Part I

Part I, § 1

Part I, § 1: mostly on satire.§ 1

02

§ 2. CIH 1111.12ff. Cáin einech. Prose eg. In chain einech so thrá doruirmhisiom... On the promulgation of the Cáin einech / enech (‘Law of honour’). A few lines beg. at CIH 1111.19 (Ní roich...) are translated in Liam Breatnach, ‘Araile felmac féig don Mumain: unruly pupils and the limitations of satire’, Ériu 59 (2009): 122. Cf. the promulgation of the Senchas Már in the Pseudo-historical prologue to the Senchas Már, which appears to have served as the model for this description. See e.g. the discussions by Gwynn, ibid.: 58; Robin Chapman Stacey, Dark speech: the performance of law in early Ireland (2007): 198. Refers to: Saint Patrick; Dubthach maccu Lugair; Lóegaire mac Néill; On mac Aim.

–––

Stanzas quoted concerning Athairne...

beg. Tendaid breo tengaidh tuilbhretha [Gwynn 14.15ff; CIH] Caimper iomgona im comhlaidh a thighe [Gwynn 14.22ff; CIH]

Dubh dhuanach [Gwynn 14.26ff; CIH]

Do dliged dílsigthe loige enech in anfholtaib

CIH 1112.30-1113.2 = Gwynn 15.6ff. Headed Do dliged dílsigthe loige enech in anfholtaib. Keywords: lóg n-enech; díre.

Do dliged nad fil dilsi loige enech idir

CIH 1113.3-37 = Gwynn 15.24ff. Headed Do dliged nad fil dilsi loige enech idir. Gwynn 15.27-28 (Do-renar gach n-iodhan...eneclann) are ed. and tr. in Calvert Watkins, ‘Indo-European metrics and archaic Irish verse’, Celtica 6 (1963): 26. On illicit coiblige disqualifying a poet, etc. Keywords: Athairne; lóg n-enech; ogham. Incl. brief reference to legal tale about Colum Cille and Áed.

Do cháidiugad adaltrasa

CIH 1113.38-1115.1 = Gwynn 16.32ff. Headed Do cháidiugad adaltrasa.

Sections following here:

Beg. Có saorthar fileda?. CIH 1114.26ff = Gwynn 17.34ff. TCD 1317 138a.1.

Beg. Cia file ar secht ccumaluib dligid?.

Udhucht Aithirne

CIH 1115.2–22 (and ff?) . Udhucht Aithirne. See Udhacht Athairne.

CIH 1115.11, headed Besa filedh beg. Athairne dixit: Tiomnaim dhaoibh filedha saoir srotha iomhais.

+ Lines 23-27, beg. Ce cuintestar lánfholaigh gusna filedhaibh - refers to grades

Athairne and Borur

CIH 1115.28/33-1116.10; 1296.6-10; 1933.17-21. Anecdote about Athairne and his servant Borur. Incl. verse beg. Iar nguin mo chele caidhe mo dhire?

Borur, described as Athairne's servant (gilla) and client (céle, also ‘companion’), is killed during a raid on the territory of Connacht. Athairne wonders how he can obtain compensation (díre), the difficulty being that Borur's death had taken place outside the jurisdiction of his native province. A céle is not to leave the side of his lord or venture into enemy territory without him. In a poem, he exclaims: Mairg d'Ultaibh madh ala Bóinn beid (‘Woe to the Ulaid if they are beyond the Boyne’, i.e. the southern border of Ulster).

Ed. E. J. Gwynn, ‘An Old-Irish tract on the privileges and responsibilities of poets’, Ériu 13 (1942): 19–20. Gwynn 20.1-2/3-4, 4-6, 9-10 is ed. and tr. in Calvert Watkins, ‘Indo-European metrics and archaic Irish verse’, Celtica 6 (1963): 230, 226 (Mairg Ultu...bíth), 236. Discussion: E. J. Gwynn, ‘An Old-Irish tract on the privileges and responsibilities of poets’, Ériu 13 (1942): 220–221.

–––

CIH 1116.11-21. Senchán Torpéist dixit. Keywords: Senchán Torpéist; Gaileoin. This part belongs conceptually to the previous part?

'CIH 11116.22ff. 'Do imraithne (On mistakes)

CIH 1116.26ff. Conchobor [i.e. Conchobar mac Nessa] cecinit. Question Co do gaibh nech ni ad-ella? answered with reference to Amairgen and Lóegaire. Passage ed. and tr. Chapman Stacey, Dark speech: 72.

Díchetal Athairne

CIH 1117.1. Díchetal Athairne. Athairne addresses a certain Tadg, warning him that a blow with the fist would be a foolish way to respond to his tongue, because no sensible person would thrust his fist into hot coals. In the margin, the passage is headed Diceadol Athairne.

–––

CIH 1117.21ff. Beg. Dligid aí airbert dligid breth .... Passages beg. dligid X Y (X ought to have Y) or something similar. Keywords: nun.

–––

CIH 1117.26. Beg. Dligid pobul ingaire...

Further passages beg. dligid X Y (X ought to have Y), e.g.

Dlighidh pobul iongaire...

Dlighidh séghuin sleigh...

Dlighidh ollamh ógh...

The passage in CIH 1117.29-35 lists the seven poetic grades of ollam, ánruth, clí, cano, dos, macfhuirmid and fochloc with their honour-price and their qualifications.

etc.

The passage in CIH 1117.29-35, beg. Dlighidh ollamh ógh, is edited and translated, with notes, in Liam Breatnach, Uraicecht na ríar (1987): 42–44 (BN VII).

Keywords ollam; ánruth; clí; cano; dos; macfhuirmid; fochloc.

–––

CIH 1118.1ff. Headed Daoine gan cion inbleogain. The passage on exempt ‘fists’ (duirn) is commented on in Fergus Kelly, A guide to early Irish law (1988): 64 and 67.

–––

Anecdote about Athirne involving Sencha. ?

–––

(a) CIH 1118.31/40–1119.16 = Anecdote in which an unborn Athairne utters a charm from the womb. The birth of Athirne; (b) CIH 1119.17-26 Athairne cecinit, beg. Cía áithem éo? Metrical passage on the power of satire.

Logh gach aisde

CIH 1119.27ff. Logh gach aisde, incl. verse beg. A Aimirgin anmholtaig and Díre filedh, fochlucc for dhos. On the payments that are due for certain types of metrical composition. ?Passage involving Amairgen. It includes a passage about a conflict between Gaifine mac Athairne and the son of an aithech (1119.33-39). To Athairne is attributed the passage beg. Díre filedh, fochlucc for dhos. The poem beg. A Aimirgin anmholtaig (Gwynn 25.18ff) is ed. and tr. in Kuno Meyer, Miscellanea Hibernica (1917): 21–23; also in Calvert Watkins, ‘Indo-European metrics and archaic Irish verse’, Celtica 6 (1963): 233. The passage in CIH 1119.35-39 (beg. Díre filedh, fochlucc for dhos) is edited and translated, with notes, in Liam Breatnach, Uraicecht na ríar (1987): 44–45 (BN VIII).

Comrac Con Culainn re Senbecc

CIH 1120.19 beg. An ccualae coire breth? - Still on the same subject, now on the coire breth (cf. Kelly, Cauldron imagery in a legal passage on judges). Incl. Story of Cú Chulainn and Senbecc ua Eibric (1120.16-30)- see Comrac Con Culainn re Senbecc. A version of the story of Cú Chulainn and Senbecc. Characters: Cú Chulainn; Senbecc ua Eibric.

Ll. 31-32: A cow in payment for the poem

Ll. 33-36: another rosc, Athairne cecinit: Bennán bó gacha...

–––

CIH 1120.37ff. Dire bo

–––

CIH 1121.1ff. Dire ech sliasda

Foll. CIH 1121.21ff. Athairne cecinit: Tria hiarna arathair ased tugadh...

For the reference to the story of Athairne and the Luigne in 1121.30-31, compare CIH 2118.9-12.

–––

CIH 1121.38ff. Rátha obthar

–––

CIH 1122.3ff. Advice to Doíden, headed Nin fria mac cecinit. Passage on ráth-suretyship, CIH 1122.27-31 (beg. Slānadh soráthusa sluinnter īar néiric in ndaghlāithibh dlighidh) = tr. in Robin Chapman Stacey, The road to judgment: from custom to court in medieval Ireland and Wales (1996): 40–41.

–––

CIH 1123.3-11 = Gwynn 30.10ff. Story of Fergus Tuile and Cormac úa Cuinn occurring in the middle of Advice to Doíden. According to Gwynn, the passage “enumerates the valuables which Cormac ua Cuinn decided to be the due of Fergus tuile, king of Uí Liatháin, and a famous poet, apparently as his lóg n-einech”.

–––

CIH 1123.12ff = Ed. Gwynn 30.21-32.8. Headed Do coimpertaib breth Fíthil. Anecdote relating to Fíthal.

–––

CIH 1123.25-33 = Gwynn 31.1-11. Headed Dilsi filed (The fitness of a poet). E.g. on relation to king and church. CIH 1123.34ff = Ed. Gwynn 31.12-24. Headed Egna eglais rí file. Concl. with questions beg. with Cis lir.

CIH 1124.4-18

CIH 1124.4-18 = Gwynn 31.25-32.8 Headed Meic ailter gan iarraidh. Beg. with questions beg. with Cis lir.

–––

CIH 1124.19-24. Headed Grada filed, incl. verse beg. Cis lir filidh. On the ranks of poets based on their family background. Ed. CIH 1124.20-24; Gwynn: 32.9-15; ed. and tr., with notes, in Liam Breatnach, Uraicecht na ríar (1987): 45–46 (BN IX).

–––

CIH 1124.25ff. Headed díre clainne na ngradh uasal.

–––

CIH 1124.29-37 = Gwynn: 32.21-29. lógh enech ollaman filedh, incl. verse beg. Có beraid filidh logh n-enech ó flaithib ⁊ eagailsibh. On the honour-price of the seven grades of poets, calculated in cattle. Ed. and tr., with notes, in Liam Breatnach, Uraicecht na ríar (1987): 46–48 (BN X).

Coimeneclann gach da gradh dib so

CIH 1125.2-6 = Gwynn: 33.3-7 . Headed Coimeneclann gach da gradh dib so (‘Each pair of grades of the following have the same honour-price’). Ed. and tr., with notes, in Liam Breatnach, Uraicecht na ríar (1987): 48–49 (BN XI); Table 15. Concerned with various grades of poets and bards. Character: Amairgen.

Snadhadh gach graidh fhiledh

CIH 1125-8-14 = Gwynn: 33.9-17. Headed Snadhadh gach graidh fhiledh (‘The protection conferred by each grade of poet’).

Ed. and tr., with notes, in Liam Breatnach, Uraicecht na ríar (1987): 49–50 (BN XII).

Keywords: protection; snádud.

–––

CIH 1125.15-22. Headed Comhaithches ann so. On unoccupied land.

–––

CIH 1125.23-27. Headed Ré comhloighthe so. Passage about pledges (gella).

CIH 1125.28-1126.32. Headed Ré fuillema so, no fuillemh geall. Longer passage about pledges (gella) and interest (fuillem). Keywords: gella.

Incl. story of Neire and the judgment concerning the sword of Fíthal's son (CIH 1125.38-1126.6 = Gwynn 34.13-20 ); ed. and tr. in John Carey, ‘The testimony of the dead’, Éigse 26 (1992): 9–10 (Appendix a). Enforcing surety (naidm) and the story of Cormac's sword. Comments: Cf. the late Middle Irish tale Ceart claidib Cormaic, which cites this passage in § 77, ed. Whitley Stokes, ‘The Irish ordeals, Cormac’s adventure in the Land of Promise, and the decision as to Cormac’s sword’ in Irische Texte mit Wörterbuch... (1891): 201–202.

Incl. story of Eochaid Búadach and Eithne (CIH 1126.7-32 = Gwynn 34-35). At Cormac's behest, Eochaid Búadach, son of Fergus Dubdétach, is imprisoned in a fortress in the north (Torach). His lover is Eithne, daughter of Amalgaid mac Muiredaig, who goes to Ferchertne to receive formal training in the art of poetry. She gains admittance to Tara (in the guise of a boy), where she laments the fate of her lover and incites the men present to take up their weapons and besiege Eochaid's prison. ...

Persons: Nera; Cormac ua Cuinn; Eochaid Búadach mac Fergusa Dubdétaig; Eithne ingen Amalgaid maic Muiredaig; Fergus Dubdétach; Amalgaid mac Muiredaig; Ferchertne; Cormac ua Cuinn; Bricne mac Carbad. Keywords: naidm. Incl. maxim(?) attr. to Cormac.

Part II

–––

CIH 1126.33-38. Headed Dliged sesa (a h-uraicept na mac sesa)

–––

CIH 1126.39-41. Headed Do dliged cluaisi.

–––

CIH 1127.1-15, 16-39. Do dliged gotha, foll. by Freagurtha ann so.

–––

CIH 1128.1-13. Do glaine n-anáile.

–––

CIH 1128.14-27. Headed Créda na filidechta.

–––

CIH 1128.28-39, 1129.1-32. Headed Tuarastal n-úad ann so, foll. by Fregra sonna.

Refers to Ai mac Ollamain meic Delbaith.

Gwynn 38.32-40.2. Gwynn 39.10-13 is ed. and tr. in Calvert Watkins, ‘Indo-European metrics and archaic Irish verse’, Celtica 6 (1963): 239–240 (fo chen aí / ingen sois).

–––

CIH 1129.33-38. Headed Ail tshenma tre fhilidecht. Refers to: Áed Sláne. The poem is edited and translated in Johan Corthals, ‘The Áiliu poems in Bretha nemed dédenach’, Éigse 37 (2010).

–––

CIH 1130.1-37. Headed Ail tige tre fhilidecht. The poems are edited and translated in Johan Corthals, ‘The Áiliu poems in Bretha nemed dédenach’, Éigse 37 (2010).

–––

CIH 1130.38-1131.8. Headed Morann dixit: Do mheisbrethaib. A section on the estimation of judgments, ascribed to the judge Morann. Cf. Audacht Morainn. See: Fergus Kelly, A guide to early Irish law (1988): 51, 236.

Final part: the bards

Incomplete.

–––

CIH 1131.9-1132.10. Don bairdne, on bards, both dóerbaird and sóerbaird.

Ed. Gwynn: 42.3-43.21. The passage at CIH 1131.14-27 (beg. Cescc, cis lir baird do-cuisin?) is ed. and tr., with notes, in Liam Breatnach, Uraicecht na ríar (1987): 50–51 (BN XIII); that at CIH 1131.27-39 is ed. and tr., with notes, in Liam Breatnach, Uraicecht na ríar (1987): 52–54 (BN XIV). The section at Gwynn: 43.6-21 = CIH 1131.40-1132.10 is ed. and tr., with notes, in Liam Breatnach, Uraicecht na ríar (1987): 54–57 (BN XV).

Incl. passages on grades of bards; comparison tigernbard to aire déso; ánruth. Persons: Neire.

–––

CIH 1132.10-40. Tomus bairdne: Tract on poetic technique, which beaks off in the MS.

–––

Conclusion

The continuous copy in TCD 1317 lacks the conclusion of the text, breaking off in the middle of a section about dóerbaird. Citations from this portion, however, are found in O'Davoren's glossary.

Liam Breatnach, Companion to CIH (2005): 186–188

This page has not as yet been published.

It is work in progress, but we hope to get it published in the foreseeable future.

Details

Page name:

Source:Bretha nemed dédenach

Page URL:

https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Source:Bretha_nemed_d%C3%A9denach

Redirect (method 1):

https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/Special:Redirect/page/28721

Redirect (method 2):

https://codecs.vanhamel.nl/index.php?curid=28721