with Fraoch could vie
His side by water put.
Broader than door-leaf was his shield,
Whoso could wield it, happy lord!
Long as his lance the arm of Fraoch
Than ship's plate more broad his sword.
Would that Fraoch by heroes bold,
The bestower of gold--fell;
Alas and alas! through a monster's hold
We hear his funeral knell.
(On Cluan Fraoich a friend doth sigh.)
p. 31
31. Aird a shleagh na cranna siil
Binne na teud chiil a ghuth
Snamhaidhe do bfhearr na Fraoch
Cha do shn a thaobh re sruth.
32. Ba leithn na comhla a sgiath
Ionmhuinn triath a bhi re druim
Co fad a lann is a lamh
Leithn a cholg na clr dhe luing.
33. Truagh nach an comhrag re laoich
Do thuit Fraoch a phronnadh r
Tuirs sin a thuiteam le pist
Truagh, a Dh, nach maireann fs.
H-osnadh.
Footnotes
18:1 Retold after the Book of the Dean of Lismore, a sixteenth century text. The tale might be entitled: The Tree of Life in Gadhelic Legend. Its teaching might be summarised: Thou shalt not break off the branches from the Tree of Life, nor attempt to uproot it; in the day that thou disturbest it thou shalt surely die. Its guardian is the serpent, the Dragon-Snake (the Mother of Mankind possibly thus typified).
18:2 Fraoch's mead, "i.e."
19:1 From the Book of the Dean of Lismore after Dr Cameron's transcription and transliteration in "Reliqui Celtic" (i. 63). His transliteration is in several places corrected; mac Fhiodhaich is dialectal for mac Fhiodhaidh, mac Idhaidh, old nominative Idad.
19:2 Shiar?
19:3 \"Recte" Maoidhbh.
21:1 \"Recte" Ailell.
23:1 Amsy = aimiseachd; aimsiughadh, "temptation": fascination? N aimcheist mhr a bha na dhiaidh ("Gillies; MacLagan").
23:2 A Bheithir gharg is miosa nimh (Cameron's "Reliq. Celt.", i., p. 225).
25:1 or, ach = howsoever.
27:1 na chodaibh un (traditional variant).
29:1 Yr lak (Dean of Lismores spelling). A plant is apparently meant as in the other lines: "feith woodbine, honeysuckle (Hogans Luibhleabhrn): "partan", "berry of the mountain ash" ("ib"., p. 60).
