Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait ‘The story concerning Cairpre Cat-head’
- Late Middle Irish
- prose
- Cycles of the Kings
The second of two Middle Irish recensions, the other being Bruiden Meic Da Réo, which recount how in early Ireland, the vassal peoples (aithech-thúatha) rebelled and decimated the leading noble families. This is Thurneysen's ‘Recension I’, except for the modernised text in the Edinburgh MS, which he describes as ‘Recension III’.
Title
Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait
‘The story concerning Cairpre Cat-head’
The recension is untitled in the manuscripts. It was Eugene O'Curry who entitled it
Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait.
Manuscripts
Lost. See BB.
Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 12 (536) = Book of Ballymote (Leabhar Bhaile an Mhóta) [1384 x 1406]
ff. 140ra–140rb pp. 255–256 (facsimile)
rubric: ‘Anmand na n-Athachthuath ⁊ a fodla dia rer Libair Glinne Dá Locha’
beg. ‘Aitecha em fodailset fo Erind iar ndibad a saerclann’
Copy said to be taken from Lebar Glinne Dá Locha.
ff. 185vb–186ra
O'Connor (2006: n. 24) observes that while this version lacks some of the lists present in BB, the same material can be found, in another textual context, two folios earlier, on ff. 183v-184r.
ff. 184ra–184va
ff. 5r–5v
beg. ‘Righ arnaidh uramhanda edrochair da gab righe nErend ar eigein’
Modernised version. The narrative is differently arranged.
Language
- Late Middle Irish
- Late Middle Irish (O'Connor 2006). The version in the Edinburgh MS has been modernised.
Form
prose (primary)
verse (secondary)
Textual relationships
Both Middle Irish recensions include a version of Sáerchlanna Érenn uile, a Middle Irish syllabic poem in 12 stanzas. A text which may be closely related to or nearly identical to the present text is that referred by the title Orgain Cairpri Chind Chait for sáerchlannaib Érenn ("Cairpre Cenn Cait's massacre of the nobles of Ireland") in the two Middle Irish tale-lists.(1)n. 1 Ralph O'Connor, ‘Searching for the moral in Bruiden Meic Da Réo’, Ériu 56 (2006): 119–121.
(Possible) sources: Sáerchlanna Érenn uileSáerchlanna Érenn uileA syllabic poem incorporated in the two Middle Irish recensions of the saga concerning the revolt of the aithech-thúatha, Bruiden Meic Da Réo and Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait. It consists of twelve stanzas.
Related: Bruiden Meic Da RéoBruiden Meic Da RéoA Middle Irish saga which recounts how in Ireland, the vassal peoples (aithech-thúatha) rebelled and decimated the leading noble families and how the survivors regained power through the mediation of the judge Morann.Medieval Irish tale lists/OirgneMedieval Irish tale lists/OirgneOrgain Cairpri Chind Chait for sáerchlannaib ÉrennOrgain Cairpri Chind Chait for sáerchlannaib ÉrennAn early Irish saga whose title is included in versions A and B of the Middle Irish tale lists and suggests that its narrative would have focused on the revolt of the aithech-thúatha in Irish prehistory. It is not known what version of the tale was being referred to but it is likely related to two extant recensions of the late Middle Irish period, known as Bruiden Meic Da Réo and Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait.
Associated items
List of aithechthúathaList of aithechthúathaSáerchlanna Érenn uileSáerchlanna Érenn uileA syllabic poem incorporated in the two Middle Irish recensions of the saga concerning the revolt of the aithech-thúatha, Bruiden Meic Da Réo and Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait. It consists of twelve stanzas.
Sources
Notes
Ralph O'Connor, ‘Searching for the moral in Bruiden Meic Da Réo’, Ériu 56 (2006): 119–121.
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.] Ó Raithbheartaigh, Toirdhealbhach [ed.], Genealogical tracts. Vol. 1, Dublin: Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1932.
[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley [ed. and tr.], Lives of saints from the Book of Lismore, Anecdota Oxoniensia, Mediaeval and Modern Series, 5, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1890.
[ed.] Craigie, W. A. [ed.], “Cairpre Cindchait and the Athach Tuatha”, Revue Celtique 20 (1899): 335–339.
Internet Archive: <link>
Edited from Gaelic MS XXVIII.
[add.] [corr.] Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, “On the aithechthúatha tracts”, Éigse 19:1 (1982–1983): 159–165.
Emendations and additions to Ó Raithbheartaigh's edition of the lists of aithech-thúatha.
[ed.] Thurneysen, Rudolf [ed.], “Morands Fürstenspiegel”, Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 11 (1917): 56–106.
Internet Archive: <link>
An edition of Bruiden Meic Da Réo, but with variant readings from the present text based on BB, Lec and Lis.
Secondary sources (select)
OʼConnor, Ralph, “Searching for the moral in Bruiden Meic Da Réo”, Ériu 56 (2006): 117–143.
abstract:
The Middle Irish saga Bruiden Meic Da Réo tells how the vassal peoples of Ireland massacred the noble families of Ireland, and how the surviving nobles regained power through the mediation of Morann the judge. In this article I offer a literary analysis of the tale, paying particular attention to its treatment of kingship ideology and the message its author intended to convey to his audience. Comparisons with related texts, in particular the recension known as Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait, suggest that the author of Bruiden Meic Da Réo was not interested in pointing out a simple moral, but was concerned to explore the tensions and contradictions inherent within the ideology of kingship. In this respect Bruiden Meic Da Réo resonates with other sagas from the Middle Irish period in which a similar narrative template was used to prise open the fault-lines in this ideology.
OʼCurry, Eugene, Lectures on the manuscript materials of ancient Irish history, delivered at the Catholic University of Ireland during the sessions of 1855 and 1856, Dublin, 1861.
web page identifiers
page name: Scél ar Chairbre Cinn Cait
page url: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Sc%C3%A9l_ar_Chairbre_Cinn_Cait
redirect: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Special:Redirect/page/595
numerical alternative: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?curid=595
page ID: 595
page ID tracker: https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?title=Show:ID&id=595
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
November 2010, last updated: June 2023
