Texts

Commentary on the Amra Choluim Chille

Middle Irish
prose
Irish glosses, Medieval Irish literature, Medieval Irish literature about poets, commentaries

Middle Irish commentary in the form of scholia accompanying copies of the Amra Choluim Chille.

Known copies of the early 7th-century (or late 6th-century) elegiac poem Amra Choluim Chille ascribed to Dallán Forgaill ultimately derive from an annotated redaction that was made in the beginning of the 11th century. The poem is here accompanied by extensive commentary in Middle Irish, comprising:

A prose preface or introduction (rem-fhocul, not to be confused with the verse preface of the canonical poem), beginning ‘Loc dond remfhoculsa chetus Druimm Cetta ...’ in Rawlinson B 502. It tells that the poet Dallán Forgaill composed the Amra for Columba on the occasion of the convention at Druim Cett, where the abbot secured the release of Scandlán Mór, negotiated terms of peace between Ireland and the Irish settlers of Scotland and saved the learned classes from expulsion (Dallán recited it after the abbot's death). The story varies in length and detail from one manuscript version to another.
Interlinear gloss to the Amra (verse preface and chapters I-IX)

Both preface and gloss cite verses, some of which are known from contexts elsewhere.

First words (prose)

Loc dond remfhoculsa chetus Druimm Cetta ...

“The place of this preface, first of all, was Druimm Cetta ...”

Manuscripts

A distinction is sometimes made between a shorter and longer version of the commentary (e.g. Brian Ó Cuív, ‘Some items from Irish tradition’, Éigse 11 (1965–1966)).

First division

Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson B 502 2, ff. 19–89 = Lebar Glinne Dá Locha (?) [1125 x 1150]

ff. 54r–59v

Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1441 (E 4. 2) = Irish Liber hymnorum [s. xi^ex–xiiⁱⁿ]

ff. 33–34vb (prose preface), 26ra–28v

context: Irish Liber hymnorum

Ff. 33v-34vb contain the prose preface, ff. 26ra-28v the poem with interlinear gloss.

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 E 25 (1229) = Lebor na hUidre [s. xi/xii]

ff. 5a–15a

Imperfect copy.

Second division

Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1318 cols 573–958 = section of the Yellow Book of Lecan [s. xiv^ex/xvⁱⁿ]

p. 71ff (facsimile) col. 680ff

London, British Library, MS Egerton 1782 [1516-1518]

ff. 1r–14v

Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1288 (H 1. 14) [c. 1750]

f. 54ff

Copy from Egerton 1782

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS C iii 2 (1236) [s. xvi]

Extensive gloss

Dublin, National Library of Ireland, MS G 50 [s. xvii]

pp. 1–105

Other/Miscellaneous

Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 16 (1230) = Leabhar Breac (‘Speckled Book’) [s. xvⁱⁿ]

ff. 238–248

Imperfect copy.

Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud Misc. 615 = Saltair Choluim Chille [s. xvi¹]

Additional fragments include:

Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1106 [s. xix]

Item nos. 3 and 8. Modern copy of the introduction to the Amra Choluim Chille from the Leabhar Breac and YBL respectively.

Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Adv. MS 72.1.40 [s. xv-xvi]

Preface and other quotations inserted in the Betha Choluim Chille.

Language

Middle Irish
Middle Irish

Date

early 11th century

Form

prose (primary)

verse (secondary)

Textual relationships

(Possible) sources: Amra Choluim ChilleAmra Choluim Chille

Elegy on Saint Columba (Colum Cille).

Related: Irish glossary from TCD 1337, pp. 623-628Irish glossary from TCD 1337, pp. 623-628Medieval Irish glossary in TCD 1337, pp. 623-628. Many of the entries are known from other works and learned compilations, such as Sanas Cormaic.

Associated items

Cen cholt for crib cernineCen cholt for crib cernineA quatrain of verse purporting to represent the first satire in Ireland.Cetracha sacart a línCetracha sacart a línA scrap of early Irish verse (1q only) cited the beginning of the preface (remfhocul) to Amra Choluim Chille. While in LU it occurs in the upper margin of the first page of the preface, with no explicit relationship being made to the text, it is more fully integrated into the main body of narrative in other manuscripts. The stanza gives a list of churchmen, together with their numbers, which in the context of the prose preface, would seem to refer to those who travelled with Colum Cille at the time of the convention of Druim Cetta.The preface (remfhocul) to Amra Choluim Chille and its commentaryThe preface (remfhocul) to Amra Choluim Chille and its commentary

A prose preface or introduction (rem-fhocul, not to be confused with the verse preface of the canonical poem), beginning ‘Loc dond remfhoculsa chetus Druimm Cetta ...’ in Rawlinson B 502.

Fil duineFil duineFil súil n-glaisFil súil n-glaisDinnshenchas of Laigin IIDinnshenchas of Laigin IIDinnshenchas of the LaiginLonges LabradaLonges LabradaThe version of the story of Labraid’s exile, Moriath and her harper, and his return to Ireland as it occurs in longer copies of the Amra Choluim Chille commentary.Scél lem dúibScél lem dúibEarly Irish poem on the coming of winter.Scéla Labrada LuircScéla Labrada LuircMiddle Irish tale which tells how Labraid Lorc tried to conceal the fact that he had the ears of a horse and how the truth came out.

Classification

Irish glossesIrish glosses
...
Medieval Irish literatureMedieval Irish literature
...
Medieval Irish literature about poetsMedieval Irish literature about poets
...

commentaries⟨varieties of text by function⟩
commentaries

id. 28572

Any text, whether in the form of a series of comments or a full-blown treatise, which serves to comment on, annotate or explain another work.

Contents

Work in progress

remfhocul » entry

Verse preface

Chapter 1

Summary:
forthcoming

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Sources

Notes

^1.

The editors of the Liber Hymnorum text subdivide the preface into a praefatio and an introduction proper beginning ‘Locus huius artis Druim Cetta ...’.

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], “The Bodleian Amra Choluimb Chille”, Revue Celtique 20 (1899): 31–55, 132–183, 248–289, 400–437. Corrigenda in Revue Celtique 21 (1900): 133–136.

Internet Archive: <link>, <link>

36–55, 132–149 (introduction), 148–183 (preface + chapters I–IV), 248–287 (chapters V–VIII), 288–289 (corrections and additions), 400–419 (VIII–IX), 430–437 (appendix) Edition and translation of the text from Rawlinson B 502, including commentary

[ed.] Bernard, J. H., and Robert Atkinson [eds.], The Irish Liber hymnorum, 2 vols, vol. 1: Text and introduction, Henry Bradshaw Society, 13, London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 1898.

comments: Volume 1: Text and introduction
Volume 2: Translation

Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link> – originally from Google Books: <link>

162–183 Text and commentary from TCD 1441 (E 4. 2). The poem proper, with interlinear commentary, begins on p. 167.

[tr.] Bernard, J. H., and Robert Atkinson, The Irish Liber hymnorum, 2 vols, vol. 2: Translation and notes, Henry Bradshaw Society, 14, London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 1898.

comments: Volume 1: Text and introduction
Volume 2: Translation

Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link> Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books (missing: pp. 18-19, 86-87): <link>

53–80 Translation

[ed.] Best, Richard Irvine, and Osborn Bergin [eds.], Lebor na hUidre: Book of the Dun Cow, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis, 1929.

CELT – edition (pp. 1-338): <link> Internet Archive: <link>

11–41 Diplomatic edition of the text in LU.

[ed.] [tr.] Crowe, John O'Beirne [ed. and tr.], The Amra Choluim Chilli of Dallan Forgaill, vol. 1, Dublin: MacGlashan and Gill, 1871.

comments: Volume 1 contains an edition and translation of the text. Volume 2, which was to include "notes, a grammatical analysis of the text and copious indexes" (as the title announces), was never published.

Internet Archive: <link>, <link>, <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link>

Early edition from the text in LU and partly from the Leabhar Breac.

Betha Choluim Chille in Gaelic MS XL:

[tr.] Hennessy, W. Maunsell [tr.], “The old Irish Life of St. Columba: being a discourse on his life and character delivered to the brethren on his festival”, in: William F. Skene, Celtic Scotland: a history of ancient Alban, 3 vols, vol. 2: Church and culture, 2nd ed., Edinburgh: Douglas, 1887. 467–507.

Internet Archive: <link>

494–502 Translation of the preface as inserted into the Betha Choluim Chille copy of Gaelic MS XL, compared with the Leabhar Breac and YBL version. direct link

[ed.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], Lives of saints from the Book of Lismore, Anecdota Oxoniensia, Mediaeval and Modern Series, 5, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1890.