Aided Muirchertaig meic Erca (tr. Wh. Stokes, Work in progress)

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Aided Muirchertaig meic Erca (tr. Wh. Stokes, Work in progress) Edited by Whitley Stokes Corrigenda in Revue Celtique 24 (1903) by Whitley Stokes Addenda en corrigenda in Revue Celtique 27 (1906) by Whitley Stokes Emendation by Tomás Ó Concheanainn in Éigse 15 (1973) remains to be incorporated. Transcribed by DG. When Muirchertach son of Muiredach, son of Eoganson of Niall of the Nine Hostages., king of Ireland, was in the House of Cletechsee the Dindsenchas, Rev. celt., XVI, 66., over the brink at Boyne of the Brughnear Stackallan Bridge, Co. Meath., — and he had a spouse, Duaibsech daughter of Duach Dui Brazentongueslain A. D. 499., king of Connaught — that king came forth one day to hunt on the border of the Brugh, and his hunting companions left him alone on his hunting-mound. He had not been there long when he saw a solitary damsel beautifully formed, fair-headed, bright-skinned, with a green mantle about her, sitting near him on the turfen mound ; and it seemed to him that of womankind he had never beheld her equal in beauty and refinement. So that all his body and his nature filled with love for her, for gazing at her it seemed to him that he would give the whole of Ireland for one night's loan of her, so utterly did he love her at sight. And he welcomed her as if she were known to him, and he asked tidings of her. I will tell thee, she said. I am the darling of Muirchertach son of ErcMuirchertach’s mother. Here, as in the names Conchobar mac Nessa, etc., we seem to have a trace of matriarchy. See the Martyrology of Oengus, p. 22, note 3., king of Erin, and to seek him I came here. That seemed good to Muirchertach, and he said to her : Dost thou know me, O damsel ? saith he. I do, she answers ; for skilled am I in places more secret than this, and known to me are thou and the other men of Erin. Wilt thou come with me, O damsel ? says Muirchertach. I would go, she answers, provided my guerdon be good. I will give thee power over me all I can, O damsel, says Mac Erca. Thy word for this ! rejoins the damsel. And he gave it at once, and she uttered the stave : This is power that is opportune, but for the teachings of the clerics, etc. I will give thee a hundred of every herd, and a hundred drinking-horns, and a hundred cups, und a hundred rings of gold, and a feast every other night in the House of Cletech. Nay, says the damsel. Not so shall it be. But my name must never be uttered by thee, and Duaibsech, the mother of thy children, must not be in my sight, and the clerics must never enter the house that I am in. (All this) thou shalt have, says the king, for I pledged thee my word; but it were easier for me to give thee half of Ireland. And tell me truly, says the king, what name is on thee, so that we may could avoid it by not uttering it. And she said : Sigh, Sough, Storm, Rough wind, Winter-night, Cry, Wail, Groan. Sp then he uttered this lay below : Tell me thy name, O damsel, thou most beloved, starbright lady! etc. Each of those things was promised to her, and thus he pledged (himself) she bound him. Then they went together to the House of Cletech. Good was the arrangement of that house, and good were its family and its household, and ail the nobles of the Children of Niall cheerfully and spiritedly, gaily and gladly consuming the tribute and wealth of every province in the trophied House of Cletech above the brink of the salmonful, ever-beautiful Boyne, and over the border of the green-topped Brugh. Now when Sín saw the house with its family she said : Good is the house we have come to! quoth she. It is good, says the king; and never has there been built for TaraDindṡenchas. Rev. celt., XV, 277. or for Naas Dinds. Rev. celt., XV, 518., or for Craeb ruaida palace in Emain, Wind. Wtb., p. 880., or for Emain Machanow the Navan fort, near Armagh. Rev. celt., XVI, 283., or for Ailech NeitSee infra § 12., or for Cletech a house the like of it. And give thou a testimony as to this house, says the king. So she said : Never has been built by a king over flood as seems to us a house like thy home above the Boyne, etc. What shall be done there now ? demands the damsel. That which thou desirest, replied Muiredach Muichertach. If so, saith Sín, let Duaibsech and her children go forth from the house, and let a man of every craft and art in Ireland come with his wife into the drinking-hall. Thus was it done, and each began praising his own craft and art, and a stave was made by every craftsman and artist who was therein : Delightful, delightful the noble realm, of Erin's land, great is its rank, etc. When the drinking ended Sín said to Muirchertach. It is time now to leave the House to me, as hath been promised. Then she put the Clans of Niall, and Duaibsech with her children, forth out of Cletech; and this is their number of them, both men and women, two equally great and gallant battalions. Duaibsech went with her children from Cletech to Tuilén, to seek her soulfriend, the holy bishop Cairnech. When she got to Cairnech she uttered these words : O cleric, bless my body, I am afraid of death tonight, etc. Go thou thyself, O cleric there to (the Children of) Eogan and Conall, etc. Thereafter Cairnech came to the Children of Eogan and Conall, and they went back together to Cletech, but Sín did not let them allow them to be let near the fortress. At this act the Children of Niall were distressed and mournful. Then Cairnech is greatly angered, and he cursed the steading, and made a grave for the king, and said : He whose grave this is hath fînished ; and truly it is an end to his realm and his princedom ! And he went on the top of the grave, and said : The mound of these bells for ever This (will be) the Mound of the Bells for ever henceforward every one will know, the grave of the champion Mac Erca : not slack have been his goings. A curse upon this hill, on Cletty with hundreds of troops ! may neither its corn nor its milk be good, may it be full of hatred and evil plight ! May neither king nor prince be in it, may no one come out of it victoriously thankfully ! during my day I shall remember the king of Erin's grave in the mound. So then Cairnech cursed the fortress and blessed a place struck his bell therein, and thereafter he came forth in grief and sorrow. Howbeit the Clans of Niall said to him. Bless us now, O cleric, that we may go to our own country, for we are not guilty as regards thee. Cairnech blessed them and left leavings to them, namely, to the clans of Conall and Eogan, that whenever they had not the leadership or the kingship of Ireland, their power should be over every province around them ; and that they should have the succession of Ailech and Tara and Ulaid ; and that they should take no wage from any one, for this is their own inhérent right, the kingship of Ireland; and that they should be without fetter on bostage, and that there should be decay on the hostages when they abscond ; and that they should gain victory in battle provided it is delivered for a just cause, and that they should have three standards, namely, the Cathach and the Bell of Patrick (i. e. of the Bequest), and the Misach Cairnig, and that the grace of ail these reliquaries should be on (any) one of them against battle, as Cairnech left to them, saying : My blessing on you till doomsday, O Children of Niall wontedly, etc. Each of them went into his stronghold and his own good steading. Touching Cairnech: he came on towards his monastery, and there met him great hosts, namely, the race of Tadg son of Cian, son of Ailill Ôlomm. And they brought Cairnech with them to make their arrangement and their treaty with Muirchertach mac Erca; and when the king was told of this, he came forth from the steading and bade them welcome. Howbeit, when Muirchertach espied the cleric with them, there came a great blush from him, and he exclaimed : Why hast thou come to us, thou cieric, after cursing us ? I have came come, he answered, to make peace between the race of Tadg son of Cian and the race of Eogan son of Niall. Then a treaty is made between them, and Cairnech mingles the blood of both of them in one vessel, and wrote how they had made the treaty then. And Muirchertach said (to Cairnech) : Go, thou cleric, afar, be not near, against our will, etc. Then when the treaty union had been made, and when Cairnech had blessed them all, and left shortness of life and hell to him who should knowingly infringe the treaty, he quitted them and fared forth to his monastery. Howbeit the king went to his stronghold, and those hosts with him, to guard him against in place of the Children of Niall. The king sits on his throne, and Sín sits on his right, and never on earth has there come a woman better than she in shape and appearance. When the king looked on her, he was seeking knowledge and asking questions of her, for it seemed to him that she was a goddess of great power; and he asked her what was the power that she had. So then he spake and she answered : M. Tell me, thou ready damsel, believest thou in the God of the clerics? or from whom hast thou sprung in this world, tell us thy origin. S. I believe in the same true God (helper) of my body against death's attack ; ye cannot work in this world a miracle of which I could not work its like. I am the daughter of a man and a woman of the race of Eve and Adam ; I am fit for thee here, let no regret that no regret may seize thee. I could create a sun and a moon, and radiant stars: I could create men fiercely fighting in conflict. I could make wine — no falsehood — of the Boyne, as I can obtain it and sheep of stones, and swine of ferns. I could make silver and gold in the presence of the great hosts : I could make famous men now for thee — and say ! Work for us, says the king, some of these great miracles. Then Sín went forth and arrayed two battalions equally great, equally strong, equally gallant; and it seemed to them that never came on earth two battalions thaï were bolder and more heroic than they, slaughtering and maiming and swiftly killing each other in the presence of every one. Seëst thou yon? says the damsel; and meseems that my power is in no wise a fraud. I see, says Muirchertach, and he said : I see two battalions bold and fair on the plain in strife, etc. Then the king with his household comes into the fortress. When they had been a while seeing the fighting, some of the water of the Boyne was brought to them, and the king told the damsel to make wine thereout. The damsel then filled three casks with the water, and casts a spell into them ; and it seemed to the king and his household that never came on earth wine of better taste or strength. So of the fern she made fictitious swine of enchantment, and then she gave the wine and the swine to the host, and they partook of them until, as they supposed, they were sated. Howbeit, she promised that she would give them for ever and ever the same amount; whereupon Muirchertach said : Hitherto never has come here food like the food ye see, etc. So the race of Tadg son of Cian, when the partaking of the magical feast had ended, kept watch over the king that night. When he rose on the morrow he was thus : as if he were in a decline, and so was every one else who had partaken of the wine and the fictitious magical flesh which Sín had arranged for that feast. And the king said : damsel, my strength has departed, my final grave has almost come, etc. Then the king said to her : Shew us something of thine art, O damsel ! I will do so, indeed, quoth she. They fared forth, that is, Muirchertach and ail the hosts in his presence. Then Sín made of the stones blue men, and others with heads of goats ; so that there were four great battalions under arms before him on the green of the Brugh. Muirchertach then seizes his arms and his battledress, and went among them like a swift, angry, mad bull, and forthwith takes to slaughtering them and maiming them, and every man of them that he killed used to rise up after him at once. And thus he was killing them through the fair day till night. Though great were the rage and wrath of the king, he was wearied thus, and then he said : I see a marvel on that side on the bushy pools of the river, etc. So when the king was weary fighting and smiting the hosts, he comes sadly into the fort, and Sin gave him magical wine and magical swine. He and his household partake of them, and at the end he sleeps heavily till morning, and when rising there on the morrow he had neither strength nor vigour : as he said : I am without strength, thou gentle lady, etc. Give, says the chaste cleric, etc. As they were saying this, they heard the heavy shout of the hosts and the multitudes, calling Muirchertach forth and challenging him to battle. Then in his presence in the Brugh were two battalions equally great, to wit, blue men in one of the two and headless men in the other. Muirchertach was enraged at the challenge of the hosts, and he rose up suddenly, and fell strengthlessly on the floor, and uttered the lay : A heavy shout, a noise which hosts make, a battalion of blue men to the north of us, Headless men who begin battle in the glen to the south of us. Weak is my strength : unto a host, 'twas many times that I hâve brought victory, Great the host, stark their division, rude their name, rough their shout Then he went into the Brugh and charged through the hosts, and took to slaughtering and maiming them lengthily for far into the day. There came Sín to them and gives Muirchertach kingship over them, and he rests they cease from battling. There after the king fares forth to Cletech, and Sín formed two great battalions between him and the fortress. When he saw them he charged through them and began to do battle against them. Now when he was delivering that battle, then Cairnech sent Masán and Casán and Cridan to seek him, so that he might hâve God's assistance, for the high saint knew of the oppression which he sufïered at that time. Thereafter the clerics meet him in the Brugh, while he is hacking the stones and the sods and the stalks besides, so then (one of the clerics) said : Cleric: Wherefore dost thou fell the stones Muirchertach, without ground ? we are sad that thou art strengthless according to the will of an idolater working magic. M. The cleric who attacked (?) asked of me I came into conflict with on account of him : I know not furthermore that the stones are not alive. Cleric. Put Christ’s mysterious Cross now over thine eyes : abate for a time thy furies : wherefore dost thou fell the stones? Then the royal soldier's wrath ceases, and his senses come to him, and he puts the sign of the Cross over his face, and then he saw nothing there save the stones and sods of the earth. Thereafter he asked tidings of the clerics, and said : Why come ye ? We came, they answered, to meet thy corpse, for death is near thee. As he said : Why came ye from the church, sons of full-melodious study ? etc. The clerics marked out a church there in the Brugh, and told him to dig its trench in honour of the great Lord of the Elements. It shall be donr, quoth he. Then he began digging the trench, so that it was then for the first time that the green of the Brugh was injured. And he was telling the clerics his own tidings, and making to God a fervent repentance. As he said : I give thanks to Mary’s Son, my wrath has ended here, etc. Since I came over sea to Erin, I remember the number of years, I have never been a day — lasting the fame — without a hero’s head and in the triumph over him, etc. Two years I was east in Alba : I have killed my grandsire : I have brought a host there into troubles : by my deeds Loarn fell. Two years I was afterwards in kingship over Danes : there has been no night there at without the heads of twain on stakes, etc. Now after this confession the clerics blessed water for him, and he partook of the Body of Christ, and made to God a fervent repentance. And he told them to relate to Cainnech how he had made his confession and his repentance. So then he said : Faithful, faithful, a poor body of clay, remember, remember the form of the stag-beetles. The clerics remain for that night in the church of the Brugh, and the king goes to Cletech and sat on there on his lady's right hand. Sín asked him what had interrupted his combat on that day. The clerics came to me, he answered, and they put the sign of the Cross of Christ over my face, and then I saw nothing save fern and stones and puff-balls and sprigs of sanas(?). And since there was no one there to right me I came away. Then Sín said : Never believe the clerics, for they chant nothing save unreason : follow not their unmelodious stave, for they do not reverence righteousness Cleave not to the clerics of churches, if thou desire life without treachery : better am I as a friend here : let not repentance come to thee M. I will be always along with thee, O fair datnsel without evil plight ; likelier to me is thy countenance than the churches of the clerics. Then Sín beguiled his mind and came between him and the teachings of the clerics, and on that night she made a magical wine for the king and his troops. The seventh night she was at her magic, on the eve of Wednesday Tuesday after All-saints-day precisely. When the hosts were intoxicated there comes the sigh of a great wind. This is the sigh (osnad) of a winter-night (gem-adaig), says the king. And Sín said : Tis I am the Rough Wind, a daughter of fair nobles : Winter-night is my name, for every place together. Sigh and Wind : Winter-night thus. After that she caused a great snowstorm there; and never had come a noise of battle that was greater than the shower of thick snow that poured there at that time, and from the northwest precisely it came. Then the king came forth into the hidden house, and went into the house again, and began reproaching the storm ; whereupon he said : Evil is the night tonight, never came one equally bad, etc. When the feasting ended, then the hosts lay down, and in no one of them was the strength of a woman in childbed. Then the king lies down on his couch, and a heavy sleep falls upon him. So he makes a great screaming out of his slumber and awoke from his sleep. What is that ? says the damsel. A great host of démons has appeared to me : he answers; whereupon he said : A Form of red fire has appeared to me, etc. The house of Cletech as a fatal fire : round my head blazing for ever, the Children of Niall in wrongful suffering impotence through the spells ofwitches, etc. The cry of a mighty host under red fire; this is what appeared to me. The king rises up, for the vision which he beheld did not let him sleep, and he came forth out of the house, and in the church in the Brugh he sees a little fire by the clerics. To them then he came and said : There is neither strength nor vigour in me to-night. And he related his vision and his dream. And 'tis hard for me, quoth he, to shew prowess tonight even though hosts of outlanders should attack me, because of the weakness in which we are and the badness of the night. So then the clerics began instructing him. He came in at once and there he said : M. Full evil is this storm tonight to the clerics in their camp : they dare not ever sleep, from the roughness of the night's storms (sín). Sín : Why sayest thou my name, O man, O son of Erc and Muiredach ? thou wilt find death — feast without disgrace — sleep not in the House of Cletty. M. Tell me, thou griefless lady, what number of the host falls by me? hide it not from me, tell without commandment, what number will fall by my right hand ? S. No one will fall by thee on the floor, O son of Erc of the high ranks : thou, O king, hast surely ended : thy strength has gone to nought. M. A great defect is my being without strength, O noble Sín of the many forms, often have I killed a fierce warrior, though tonight I am in oppression. S. Many have fallen by thine effort, O son of Loarn's daughter ! thou hast brought a multitude of hosts to silence, alas, that thou art in evil case ! That is true, O damsel, says he : death is nigh me; for it was foretold that my death and the death of Loarn my grandsire would be alike; for nowise in battle did he fall, but no doubt he was burnt alive. Sleep then tonight, says the damsel, and leave to me to watch thee and to guard thee from the hosts ; and, if it is thy fate, the house will not be burnt over me to night. Truly there is coming with designs upon us Tuathal Maelgarb son of Cormac the Blind-of-an-eye, son of Cairbre, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. Though Tuathal with all his hosts be coming with designs upon thee, have thou no fear of him tonight, says the damsel, and sleep now. Then he went into his bed and asked the damsel for a drink, and she cast a sleep-charm on that deceptive wine, so that he drank a draught of it, and it made him drunk and feeble, without sap or strength. Then he slept heavily and he sees a vision there, to wit, that he went in a ship to sea, and his ship foundered, and a taloned griffin came to him and carried him into her nest, and then he and the nest were burnt, and the griffin fell with by him. The king awoke and ordered his vision to be taken to his fosterbrother, Dub dá rind, the son of the druid Saignén, and Dub dá rind gave the rede thereof (thus) : This is the ship wherein thou hast been, quoth he, to wit, the ship of thy princedom on the sea of life, and thou a-steering the princedom; and this is the ship that foundered foundering of the ship, thou to be offered(?) and thy life to come (to an end). This is the taloned griffin that has carried thee into her nest, the woman that is in thy company, to make thee intoxicated, and to bring thee with her into her bed, and to detain thee in the House of Cletech so that it will be burnt upon thee. [Now the griffin that fell with thee is the woman who will die by reason of thee. This then is the rede of that vision.] [H. 2. 7, p. 212 b] The king then sleeps heavily after Sín had cast the sleep-charm upon him. Now while he was in that sleep Sín rose up and arranged the spears and javelins of the hosts in readiness(?) in the doors, and then (turned) all their points towards the house. She forms (by magic) many crowds and multitudes around the fortress. She herself goes in and scatters fire in every direction throughout the house and the side-walls, and then she enters the bed. 'Twas then the king awoke from his sleep. What is that? asked the damsel. A host of demons has appeared to me, burning the house upon me, and slaughtering my people at the door. Thou hast no hurt from that, says the damsel, save that it has appeared. Now when they were thus in converse they heard the crash of the burning house, and the shout of the host of demons and wizardry around it. Who is around the house ? asked the king. Says Sín : Tuathal Maelgarb, son of Cormac the Blind-of-an-eye, son of Carbre, son of Niall, with his armies. He is there taking vengeance on thee for the battle of Granard. And the king knew not that this was untrue, and that no corporeal host was surrounding the house. Then he rises swiftly and comes to seek his arms, and found no one to answer him. The damsel goes forth front the house, and he follows her at once, and he meets(?) a host in front of him, so that he went heavily through them. From the door he returns to his bed. The hosts thereupon went forth, and no one of them escaped without wounding or burning. Then the king came again towards the door, and between him and it were the embers and the hails of fire. When the fire had filled the doorway and all the house around, and he found no shelter for himself, he got into a cask of wine, and therein he is drowned, as he went under it, every second hour, for dread of the fire. Then the fire falls on his head, and five feet (length) of him is burnt; but the wine keeps the rest of his body without burning. The day after, when the morning came, the clerics, Masan and Casan and Cridan, go before the king, and carry him to the Boyne, and wash his corpse therein. So Cairnech with his monks thereupon visits him, and the saint himself made great grief in bewailing him, and bore witness of him, and said: A great loss to Ireland today is Mac Erca, one of the four best men that have gained possession of Erin without trickery and without force, namely Muirchertach mac Erca, and Niall of the Nine Hostages, Conn of the Hundred Battles, and Ugaine the Great. [YBL., col. 318, l. 14] The body is afterwards lifted up by Cairnech, to be carried to Tuilén and there interred. Then Duaibsech, the wife of Muirchertach, met the clerics while the corpse was among them, and she made a great, mournful lamentation, and struck her palms together, and leant her back against the ancient tree in Oenach Reil ; and a burst of gore broke from her heart in her chest, and straightway she died of grief for her husband. Then the clerics put the queen's corpse along with the corpse of the king. And then said Cairnech : Duaibsech Mac Erca's noble wife, let her grave be dug by you here, etc. Thereafter the queen is buried and her grave is dug. Then the king is buried near the temple on the north side, and Cairnech was declaring the king's character, and uttered this lay : The grave of the king of Ailech will abide for ever, in Tuilén, every one will hear it, etc. When the clerics had finished the burial, they saw coming to them a lonely woman, beautiful and shining, robed in a green mantle with its fringe of golden thread. A smock of priceless silk was about her. Then she reached the place wherein the clerics were, and saluted them, and so the clerics saluted her. And they perceived upon her an appearance of sadness and sorrow, and they recognised that she it was that had ruined the king. Cairnech was asking tidings of her, and said : Tell us thy origin, O damsel without darkening, thou hast wrought our shame though beauteous is thy body : thou hast killed the king of Tara, with many of his households, by an awful, evil deed, etc. Then the clerics were asking her who she herself was, or who was her father or her mother, and what cause she had from the king when she ruined him as aforesaid. Sín, she replied, is my name, and Sige son of Dian, son of Trén, is my father. Muirchertach mac Erca killed my father, my mother and my sister in the battle of Cerb on Boyne, and also destroyed in that battle ail the Old-Tribes of Tara and my fatherland . So then Cairnech said : Say, O Sín, a say without question, tell truly who was thy father, etc. Not dearer to thee was thine own father than Muirchertach, Niall's descendant, etc. Sín. Myself will die of grief for him, the high king of the west of the world, (and) for the guilt of the sore tribulations that I brought on the sovran of Erin : I made poison for him, alas ! which overpowered the king of the noble hosts, etc. Then she confessed to Cairnech, and to God she made fervent repentance, as had been taught her, and she went in obedience to Cairnech, and straightway died there of grief for the king. So Cairnech said that a grave should be made for her, and that she should be put under the sward of the earth. It was done as the cleric ordered, and he said : Sín, not dear were her doings until this day in which we are, etc. Touching Cairnech, now, he shewed great care for Muirchertach's soul, but he did not bring it out of hell. Howbeit he composed the prayer which from its beginningis named Parce mihi Domine, etc., and he repeated it continually for sake of the soul of the king, so that (at last) the soul was given to him out of hell. Whereupon the angel came to Cairnech and told him that whoever should sing that prayer continually would without doubt be a dweller in heaven. So then said the angel : Whoever should sing strongly the prayer of Cairnech of the mysteries 'twould be enough to succour Judas, who was the worst ever born, etc. So far the Death of Muirchertach, as Cairnech related it, and Tigernach and Ciaran and Mochta and Tuathal Maelgarb ; and it was written and revised by those holy clerics, commemorating it for every one from that time to this. It endeth.

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Aided Muirchertaig meic Erca (tr. Stokes)

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Aided Muirchertaig meic Erca

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English translation by Wh. Stokes.

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No

References

Stokes, Whitley, “The death of Muirchertach mac Erca”, Revue Celtique 23 (1902)

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		<p>When Muirchertach son of Muiredach, son of Eogan<note n="1" place="bottom" resp="#stokes">son of Niall of the Nine Hostages.</note>, king of Ireland, was in the House of Cletech<note n="2" place="bottom" resp="#stokes">see the Dindsenchas, Rev. celt., XVI, 66.</note>, over the brink at Boyne of the Brugh<note n="3" place="bottom" resp="#stokes">near Stackallan Bridge, Co. Meath.</note>, — and he had a spouse, Duaibsech daughter of <choice><sic>Duach</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">Dui</corr></choice> Brazentongue<note n="4" place="bottom" resp="#stokes">slain A. D. 499.</note>, king of Connaught — that king came forth one day to hunt on the border of the Brugh, and his hunting companions left him alone on his hunting-mound.</p> 
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s2" n="2" type="section">
		<p>He had not been there long when he saw a solitary damsel beautifully formed, fair-headed, bright-skinned, with a green mantle about her, sitting near him on the turfen mound ; and it seemed to him that of womankind he had <pb n="399" />never beheld her equal in beauty and refinement. So that all his body and his nature filled with love for her, for gazing at her it seemed to him that he would give the whole of Ireland for one night's loan of her, so utterly did he love her at sight. And he welcomed her as if she were known to him, and he asked tidings of her. </p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s3" n="3" type="section">
		<p><said>I will tell thee</said>, she said. <said>I am the darling of Muirchertach son of Erc<note n="1" place="bottom" resp="#stokes">Muirchertach’s mother. Here, as in the names Conchobar mac Nessa, etc., we seem to have a trace of matriarchy. See the <title>Martyrology of Oengus</title>, p. 22, note 3.</note>, king of Erin, and to seek him I came here.</said> That seemed good to Muirchertach, and he said to her : <said>Dost thou know me, O damsel ?</said> saith he. <said>I do</said>, she answers ; <said>for skilled am I in places more secret than this, and known to me are thou and the other men of Erin.</said> <said>Wilt thou come with me, O damsel ?</said> says Muirchertach. <said>I would go</said>, she answers, <said>provided my guerdon be good.</said> <said>I will give thee <choice><sic>power over me</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">all I can</corr></choice>, O damsel,</said> says Mac Erca. <said>Thy word for this !</said> rejoins the damsel. And he gave it at once, and she uttered the stave :</p>
		<lg xml:id="poem1">
			<l n="1">This is power that is opportune, </l>
			<l n="2">but for the teachings of the clerics, etc.</l> 
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s4" n="4" type="section">
		<p><said>I will give thee a hundred of every herd, and a hundred drinking-horns, and a hundred cups, und a hundred rings of gold, and a feast every other night in the House of Cletech</said>. <said>Nay</said>, says the damsel. <said>Not so shall it be. But my name must never be uttered by thee, and Duaibsech, the mother of thy children, must not be in my sight, and the clerics must never enter the house that I am in</said>. <said>(All this) thou shalt have</said>, says the king, <said>for I pledged thee my word; but it were easier for me to give thee half of Ireland. And tell me truly</said>, says the king, <said>what name is on thee, so that we <choice><sic>may</sic> <corr resp="stokes1903">could</corr></choice> avoid it by not uttering it</said>.
		</p>
		<pb n="401"/> 
		And she said : <said>Sigh, Sough, Storm, Rough wind, Winter-night, Cry, Wail, Groan</said>. Sp then he uttered this lay below : 
		<lg xml:id="poem2">
			<l n="1">Tell me thy name, O damsel, </l>
			<l n="2">thou most beloved, starbright lady! etc.</l> 
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s5" n="5" type="section">
		<p>Each of those things was promised to her, and thus <choice><sic>he pledged (himself)</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1903">she bound him</corr></choice>. Then they went together to the House of Cletech. Good was the arrangement of that house, and good were its family and its household, and ail the nobles of the Children of Niall cheerfully and spiritedly, gaily and gladly consuming the tribute and wealth of every province in the trophied House of Cletech above the brink of the salmonful, ever-beautiful Boyne, and over the border of the green-topped Brugh. </p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s6" n="6" type="section">
		<p>Now when Sín saw the house with its family she said : <said>Good is the house we have come to!</said> quoth she. <said>It <emph>is</emph> good</said>, says the king; <said>and never has there been built for Tara<note n="1" place="bottom" resp="#stokes">Dind&sdot;enchas. <title>Rev. celt.</title>, XV, 277.</note> or for Naas <note n="2" place="bottom" resp="#stokes">Dinds. <title>Rev. celt.</title>, XV, 518.</note>, or for Craeb ruaid<note n="3" place="bottom" resp="#stokes">a palace in Emain, Wind. Wtb., p. 880.</note>, or for Emain Macha<note n="4" place="bottom" resp="#stokes">now the Navan fort, near Armagh. <title>Rev. celt.</title>, XVI, 283.</note>, or for Ailech Neit<note n="5" place="bottom" resp="#stokes">See infra § 12.</note>, or for Cletech a house the like of it. And give thou a testimony as to this house</said>, says the king. So she said : 
		</p>
		<lg xml:id="poem3">
			<l n="1">Never has been built by a king <choice><sic>over flood</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1903">as seems to us</corr></choice> </l>
			<l n="2">a house like thy home above the Boyne, etc. </l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s7" n="7" type="section">
		<p><said>What shall be done there now ?</said> demands the damsel.</p>
		<p><said>That which thou desirest</said>, replied <choice><sic>Muiredach</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">Muichertach</corr></choice>.</p>
		<p><said>If so</said>, saith Sín, <said>let Duaibsech and her children go forth from the house, and let a man of every craft and art in Ireland come with his wife into the drinking-hall.</said> Thus was it done, and each began praising his own craft and art, and a stave was made by every craftsman and artist who was therein : </p>
		<pb n="403" />
		<lg xml:id="poem4">
			<l n="1">Delightful, delightful the noble realm, </l>
			<l n="2">of Erin's land, great is its rank, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s8" n="8" type="section">
		<p>When the drinking ended Sín said to Muirchertach. <said>It is time now to leave the House to me, as hath been promised.</said></p>
		<p>Then she put the Clans of Niall, and Duaibsech with her children, forth out of Cletech; and this is their number of them, both men and women, two equally great and gallant battalions. </p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s9" n="9" type="section">
		<p>Duaibsech went with her children from Cletech to Tuilén, to seek her soulfriend, the holy bishop Cairnech<note n="1"></note>. When she got to Cairnech she uttered these words : </p>
		<lg xml:id="poem5.1">
				<l n="1">O cleric, bless my body, </l>
				<l n="2">I am afraid of death tonight, etc. </l>
		</lg>
		<lg xml:id="poem5.2">
				<l>Go thou thyself, O cleric there </l>
				<l>to (the Children of) Eogan and Conall<note n="2"></note>, etc. </l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s10" n="10" type="section">
		<p>Thereafter Cairnech came to the Children of Eogan and Conall, and they went back together to Cletech, but Sín did not <choice><sic>let them</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1903">allow them to be let</corr></choice> near the fortress. At this act the Children of Niall were distressed and mournful. Then Cairnech is greatly angered, and he cursed the steading, and made a grave for the king, and said : <said> He whose grave this is hath fînished ; and truly it is an end to his realm and his princedom ! </said> And he went on the top of the grave, and said : </p>
		<lg xml:id="poem6">
			<l><choice><sic>The mound of these bells<note n="3"></note> for ever</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">This (will be) the Mound of the Bells for ever</corr></choice> </l>
			<l>henceforward every one will know, </l>
			<l>the grave of the champion Mac Erca : </l>
			<l>not slack have been his goings. </l>
			<l>A curse upon this hill, </l>
			<l>on Cletty with hundreds of troops ! </l>
			<l>may neither its corn nor its milk be good, </l>
			<l>may it be full of hatred and evil plight ! </l>
			<pb n="405" />
			<l>May neither king nor prince be in it,</l>
			<l>may no one come out of it <choice><sic>victoriously</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">thankfully</corr></choice> ! </l>
			<l>during my day I shall remember </l>
			<l>the king of Erin's grave in the mound<note n="1"></note>.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s11" n="11" type="section">
		<p>So then Cairnech cursed the fortress and <choice><sic>blessed a place</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">struck his bell</corr></choice> therein, and thereafter he came forth in grief and sorrow. Howbeit the Clans of Niall said to him. <said>Bless us now, O cleric, that we may go to our own country, for we are not guilty as regards thee</said>. 
		</p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s12" n="12" type="section">
		<p>Cairnech blessed them and <said>left leavings</said> to them, namely, to the clans of Conall and Eogan, that whenever they had not the leadership or the kingship of Ireland, their power should be over every province around them ; and that they should have the succession of Ailech<note n="2"></note> and Tara and Ulaid ; and that they should take no wage from any one, for this is their own inhérent right, the kingship of Ireland; and that they should be without fetter on bostage<note n="3"></note>, and that there should be decay on the hostages when they abscond ; and that they should gain victory in battle provided it is delivered for a just cause, and that they should have three standards, namely, the Cathach and the Bell of Patrick (i. e. of the Bequest), and the Misach Cairnig<note n="4"></note>, and that the grace of ail these reliquaries should be on (any) one of them against battle, as Cairnech left to them, saying : </p>
		<lg xml:id="s12.verse">
			<l n="1">My blessing on you till doomsday, </l>
			<l n="2">O Children of Niall wontedly, etc. </l>
		</lg>
		<p>Each of them went into his stronghold and his own good steading. </p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s13" n="13" type="section">
		<p>Touching Cairnech: he came on towards his monas<pb n="407"/>tery, and there met him great hosts, namely, the race of Tadg<note n="1"></note> son of Cian, son of Ailill Ôlomm<note n="2"></note>. And they brought Cairnech with them to make their arrangement and their treaty with Muirchertach mac Erca; and when the king was told of this, he came forth from the steading and bade them welcome.
		</p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s14" n="14" type="section">
		<p>Howbeit, when Muirchertach espied the cleric with them, there came a great blush from him, and he exclaimed : <said>Why hast thou come to us, thou cieric, after cursing us ?</said> <said>I have <choice><sic>came</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1903">come</corr></choice></said>, he answered, <said>to make peace between the race of Tadg son of Cian and the race of Eogan son of Niall.</said></p>
		<p>Then a treaty is made between them, and Cairnech mingles the blood of both of them in one vessel, and wrote how they had made the treaty then. And Muirchertach said (to Cairnech) : </p>
		<lg xml:id="poem13">
			<l>Go, thou cleric, afar, </l>
			<l>be not near, against our will<note n="3"></note>, etc. </l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s15" n="15" type="section">
		<p>Then when the <choice><sic>treaty</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">union</corr></choice> had been made, and when Cairnech had blessed them all, and left shortness of life and hell to him who should knowingly infringe the treaty, he quitted them and fared forth to his monastery. Howbeit the king went to his stronghold, and those hosts with him, to guard him <choice><sic>against</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1903">in place of</corr></choice> the Children of Niall. </p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s16" n="16" type="section">
		<p>The king sits on his throne, and Sín sits on his right, and never on earth has there come a woman better than she in shape and appearance. When the king looked on her, he was seeking knowledge and asking questions of her, for it seemed to him that she was a goddess of great power; and he asked her what was the power that she had. So then he spake and she answered :</p>
		<p>M.</p>
		<lg>
			<l>Tell me, thou ready damsel, </l>
			<l>believest thou in the God of the clerics?</l>
			<l>or from whom hast thou sprung in this world, </l>
			<l>tell us thy origin. </l>
		</lg>
		<pb n="409" />
		<p>S.</p>
		<lg>
			<l>I believe in the same true God </l>
			<l>(helper) of my body against death's attack ; </l>
			<l>ye cannot work in this world a miracle </l>
			<l>of which I could not work its like. </l>
			<l>I am the daughter of a man and a woman </l>
			<l>of the race of Eve and Adam ; </l>
			<l>I am fit for thee here, </l>
			<l><choice><sic>let no regret</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1903">that no regret may</corr></choice> seize thee. </l>
			<l>I could create a sun and a moon, </l>
			<l>and radiant stars:</l> 
			<l>I could create men fiercely </l>
			<l>fighting in conflict. </l>
			<l>I could make wine — no falsehood — </l>
			<l>of the Boyne, as I can obtain it<note n="1"></note> </l>
			<l>and sheep of stones, </l>
			<l>and swine of ferns. </l>
			<l>I could make silver and gold </l>
			<l>in the presence of the great hosts : </l>
			<l>I could make famous men </l>
			<l>now for thee — and say !</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s17" n="17" type="section" >
		<p>
			<said>Work for us</said>, says the king, <said>some of these great miracles.</said> Then Sín went forth and arrayed two battalions equally great, equally strong, equally gallant; and it seemed to them that never came on earth two battalions thaï were bolder and more heroic than they, slaughtering and maiming and swiftly killing each other in the presence of every one. 
		</p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s18" n="18" type="section" >
		<p><said>Seëst thou yon?</said> says the damsel; <said>and meseems that my power is in no wise a fraud.</said> <said>I see</said>, says Muirchertach, and he said :</p>
		<lg>
			<l>I see two battalions bold and fair </l>
			<l>on the plain in strife, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s19" n="19" type="section" >
		<p>Then the king with his household comes into the fortress. When they had been a while seeing the fighting, some of the water of the Boyne was brought to them, and the king told the damsel to make wine thereout. The damsel then filled three casks with the water, and casts a spell into them ; and it seemed to the king and his household that never came on earth wine of better taste or strength. So of the fern she <pb n="411" />made fictitious swine of enchantment, and then she gave the wine and the swine to the host, and they partook of them until, as they supposed, they were sated. Howbeit, she promised that she would give them for ever and ever the same amount; whereupon Muirchertach said : </p>
			<lg>
				<l>Hitherto never has come here </l>
				<l>food like the food ye see, etc. </l>
			</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s20" n="20" type="section" >
		<p>So the race of Tadg son of Cian, when the partaking of the magical feast had ended, kept watch over the king that night. When he rose on the morrow he was thus : as if he were in a decline, and so was every one else who had partaken of the wine and the fictitious magical flesh which Sín had arranged for that feast. And the king said : </p>
		<lg>
			<l>damsel, my strength has departed, </l>
			<l>my final grave has almost come, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s21" n="21" type="section" >
		<p>Then the king said to her : <said>Shew us something of thine art, O damsel !</said> <said>I will do so, indeed</said>, quoth she. They fared forth, that is, Muirchertach and ail the hosts in his presence. Then Sín made of the stones blue men, and others with heads of goats<note n="1"></note> ; so that there were four great battalions under arms before him on the green of the Brugh. Muirchertach then seizes his arms and his battledress, and went among them like a swift, angry, mad bull, and forthwith takes to slaughtering them and maiming them, and every man of them that he killed used to rise up after him at once. And thus he was killing them through the fair day till night. Though great were the rage and wrath of the king, he was wearied thus, and then he said : </p>
		<lg>
			<l>I see a marvel on that side </l>
			<l>on the bushy pools of the river, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s22" n="22" type="section" >
		<p>So when the king was weary fighting and smiting the hosts, he comes sadly into the fort, and Sin gave him magical <pb n="413" />wine and magical swine. He and his household partake of them, and at the end he sleeps heavily till morning, and when rising there on the morrow he had neither strength nor vigour : as he said : </p>
		<lg>
			<l>I am without strength, thou gentle lady, etc. </l>
			
			<l>Give, says the chaste cleric, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s23" n="23" type="section" >
		<p>As they were saying this, they heard the heavy shout of the hosts and the multitudes, calling Muirchertach forth and challenging him to battle. Then in his presence in the Brugh were two battalions equally great, to wit, blue men in one of the two and headless men in the other. Muirchertach was enraged at the challenge of the hosts, and he rose up suddenly, and fell strengthlessly on the floor, and uttered the lay :</p>
		<lg>
			<l>A heavy shout, a noise which hosts make,</l>
			<l>a battalion of blue men to the north of us,</l>
			<l>Headless men who begin battle</l>
			<l>in the glen to the south of us.</l>
			<l>Weak is my strength : unto a host,</l>
			<l>'twas many times that I hâve brought victory,</l>
			<l>Great the host, stark their division,</l>
			<l>rude their name, rough their shout</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s24" n="24" type="section" >
		<p>Then he went into the Brugh and charged through the hosts, and took to slaughtering and maiming them <choice><sic>lengthily for</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1903"></corr>far into</choice> the day. There came Sín to them and gives Muirchertach kingship over them, and <choice><sic>he rests</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1903">they cease</corr></choice> from battling. There after the king fares forth to Cletech, and Sín formed two great battalions between him and the fortress. When he saw them he charged through them and began to do battle against them.</p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s25" n="25" type="section" >
		<p>Now when he was delivering that battle, then Cairnech sent Masán and Casán and Cridan to seek him, so that he might hâve God's assistance, for the high saint knew of the oppression which he sufïered at that time. Thereafter the clerics meet him in the Brugh, while he is hacking the stones and the sods and the stalks besides, so then (one of the clerics) said :</p>
		<pb n="415" />
		<p>Cleric:</p>
		<lg>
			<l>Wherefore dost thou fell the stones</l>
			<l>Muirchertach, without ground ? </l>
			<l>we are sad that thou art strengthless</l>
			<l>according to the will of an idolater working magic.</l>
		</lg>
		<p>M.</p>
		<lg>
			<l>The cleric who <choice><sic>attacked (?)</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">asked of</corr></choice> me</l>
			<l>I came into conflict <choice><sic>with</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">on account of</corr></choice> him :</l>
			<l>I know not furthermore</l>
			<l>that the stones are not alive.</l>
		</lg>
		<p>Cleric.</p>
		<lg>
			<l>Put Christ’s mysterious Cross</l>
			<l>now over thine eyes :</l>
			<l>abate for a time thy furies :</l> 
			<l>wherefore dost thou fell the stones?</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s26" n="26" type="section">
		<p>Then the royal soldier's wrath ceases, and his senses come to him, and he puts the sign of the Cross over his face, and then he saw nothing there save the stones and sods of the earth. Thereafter he asked tidings of the clerics, and said : <said>Why come ye ?</said> <said>We came</said>, they answered, <said>to meet thy corpse, for death is near thee.</said> As he said :</p>
		<lg>
			<l>Why came ye from the church,</l>
			<l>sons of full-melodious study ? etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s27" n="27" type="section">
		<p>The clerics marked out a church there in the Brugh, and told him to dig its trench in honour of the great Lord of the Elements. <said>It shall be donr</said>, quoth he. Then he began digging the trench, so that it was then for the first time that the green of the Brugh was injured. And he was telling the clerics his own tidings, and making to God a fervent repentance. As he said :</p>
		<lg>
			<l>I give thanks to Mary’s Son, </l>
			<l>my wrath has ended here, etc.</l>
		</lg>
		<lg>
			<l>Since I came over sea to Erin,</l>
			<l>I remember the number of years,</l>
			<l>I have never been a day — lasting the fame —</l>
			<l>without a hero’s head <choice><sic>and</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">in the</corr></choice> triumph over him, etc.</l>
		</lg>
		<lg>
			<l>Two years I was east in Alba :</l>
			<l>I have killed my grandsire :</l>
			<l>I have brought a host there into troubles :</l>
			<l>by my deeds Loarn fell.</l>
		</lg>
		<lg>
			<l>Two years I was afterwards</l>
			<l>in kingship over Danes<note n="1"></note> :</l>
			<pb n="417" />
			<l>there has been no night there at </l>
			<l>without the heads of twain on stakes, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s28" n="28" type="section" >
		<p>Now after this confession the clerics blessed water for him, and he partook of the Body of Christ, and made to God a fervent repentance. And he told them to relate to Cainnech how he had made his confession and his repentance. So then he said :</p>
		<lg>
			<l>Faithful, faithful, a poor body of clay, </l>
			<l>remember, remember the form of the stag-beetles.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s29" n="29" type="section">
		<p>The clerics remain for that night in the church of the Brugh, and the king goes to Cletech and sat on there on his lady's right hand. Sín asked him what had interrupted his combat on that day. <said>The clerics came to me</said>, he answered, <said>and they put the sign of the Cross of Christ over my face, and then I saw nothing save fern and stones and puff-balls and sprigs of <foreign>sanas</foreign>(?). And since there was no one there to right me I came away.</said> </p>
		<p>Then Sín said : </p>
		<lg n="1" type="quatrain">
			<l>Never believe the clerics, </l>
			<l>for they chant nothing save unreason :</l>
			<l>follow not their unmelodious stave, </l>
			<l>for they do not reverence righteousness</l>
		</lg>
		<lg n="2" type="quatrain">
			<l>Cleave not to the clerics of churches,</l>
			<l>if thou desire life without treachery :</l>
			<l>better am I as a friend here : </l>
			<l>let not repentance come to thee</l>
		</lg>
		<p>M.</p>
		<lg type="quatrain">
			<l>I will be always along with thee,</l> 
			<l>O fair datnsel without evil plight ;</l> 
			<l>likelier to me is thy countenance</l> 
			<l>than the churches of the clerics.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s31" n="31" type="section">
		<p>Then Sín beguiled his mind and came between him and the teachings of the clerics, and on that night she made a magical wine for the king and his troops. The seventh night she was at her magic, on the eve of <choice><sic>Wednesday</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">Tuesday</corr></choice> after All-saints-day precisely. When the hosts were intoxicated there comes the sigh of a great wind. <said>This is the sigh (<foreign>osnad</foreign>) of a winter-night (<foreign>gem-adaig</foreign>)</said>, says the king. And Sín said :</p>
		<pb n="419" />
		<lg>
			<l>Tis I am the Rough Wind, a daughter of fair nobles : </l>
			<l>Winter-night is my name, for every place together.</l>
			<l>Sigh and Wind : Winter-night thus.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s32" n="32" type="section">
		<p>After that she caused a great snowstorm there; and never had come a noise of battle that was greater than the shower of thick snow that poured there at that time, and from the northwest precisely it came. Then the king came forth into the hidden house, and went into the house again, and began reproaching the storm ; whereupon he said :</p>
		<lg>
			<l>Evil is the night tonight,</l>
			<l>never came one equally bad, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s33" n="33" type="section">
		<p>When the feasting ended, then the hosts lay down, and in no one of them was the strength of a woman in childbed. Then the king lies down on his couch, and a heavy sleep falls upon him. So he makes a great screaming out of his slumber and awoke from his sleep. <said>What is that ?</said> says the damsel. <said>A great host of démons has appeared to me</said> : he answers; whereupon he said :</p>
		<lg>
			<l>A Form of red fire has appeared to me, etc.</l>
		</lg>
		<lg>
			<l>The house of Cletech as a fatal fire :</l>
			<l>round my head blazing for ever,</l>
			<l>the Children of Niall in <choice><sic>wrongful suffering</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1903">impotence</corr></choice></l>
			<l>through the spells ofwitches, etc.</l>
		</lg>
		<lg>
			<l>The cry of a mighty host under red fire;</l>
			<l>this is what appeared to me.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s34" n="34" type="section">
		<p>The king rises up, for the vision which he beheld did not let him sleep, and he came forth out of the house, and in the church in the Brugh he sees a little fire by the clerics. To them then he came and said : <said>There is neither strength nor vigour in me to-night.</said> And he related his vision and his dream. <said>And 'tis hard for me</said>, quoth he, <said>to shew prowess tonight even though hosts of outlanders should attack me, because of the weakness in which we are and the badness of the night.</said> So then the clerics began instructing him. He came in at once and there he said :</p>
		<p>M.</p>
		<lg type="quatrain">
			<l>Full evil is this storm tonight</l>
			<l>to the clerics in their camp :</l>
			<l>they dare not ever sleep,</l>
			<l>from the roughness of the night's storms (<foreign>sín</foreign>).</l>
		</lg>
		<p>Sín :</p>
		<lg type="quatrain">
			<l>Why sayest thou my name, O man,</l>
			<l>O son of Erc<note n="1"></note> and Muiredach ?</l>
			<l>thou wilt find death — feast without disgrace —</l>
			<l>sleep not in the House of Cletty.</l>
		</lg>
		<p>M. </p>
		<lg type="quatrain">
			<l>Tell me, thou griefless lady,</l>
			<l>what number of the host falls by me?</l>
			<l>hide it not from me, tell without commandment,</l>
			<l>what number will fall by my right hand ? </l>
		</lg>
		<p>S. </p>
		<lg type="quatrain">
			<l>No one will fall by thee on the floor,</l>
			<l>O son of Erc of the high ranks :</l>
			<l>thou, O king, hast surely ended :</l>
			<l>thy strength has gone to nought.</l>
		</lg>
		<p>M. </p>
		<lg type="quatrain">
			<l>A great defect is my being without strength,</l>
			<l>O noble Sín of the many forms,</l>
			<l>often have I killed a fierce warrior,</l>
			<l>though tonight I am in oppression. </l>
		</lg>
		<p>S. </p>
		<lg type="quatrain">
			<l>Many have fallen by thine effort,</l>
			<l>O son of Loarn's daughter !</l>
			<l>thou hast brought a multitude of hosts to silence,</l>
			<l>alas, that thou art in evil case !</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s35" n="35" type="section">
		<p><said>That is true, O damsel</said>, says he : <said>death is nigh me; for it was foretold that my death and the death of Loarn my grandsire would be alike; for nowise in battle did he fall, but no doubt he was burnt alive.</said></p>
		<p><said>Sleep then tonight</said>, says the damsel, <said>and leave to me to watch thee and to guard thee from the hosts ; and, if it is thy fate, the house will not be burnt over me to night.</said></p>
		<p><said>Truly there is coming with designs upon us Tuathal Maelgarb son of Cormac the Blind-of-an-eye, son of Cairbre, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages.</said></p>
		<p><said>Though Tuathal with all his hosts be coming with designs upon thee, have thou no fear of him tonight<note n="2"></note></said>, says the damsel, <said>and sleep now.</said></p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s36" n="36" type="section">
		<p>Then he went into his bed and asked the damsel for a drink, and she cast a sleep-charm on that deceptive wine<note n="3"></note>, so that he drank a draught of it, and it made him drunk and <pb n="" />feeble, without sap or strength. Then he slept heavily and he sees a vision there, to wit, that he went in a ship to sea, and his ship foundered, and a taloned griffin came to him and carried him into her nest, and then he and the nest were burnt, and the griffin fell <choice><sic>with</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">by</corr></choice> him<note n="1"></note>.</p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s37" n="37" type="section">
	<p>The king awoke and ordered his vision to be taken to his fosterbrother, Dub dá rind, the son of the druid Saignén, and Dub dá rind gave the rede thereof (thus) : <said>This is the ship wherein thou hast been,</said> quoth he, <said>to wit, the ship of thy princedom on the sea of life, and thou a-steering the princedom; and this is the <choice><sic>ship that foundered</sic> <corr resp="#stokes1906">foundering of the ship</corr></choice>, thou to be offered(?) and thy life to come (to an end). This is the taloned griffin that has carried thee into her nest, the woman that is in thy company, to make thee intoxicated, and to bring thee with her into her bed, and to detain thee in the House of Cletech so that it will be burnt upon thee. [Now the griffin that fell with thee is the woman who will die by reason of thee. This then is the rede of that vision.]</said></p>
	</div1>
	
	<head resp="#stokes">[H. 2. 7, p. 212 b]</head>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s38" n="38" type="section">
		<p>The king then sleeps heavily after Sín had cast the sleep-charm upon him. Now while he was in that sleep Sín rose up and arranged the spears and javelins of the hosts in readiness(?) in the doors, and then (turned) all their points towards the house. She forms (by magic) many crowds and multitudes around the fortress. She herself goes in and scatters fire in every direction throughout the house and the side-walls, and then she enters the bed.</p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s39" n="39" type="section">
		<p>'Twas then the king awoke from his sleep. <said>What is that?</said> asked the damsel.</p>
		<p><said>A host of demons has appeared to me, burning the house upon me, and slaughtering my people at the door.</said></p>
		<p><said>Thou hast no hurt from that</said>, says the damsel, <said>save that it <em>has</em> appeared.</said> </p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s40" n="40" type="section">
		<p>Now when they were thus in converse they heard the crash of the burning house<note n="2"></note>, and the shout of the host of demons and wizardry around it.</p>
		<pb n="425" />
		<p><said>Who is around the house ?</said> asked the king. Says Sín : <said>Tuathal Maelgarb, son of Cormac the Blind-of-an-eye, son of Carbre, son of Niall, with his armies. He is there taking vengeance on thee for the battle of Granard<note n="1"></note></said>.</p>
		<p>And the king knew not that this was untrue, and that no corporeal host was surrounding the house.</p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s41" n="41" type="section">
		<p>Then he rises swiftly and comes to seek his arms, and found no one to answer him. The damsel goes forth front the house, and he follows her at once, and he meets(?) a host in front of him, so that he went heavily through them. From the door he returns to his bed. The hosts thereupon went forth, and no one of them escaped without wounding or burning.</p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s42" n="42" type="section">
		<p>Then the king came again towards the door, and between him and it were the embers and the hails of fire. When the fire had filled the doorway and all the house around, and he found no shelter for himself, he got into a cask of wine, and therein he is drowned, as he went under it, every second hour, for dread of the fire. Then the fire falls on his head, and five feet (length) of him is burnt; but the wine keeps the rest of his body without burning.</p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s43" n="43" type="section">
		<p>The day after, when the morning came, the clerics, Masan and Casan and Cridan, go before the king, and carry him to the Boyne, and wash his corpse therein<note n="2"></note>.</p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s44" n="44" type="section">
		<p>So Cairnech with his monks thereupon visits him, and the saint himself made great grief in bewailing him, and bore witness of him, and said: <said>A great loss to Ireland today is Mac Erca, one of the four best men that have gained possession of Erin without trickery and without force, namely Muirchertach mac Erca, and Niall of the Nine Hostages<note n="3"></note>, Conn of the Hundred Battles<note n="4"></note>, and Ugaine the Great<note n="5"></note>.</said></p>
	</div1>
	
	<pb n="427" />
	
	<head resp="#stokes">[YBL., col. 318, l. 14]</head>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s45" n="45" type="section">
		<p>The body is afterwards lifted up by Cairnech, to be carried to Tuilén<note n="1"></note> and there interred.</p>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s46" n="46" type="section">
		<p>Then Duaibsech, the wife of Muirchertach, met the clerics while the corpse was among them, and she made a great, mournful lamentation, and struck her palms together, and leant her back against the ancient tree in Oenach Reil ; and a burst of gore broke from her heart in her chest, and straightway she died of grief for her husband. Then the clerics put the queen's corpse along with the corpse of the king. And then said Cairnech :</p>
		<lg>
			<l>Duaibsech Mac Erca's noble wife,</l>
			<l>let her grave be dug by you here, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s47" n="47" type="section">
		<p>Thereafter the queen is buried and her grave is dug. Then the king is buried near the temple on the north side, and Cairnech was declaring the king's character, and uttered this lay :
		</p>
		<lg>
			<l>The grave of the king of Ailech will abide for ever,</l>
			<l>in Tuilén, every one will hear it, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s48" n="48" type="section">
		<p>When the clerics had finished the burial, they saw coming to them a lonely woman, beautiful and shining, robed in a green mantle with its fringe of golden thread. A smock of priceless silk was about her. Then she reached the place wherein the clerics were, and saluted them, and so the clerics saluted her. And they perceived upon her an appearance of sadness and sorrow, and they recognised that she it was that had ruined the king. Cairnech was asking tidings of her, and said :</p>
		<lg>
			<l>Tell us thy origin,</l>
			<l>O damsel without darkening,</l>
			<l>thou hast wrought our shame</l>
			<l>though beauteous is thy body :</l>
			<pb n="429" />
			<l>thou hast killed the king of Tara, </l>
			<l>with many of his households, </l>
			<l>by an awful, evil deed, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s49" n="49" type="section">
		<p>Then the clerics were asking her who she herself was, or who was her father or her mother, and what cause she had from the king when she ruined him as aforesaid.</p>
		<p><said>Sín</said>, she replied, <said>is my name, and Sige<note n="1"></note> son of Dian, son of Trén, is my father. Muirchertach mac Erca killed my father, my mother and my sister<note n="2"></note> in the battle of Cerb on Boyne, and also destroyed in that battle ail the Old-Tribes of Tara and my fatherland </said>. So then Cairnech said :</p>
		<lg type="quatrain">
			<l>Say, O Sín, a say without question,</l> 
			<l>tell truly who was thy father, etc.</l>
			<l>Not dearer to thee was thine own father </l>
			<l>than Muirchertach, Niall's descendant, etc.</l>
		</lg>
		<p>Sín.</p>
		<lg>
			<l>Myself will die of grief for him,</l>
			<l>the high king of the west of the world,</l>
			<l>(and) for the guilt of the sore tribulations</l>
			<l>that I brought on the sovran of Erin :</l>
		</lg>
		<lg>
			<l>I made poison for him, alas !</l>
			<l>which overpowered the king of the noble hosts, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s50" n="50" type="section">
		<p>Then she confessed to Cairnech, and to God she made fervent repentance, as had been taught her, and she went in obedience to Cairnech, and straightway died there of grief for the king. So Cairnech said that a grave should be made for her, and that she should be put under the sward of the earth. It was done as the cleric ordered, and he said :</p>
		<lg>
			<l>Sín, not dear were her doings</l>
			<l>until this day in which we are, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s51" n="51" type="section">
		<p>Touching Cairnech, now, he shewed great care for Muirchertach's soul, but he did not bring it out of hell. How<pb n="431" />beit he composed the prayer which from its beginningis named <foreign>Parce mihi Domine</foreign>, etc., and he repeated it continually for sake of the soul of the king, so that (at last) the soul was given to him out of hell. Whereupon the angel came to Cairnech and told him that whoever should sing that prayer continually would without doubt be a dweller in heaven. So then said the angel :</p>
		<lg>
			<l>Whoever should sing strongly</l>
			<l>the prayer of Cairnech of the mysteries</l>
			<l>'twould be enough to succour</l>
			<l>Judas, who was the worst ever born, etc.</l>
		</lg>
	</div1>
	
	<div1 xml:id="s52" n="52" type="section">
		<p>So far the Death of Muirchertach, as Cairnech related it, and Tigernach<note n="1"></note> and Ciaran<note n="2"></note> and Mochta<note n="3"></note> and Tuathal Maelgarb<note n="4"></note> ; and it was written and revised by those holy clerics, commemorating it for every one from that time to this.</p>
		<p>It endeth.</p>
	</div1>

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