Chapter I: IRISH LITERATURE.--In the absence of a native coinage it is extremely (1)

difficult to say when the use of letters was introduced into Ireland. It is probable that the Latin alphabet first came in with Christianity. With the exception of the one bilingual Ogam inscription as yet discovered in Ireland (that at Killeen Cormac) all the inscriptions in Roman letters are certainly later than 500. Indeed, apart from the stone reading "LIE LUGUAEDON MACCI MENUEH," they are all contemporary with or later than the Old Irish glosses. With regard to the Ogam inscriptions we cannot make any confident assertions. Owing to the lack of criteria for dating certain Irish sound-changes accurately it is impossible to assign chronological limits for the earlier stones. The latter cannot be later than the 5th century, but there is nothing to show whether they are Christian or not, and if pagan they may be a century or two earlier. It is true that the heroes and druids of the older epics are represented in the stories as making constant use of Ogam letters on wood and stone, and as the state of civilization described in the oldest versions of the Ulster sagas seems largely to go back to the beginning of the Christian era, it is not impossible that this peculiar system of writing had been framed by them. The Ogam system is certainly based on the Latin and not the Greek alphabet, and was probably invented by some person from the south of Ireland who received his knowledge of the Roman letters from traders from the mouth of the Loire. It may, however, be regarded as certain that the Ogam script was never employed in early times for literary purposes. We are told that the Gaulish druids disdained to commit their lore to writing, although they were familiar with the use of Greek letters, and their Irish confreres probably resembled them in this respect. Tradition connects the codification of the Brehon Laws with the name of Patrick, and there is reason for believing, as we shall see later, that the greatest Irish epic was first committed to writing in the 7th century.

Old Irish MSS.

Hymns.

The great bulk of Irish literature is contained in MSS. belonging to the Middle Irish period (1100-1550), and in order to be able to treat this literature as a whole it will be convenient for us to deal first with those documents which are termed Old Irish, especially as the contemporary remains of the literature of the earlier period are almost exclusively of a religious nature. Most of the Old Irish documents have been printed by Stokes and Strachan in the _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, and where no reference is given the reader is referred to that monumental work. The extraordinary outburst of intellectual activity in Ireland from the 6th to the 9th centuries and the compositions of Irishmen in the Latin language, belong to the history of medieval European literature and fall outside the scope of this article. For the _Confession of St Patrick_ and his "Letter to the Subjects of Coroticus" see PATRICK. The only Irish document ascribed to the saint is the strange so-called "Hymn," the _faeth fiada_, more properly _foid fiada_, "the cry of the deer." This is a rhythmical incantation which is said to have rendered the saint and his companions invisible to King Loigaire and his druids. The Trinity and powers of nature are invoked to help him to resist spells of women and smiths and wizards. The hymn, which contains a number of strange grammatical forms, is undoubtedly referred to in the Book of Armagh, and may very well go back to the 5th century. The Latin hymns contained in two MSS. dating from the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century, a Trinity College, Dublin, MS., and a MS. belonging to the Franciscan monastery in Dublin, are of interest to us as exhibiting the influence of the native metrical system. Quantity and elision are ignored, and rhymes, assonances, alliterations and harmonies abound in true Irish fashion. The line consists of two units which commonly contain either seven or eight syllables apiece. The earliest and best-known of these religious poems are the Hymn of Secundinus (Sechnall d. 447) on St Patrick, and the two hymns attributed to St Columba (d. 597) beginning "_Noli pater_" and "_Altus prosator_," the latter of which exhibits some of the peculiarities of the so-called Hibernian Latin of the _Hisperica Famina_ and the _Lorica_ of Gildas. The date of the Irish hymns in the _Liber Hymnorum_ ranges, according to Stokes and Strachan, from the 7th to the 11th centuries. Ultan's hymn on St Brigit beginning "_Brigit be bithmaith_," which is by far the most artistic of the collection, was perhaps composed in the 7th century. Definite metrical laws had evidently been elaborated when this poem was written. The beat is iambic, but the natural accent of the words is rigidly observed. The long line consists of two units of five syllables each. The rhymes are dissyllabic and perfect. Alliteration is always observed in the latter half of each line and assonances are found knitting up the half-lines. The short prayer ascribed to Ninine or to Fiacc is a highly alliterative piece without rhyme, the date of which cannot be fixed. The well-known hymn on St Patrick traditionally ascribed to Fiacc, bishop of Sletty, and the piece beginning "_Sen De_," traditionally ascribed to Colman, are assigned on linguistic grounds to the beginning of the 9th century. The lines going by the name of "Sanctan's Hymn" probably belong to the same century, whilst the metrical catalogue of marvels performed by St Brigit contains such a medley of older and later forms, probably due to interpolation, that it is impossible to determine its age. The few lines entitled "Mael-Isu's Hymn" are the most recent of all and probably belong to the 11th century (Mael-Isu d. 1086). The Patrician documents by Muirchu Maccu Machtheni, who professed to write at the command of Bishop Aed of Sletty (d. 698), and by Tirechan, who is said to have received his information from Bishop Ultan (d. 656), are contained in the Book of Armagh, a MS. compiled by Ferdomnach in 807. These documents, like the _Life of St Columba_ by Adamnan, the MS. of which was written by Dorbbene, abbot of Hi (d. 713), contain a number of names and forms of great importance for the study of the language.

Earliest prose.

The earliest pieces of connected prose in Irish are three:--(1) the Cambray Homily, contained in an 8th-century codex at Cambray copied by a continental hand from a MS. in the Irish character; the language is very archaic and dates from the second half of the 7th or the beginning of the 8th century; (2) the additions to the notes of Tirechan on the life of St Patrick in the Book of Armagh; these seem to go back to the early 8th century; (3) the tract on the Mass in the Stowe Missal, which is in all probability nearly as old as the Cambray Homily, though contained in a 10th or 11th century MS. Of especial interest are the spells and poems found in the Stowe Missal and two continental MSS. The Stowe MS. (now deposited in the Royal Irish Academy) contains three rather badly preserved spells for a sore eye, a thorn and disease of the urine. A St Gall codex has preserved four Irish incantations of the 8th and 9th centuries. These are respectively against a thorn, urinary disease, headache and various ailments. Another charm, which is partly obscure, occurs in the 9th-century codex preserved at the monastery of St Paul in Carinthia. The same MS. also contains (1) a humorous poem treating of the doings of a bookish writer and his favourite cat Pangur Ban; (2) a riddling poem ascribed to Suibne Geilt, a king who is said to have lost his reason at the battle of Moira (A.D. 637); (3) verses extracted from a poem ascribed to St Moling (d. 697), who may very well have been the actual author; (4) a poem in praise of some Leinster princeling called Aed.

Old glosses.

For our knowledge of the older language, however, we have to rely mainly on the numerous glosses scattered about in a large number of MSS., which it is impossible to enumerate here. Indeed, such an enumeration is now rendered superfluous owing to the publication of the _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, in which all the various glosses have been collected. For our purpose it will be sufficient to mention the three most important codices containing Old Irish glosses. These are as follows:--(1) The Codex Paulinus at Wurzburg, which contains the thirteen epistles of St Paul, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, with a great mass of explanatory glosses, partly in Latin, partly in Irish, partly mixed. The chief source of the commentary is the commentary of Pelagius, who is often cited by name. The date of this highly important MS. is much disputed; part of the Irish glosses seem to date from about 700, whilst the rest may be placed a little before 800. (2) The Codex Ambrosianus, formerly at Bobbio, now at Milan, which contains a commentary on the psalter with a large number of Irish glosses. In their present state these glosses were copied in the first half of the 9th century. (3) Glosses on Priscian contained in four MSS., of which the most important is the Codex Sangallensis, dating from the middle of the 9th century. Apart from the biblical glosses and scholia the other chief texts or authors provided with Irish glosses are Augustine, Bede, the Canons, the Computus, Eutychius, Juvencus, Philargyrius, Prudentius and Servius.

The Milan and the St Gall codices just mentioned both contain several short poems in Irish. In two stanzas in the Swiss MS. we find expressed for the first time that keen sympathy with nature in all her moods which is so marked a feature of Irish and Welsh verse.

Two ponderous religious poems have now to be noticed. To Oengus the Culdee is attributed the lengthy _Felire_ or Calendar of Church Festivals, consisting of 365 quatrains in _rinnard_ metre, one for each day in the year. The language of this dry compilation, which is heavily glossed and annotated, points to 800 as the date of composition, and Oengus, who is stated to have lived about that time, may well have been the author. This calendar has been twice edited by W. Stokes with an English translation, the first time for the Royal Irish Academy (Dublin, 1880), and again for the Bradshaw Society (London, 1905).

It may perhaps be as well to enumerate here the later Irish martyrologies. (1) The _Martyrology of Tallaght_ (Tamlacht), founded on an 8th-century calendar, but containing additions down to 900 (ed. D.H. Kelly, Dublin, 1857). (2) The metrical _Martyrology of O'Gorman_, c. 1166-1174, edited by Stokes for the Bradshaw Society (London, 1895). (3) The _Martyrology of Donegal_, an important compilation in prose made by Michael O'Clery in 1630, edited by J.H. Todd (Dublin, 1864). A composition which is wrongly assigned to Oengus the Culdee is the _Saltair na Rann_ or Psalter in Quatrains, contained in an Oxford MS. (Rawlinson B 502) and published without a translation by Stokes (Oxford, 1883). The work proper consists of 150 poems corresponding to the number of Psalms in the psalter, but 12 poems have been added, and in all it contains 2098 quatrains, chiefly in _deibide_ metre of seven syllables. The poems are mainly based on biblical (Old Testament) history, but they preserve a large measure of medieval sacred lore and cosmogony. The psalter received additions as late as 998, and the Oxford MS. belongs to the 12th century. We should perhaps also mention here the famous _Amra_ or Eulogy of St Columba, commonly attributed to Dallan Forgaill, a contemporary of the saint, but Stokes takes the view that it was written in the 9th century, and is intentionally obscure. The oldest but not the best copy of the _Amra_ is preserved in the Trinity College, Dublin, MS. of the _Liber Hymnorum_, but it also occurs in LU. and elsewhere. It invariably appears heavily gloss-laden, and the glosses and commentary added thereto are out of all proportion to the text. This piece, which is not extant in its integrity, was probably intended as artificial alliterative prose, but, as we have it, it is a medley of isolated phrases and irrelevant comment.

Old collectors.

Book of the Dun Cow.

Book of Leinster.

Yellow Book of Lecan.

Book of Ballymote.

Speckled Book.

During the 9th and 10th centuries Ireland was harassed by the Vikings, and a host of scholars seem to have fled to the continent, carrying with them their precious books, many of which are preserved in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and elsewhere. Hence very few early Irish MSS. are preserved in Ireland itself. When the fury of the storm was past, Irish scholars showed increased interest in the old literary documents, and copied all that they could lay hands on into miscellaneous codices. The earliest of these collections, such as the _Cin of Druim Snechta_, the _Yellow Book of Slane_, the _Book of Dubdaleithe_, the _Psalter of Cashel_, exist no longer, though their names have come down and certain of them were known in the 17th century. However, copies of a goodly portion of the contents of these old books are preserved to us in one form or another, but mainly in a series of huge miscellaneous codices ranging in date from the 12th to the 16th century. The oldest is _Lebor na h-uidre_, or Book of the Dun Cow, preserved in the Royal Irish Academy and published in facsimile (Dublin, 1870). This MS. was compiled in part in the monastery of Clonmacnoise by Moelmuire MacCelechair, who was slain in 1106. The Book of the Dun Cow (where necessary we shall abbreviate as LU.) derives its name from a legend that Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (d. 544) took down the story of the _Tain Bo Cualnge_ on a parchment made from the hide of his favourite cow. The name seems to have been wrongly applied to the 12th-century MS. in the 15th century. LU. is almost entirely devoted to romance, the stories which it contains belonging mainly to the Ulster cycle. The next MS. in point of age is the Book of Leinster (abbreviated LL.) now in Trinity College, Dublin. It was transcribed by Finn, son of Gorman, bishop of Kildare (d. 1160). LL. also contains a large number of romances in addition to other important matter, mainly historical and genealogical, bearing more particularly on the affairs of Leinster. The Yellow Book of Lecan (YBL.), also in Trinity College, Dublin, was written at different times by the MacFirbis family, but chiefly by Gilla Isa, son of Donnchad Mor MacFirbis about 1391. The MacFirbises were hereditary scribes and genealogists to the O'Dowds, chiefs of the Hy Fiachrach (Co. Sligo). YBL. contains a vast amount of romance, and is indispensable as supplementing and checking the contents of LU. and LL. The most extensive collection of all is the Book of Ballymote (BB.), now belonging to the Royal Irish Academy, which was compiled about the beginning of the 15th century by various scribes. The book was in the possession of the chiefs of Ballymote for more than a century. In 1522 it was purchased by the O'Donnells for 140 milch cows. BB. only contains little romantic matter, but it has preserved much valuable historical and genealogical material. The contents of the _Leabhar Breac_ (LB.), or Speckled Book, now in the Royal Irish Academy, are chiefly ecclesiastical and religious. LB. seems to have been compiled in large measure before 1544. All these five codices have been published in facsimile by the Royal Irish Academy with a description of their contents. Two important Mid. Ir. MSS. in the Bodleian (Rawlinson B 512 and Laud 610), containing a good deal of romantic material, are also published in facsimile by Henry Frowde.

Other MSS. material.

Other MSS. which require special mention are (1) The Great Book of Lecan, compiled in the year 1417 by Gilla Isa Mor MacFirbis, in the Royal Irish Academy; (2) The Book of Lismore, the property of the duke of Devonshire at Lismore Castle. This codex was compiled in the latter half of the 15th century from the lost book of Monasterboice and other MSS. Its contents are described in the introduction to Stokes's _Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore_ (Oxford, 1890). (3) The Book of Fermoy in the Royal Irish Academy. The contents are described in the introduction to O'Beirne Crowe's edition of the _Tain Bo Fraich_ (Dublin, 1870). (4) The Book of Hy Maine recently acquired by the Royal Irish Academy. The scribe who wrote it died in 1372. O'Curry, O'Longan and O'Beirne Crowe drew up a MS. catalogue of the Irish MSS. in the Royal Irish Academy, and O'Donovan performed the same service for the Trinity College, Dublin, collection. A briefer account of the Irish MSS. in TCD. will be found in Abbott's Catalogue of the MSS. in that library. O'Curry also drew up a list of the Irish MSS. in the British Museum, and S.H. O'Grady has printed part i. of a descriptive catalogue of this collection (London, 1901), part ii. by T. O'Maille. The twenty-six MSS. in the Franciscan monastery in Dublin are described by J.T. Gilbert in the _Fourth Report of the Royal Commission on Historical MSS._ W.F. Skene catalogued the collection of MSS. in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, a printed catalogue of which has been issued by D. Mackinnon (Edinburgh, 1909; see also _Trans. Gaelic Soc. of Inverness_, xvi. 285-309).

In order to give some idea of the enormous extent of Irish MS. material we may quote some calculations made by O'Curry, who states that if the five oldest vellum MSS. were printed the result would be 9400 quarto pages. Other vellum MSS. ranging in date from 1300 to 1600 would fill 9000 pages of the same size, whilst the innumerable paper MSS. belonging chiefly to the early 18th century would cover no less than 30,000 pages. The well-known French scholar, D'Arbois de Jubainville, published in 1883 a tentative catalogue of Irish epic literature. His work is by no means complete, but his figures are instructive. He mentions 953 Irish MSS. containing epic matter preserved in Irish and English libraries. To these have to be added another 56 in continental libraries. Of this mass of material 133 Irish and British MSS. and 35 continental MSS. were written before 1600. It should, however, be stated that the same subject is treated over and over again, and much of the later material is absolutely valueless.

Character of Middle Irish.

Before we pass on to the consideration of the literature itself, it will be well to make a few preliminary observations on the nature of the language in which the pieces are written and on the status of the poet in medieval Ireland. The language in which the huge miscellaneous codices enumerated above are contained is called by the general name of Middle Irish, which is a very wide term. Irish scribes often copied their original somewhat mechanically, without being tempted to change the language to that of their own time. Thus in many parts of LU. we find a thin Middle Irish veneer on what is largely Old Irish of the 8th or 9th century. Hence such a MS. often preserves forms which had been current several centuries before, and it may even happen that a 14th or 15th century MS. such as YBL. contains much older forms than a corresponding passage in LL. Of recent years several scholars--notably Strachan--have devoted much attention to the Old Irish verb-forms, so that we have now safe criteria for establishing with some degree of certainty the age of recensions of stories and poems preserved in late MSS. In this way a number of compositions have been assigned to the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries, though actual written documents belonging to this period are comparatively rare.

The "fili."

It remains for us to say a few words about the _fili_, the professional literary man in Ireland. The _fili_ (from the stem _vel-_, "to see," Welsh, Breton, _gwelet_, "to see") appears to have been originally a diviner and magician, and corresponds to the _vates_, [Greek: ouateis], of the ancient Gauls mentioned by classical writers. In Ireland he is represented as sole possessor of three methods of divination: the _imbas forosnai_, _teinm loida_ and _dichetal di chennaib cnaime_. The first two of these were forbidden by Patrick, but they seem to have survived as late as the 10th century. Part of the tremendous influence exercised by the _fili_ was due to the belief in his powers of satire. By reciting a satirical poem or incantation he was able to raise blotches on the face of and so disfigure any person who aroused his displeasure. Numerous cases of this occur in Irish literature. The origin of the science of the _fili_ is sometimes traced back to the _Dagda_, one of the figures of the Irish pantheon, and they were held in such esteem that the annalists give the obituaries of the head-ollams as if they were so many princes. With the introduction of Christianity they seem to have gradually superseded the druid, and their functions are therefore very wide. We are told that they acted in three capacities: (i) as story-tellers (_fer comgne_ or _scelaige_); (2) as judges (_brithem_), including the professions of arbiters, legislators and lawyers; (3) as poets proper (_fercerte_). We are here only concerned with the _fili_ in his capacity of story-teller and poet. In accordance with the minute classification of the various ranks of society in early Ireland, the social status of the literary man was very carefully defined. The degrees vary slightly in different documents, but the following list of ten from the _Senchus Mor_ is very instructive: (1) The highest degree is the _ollam_ (ollave), who knows 350 stories; (2) the _anruth_, 175 stories; (3) the _clii_, 80 stories; (4) the _cana_, 60 stories; (5) the _doss_, 50 stories; (6) the _macfuirmid_, 40 stories; (7) the _fochlocon_, 30 stories; (8) the _drisac_, 20 stories; (9) the _taman_, 10 stories; (10) the _oblaire_, 7 stories. In LL. we are told that the stories (_scel_) are divided into primary and secondary, and that the latter are only obligatory on the first four of the grades enumerated. Again, certain styles of composition seem to have been the monopoly of certain grades. Thus the poem which was most highly rewarded and demanded the highest technical skill was called the _anomain_, and was the exclusive right of the _ollam_. A notable instance of this kind of composition is the _Amra_ of Columba, attributed to Dallan Forgaill. The higher grades were allowed a number of attendants, whom the kings had to support along with the poet himself. Thus the _fochlocon_ had two and the _doss_ four attendants. In the 6th century Dallan Forgaill, the chief _fili_ of Ireland, claimed the right to be attended by thirty _filid_, which was the number of the train allowed to the supreme king. The reigning monarch, Aed MacAinmirech, weary of the pretensions of the poets, attempted to banish them, which led to the famous assembly of Druim Ceta, where Columba intervened and reduced the number to twenty-four (the train of a provincial king). In the plan of the hall of Tara, preserved in LL. and YBL., the _sui littre_ or doctor in theology has the seat of honour opposite the king. The _ollam brithem_ or supreme judge or lawyer ranks with the highest rank of nobility, whilst the _ollam fili_ is on a footing with the nobleman of the second degree.

We have already stated that the stories which formed the stock-in-trade of the poets were divided into primary and secondary stories. Of the latter there were 100, but little is known of them. However, several more or less complete lists of the primary stories have come down to us. The oldest catalogue (contained in LL.) gives the titles of 187 of these tales arranged under the following heads--destructions, cow-spoils, courtships, battles, caves, navigations, violent deaths, expeditions, elopements and conflagrations; together with the following, which also reckon as prime-stories--irruptions, visions, loves, hostings and migrations. Of these stories sixty-eight have been preserved in a more or less complete form. The tales enumerated in these catalogues, which in their substance doubtless go back to the 8th or even to the 7th century, fall into four main categories: (1) the mythological cycle, (2) the Cuchulinn cycle, (3) the Finn cycle, (4) pieces relating to events of the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries. Meyer has estimated that of the 550 titles of epic tales in D'Arbois's _Catalogue_ about 400 are known to us, though many of them only occur in a very fragmentary state; and about 100 others have since been discovered which were not known in 1883.

The course of training undergone by the _fili_ was a very lengthy one. It is commonly stated to have extended over twelve years, at the end of which time the student was thoroughly versed in all the legendary, legal, historical and topographical lore of his native country, in the use of the innumerable and excessively complicated Irish metres, in Ogam writing and Irish grammar. The instruction in the schools of poetry seems to have been entirely oral, and the course consisted largely in learning by heart the verses in which the native lore was enshrined. These schools of learning existed in one form or another down to the 17th century. In the early days the _fili_ is represented as employing a mysterious archaic form of speech--doubtless full of obscure kennings--which was only intelligible to the initiated. An instance of this _berla feine_, as it was termed, is the piece entitled _Acallam an Da Shuad_ (Colloquy of the Two Sages, _Rev. celt._ xxvi. 4 ff.). In this piece two _filid_ of the 1st century A.D. are represented as contending in this dialect for the office of chief _ollam_ of Ireland, much to the chagrin of King Conchobar, to whom their speeches were unintelligible. It was in consequence of this that Conchobar ruled that the office of _fili_ should no longer carry with it of necessity the office of judge (_brithem_). It ought to be observed that the church never showed itself hostile to the _filid_, as it did to the druids. Dubthach, chief _fili_ of Ireland in the time of St Patrick, is represented as the saint's constant companion, and the famous Flann Mainistrech (d. 1056), though a layman and _fili_, was head of the monastery school at Monasterboice.

The bard.

Before leaving the subject of the literary classes, we must notice an inferior grade of poet--the bard. Like the official _filid_, the bards were divided into grades. There were both patrician and plebeian bards, each subdivided into eight degrees, having their own peculiar metres. Like the _fili_ the bard had to go through a long course of study, and he was generally attached to the house of some chieftain whose praises he had to sing. In course of time the office of _fili_ became extinct, owing to a variety of causes, and from the 13th to the 16th century we find the hitherto despised family bard stepping into the place of the most influential literary man in Ireland. His importance was fully realized by the English government, which did its best to suppress the order.

Medieval romances.

The medieval romances form by far the most attractive part of Irish literature, and it is to them that we shall first turn our attention. Two main groups of stories have to be distinguished. The one is the Ulster cycle, with Conchobar and Cuchulinn as central figures. The other is the Southern or Leinster-Munster cycle, revolving round Finn and Ossian. Further stories dealing with mythological and historical personages will be mentioned in their turn.

Ulster cycle.

The "Tain."

The Ulster cycle may be regarded as Ireland's most important contribution to the world's literature. The chief and at the same time the lengthiest romance in which the heroes of this group figure is the great epic, the _Tain Bo Cualnge_ or the Cattle-raid of Cooley (Co. Louth). Here we find ourselves in a world of barbaric splendour, and we are constantly reminded of the Iliad, though the Irish epic from a purely literary point of view cannot bear comparison with the work of Homer. The main actors in the drama are Conchobar, king of Ulster, the great warrior Cuchulinn (see CUCHULINN), Ailill and Medb, king and queen of Connaught, and Fergus, Conchobar's predecessor as king of Ulster, now in exile in Connaught. These persons may or may not have actually lived, but the Irish annalists and synchronists agree in placing them about the beginning of the Christian era. And there cannot be any doubt as to the antiquity of the state of civilization disclosed in this great saga. It has been repeatedly pointed out that the Irish heroes are equipped and conduct themselves in the same manner as the Gauls described by the Greek traveller Posidonius, and Prof. W. Ridgeway has shown recently that several articles of dress and armour correspond exactly to the La Tene types of the continent. To mention a few primitive traits among many--the Irish champions of the _Tain_ still fight in chariots, war-dogs are employed, whilst the heads of the slain are carried off in triumph and slung round the necks of the horses. It may also be mentioned that Emain Macha, Conchobar's residence, is reported by the annalists to have been destroyed in A.D. 323, and that portions of Meath, which is stated to have been made into a separate province in the 2nd century A.D., are in the _Tain_ regarded as forming part of Ulster. Noteworthy is the exalted position occupied by the druid in the Ulster sagas, showing how little the romances were influenced by Christianity. No Roman soldier ever set foot in Ireland, and this early epic literature is of supreme value as a monument of primitive Celtic civilization. Ireland has always been a pastoral country. In early times no native coins were in circulation: the land belonged to the tribe. Consequently a man's property consisted mainly of cattle. Cattle-raids were an event of daily occurrence, and Sir Walter Scott has made us familiar with similar expeditions on the part of the Scottish Highlanders in the 18th century. Hence it is not a matter for surprise that the theme of the greatest Irish epic is a cattle-raid. At the time there were two wonderful bulls in Ireland, the Bond or Brown Bull of Cualnge, and the Findbennach or White-horn, belonging to Medb. These two animals are of no ordinary nature. Other stories represent them as having existed under many different forms before they were reborn as bulls. First they appear as swineherds belonging to the supernatural people of the _sid_ of fairy mounds; then they are metamorphosed successively as ravens, warriors, sea-monsters and insects. It was Queen Medb's ambition to gain possession of the Brown Bull of Cualnge, and for this purpose she collected the united hosts of Ireland to raid the province of Ulster and carry him off. Medb chooses the season when she knows the Ulstermen are all incapacitated as the result of a curse laid upon them by a fairy woman. Cuchulinn alone is exempt from this debility.

The story is divided into a number of sections, and has been summarized by Miss Hull as follows:--(1) the prologue, relating, in the form of a night dialogue between Ailill and Medb, the dispute between them which brought about the raid; (2) the collecting of Medb's hosts and the preliminary movements of the army, during which period she first became aware of the presence and powers of Cuchulinn. Her inquiry of Fergus as to who this formidable foe is leads to a long section called (3) Cuchulinn's boy-deeds, in which Fergus relates the remarkable prodigies of Cuchulinn's youth, and warns Medb that, though the hero is but a beardless youth of seventeen, he will be more than a match for all her forces. (4) A long series of single combats, of which the first part of the tale is made up; they are at first gay and bombastic in character, but become more grave as they proceed, and culminate in the combat of Cuchulinn with his old companion, Fer Diad. This section contains the account of Cuchulinn's "distortion" or frenzy, which always occurred before any great output of the hero's energy, and of the rout of the hosts of Medb which followed it. (5) The general awakening of the warriors of Ulster from their lethargy, and their gathering by septs upon the Hill of Slane, clan by clan being described as it comes up in order. (6) The final Battle of Gairech and Ilgairech, followed (7) by the rout of Medb's army and (8) the tragic death of the bulls.

The text of the _Tain_ has come down to us as a whole or in part in nearly a score of MSS., most of which, however, are modern. The most important MSS. containing the story are LU., LL. and YBL. Of these LU. and YBL. are substantially the same, whilst LL. contains a longer and fuller text later in both style and language. LL. attempts to give a complete and consistent narrative in more polished form. In ancient times there were doubtless other versions now lost, but from the middle of the 12th century the scribes seem to have taken few liberties with the text, whilst previously the _filid_ were constantly transforming the material and adding fresh matter. The YBL. version preserves a number of forms as old as the O. Ir. glosses (i.e. 8th century or earlier), and a curious story contained in LL. seems to point to the fact that the _Tain_ was first committed to writing in the 7th century. Senchan Torpeist, who lived in the first half of the 7th century and succeeded Dallan Forgaill as chief _ollam_ of Ireland, summoned the _filid_ to inquire which of them knew the _Tain_ in its entirety. As they were only familiar with fragments he despatched them to discover it. One of them seated himself at the grave of Fergus MacRoig, who appeared to him in a mist and dictated the whole story to him in three days and three nights.

At this point it will be well to say a few words about the form of the _Tain_. The old Irish epic is invariably in prose with poems of varying length interspersed. The narrative and descriptive portions are in prose and are frequently followed by a brief epitome in verse. Dialogues, eulogies and laments also appear in metrical form. The oldest poems, termed rhetoric, which are best represented in LU., seem to be declamatory passages in rhythmical prose, not unlike the poetical passages in the Old Testament, and the original _Tain_ may have consisted of such rhetorics bound together with short connecting pieces of prose. At a later date poems were inserted in the metres of the _filid_ (particularly the quatrain of four heptasyllabic lines) which Thurneysen and Windisch consider to have been developed out of medieval Latin verse. When in course of time the old rhetorics became unintelligible they were often omitted altogether or new poems substituted. Thus the LL. version contains a larger number of poems than the LU.-YBL. copy, whilst LU. preserves a number of rhetorics which do not appear in the later MS. The prose portions in LU. are very poor from a literary point of view. These passages are abrupt, condensed and frequently obscure, with no striving after literary effect such as we find in LL. The form in which many episodes are cast is not unlike a mnemonic, leaving the story-teller to fill in the details himself. In the 11th century certain portions of the theme possessing great human interest were vastly extended, new poems were added, and in this manner such episodes come to form sagas complete in themselves. The most notable instance of this is the "Fight with Fer Diad," which is not contained in LU. The genesis of the _Tain_ may thus be briefly summarized as follows. The story was first committed to writing in the 7th or 8th century, after which it was worked up by the _filid_. Extended versions existing in the 10th or 11th century form the basis of the copies we now possess.

Though the sagas of the Ulster cycle are eminently Irish and pagan in character and origin, it cannot be denied that traces of foreign influence are to be observed. A number of Latin and Norse loan-words occur in them, and there can be little doubt that the monkish scribes consciously thrust the supernatural element into the background. However, although figures of Vikings are unmistakable in a few cases, and in one story Cuchulinn is made to fight with Hercules, such foreign elements can easily be detected in the older tales. They only affect minor details, and do not influence the body of the romances.

From what we have already said it will be plain that the Irish epic is in a fluid state. The _Tain_ is of interest in the history of literature as representing the preliminary stage through which the great verse epics of other nations have had to pass, but its value as a work of art is limited by its form. We must now say a few words about the character and style of these romances. As already stated, the atmosphere is frankly pagan and barbaric, with none of that courtly element which we find in the Arthurian epics. The two features which strike one most forcibly in the medieval Irish romances are dramatic force and humour. The unexpected and weird is always happening, the effect of which is considerably heightened by the grim nature of the actors. In particular the dialogues are remarkably brilliant and clever, and it is a matter for surprise that this gifted race never developed a drama of its own. This is doubtless partly due to the political conditions of the island. And, moreover, we are constantly struck by the lack of sustained effort which prevented the _filid_ from producing great epics in verse. Dramatic material is abundantly present in the old epics, but it has never been utilized. As one might expect from the vernacular literature of Ireland, these romances are pervaded by a keen sense of humour. We feel that the story-teller is continually expecting a laugh and he exaggerates in true Irish fashion, so that the stories are full of extravagantly grotesque passages. In the later LL. version we notice a tendency to linger over pathetic situations, but this is unknown in the earlier stage. Perhaps the most serious defect of all Irish literary products is the lack of any sense of proportion, which naturally goes hand in hand with the love of the grotesque. Far too much attention is paid to trivial incidents and minute descriptions, however valuable the latter may be to the antiquarian, to the detriment of the artistic effect. Further, the story-teller does not know when to stop. He goes meandering on long after the main portion of the story is finished, with the result that Irish romances are apt to end in a most uninteresting anticlimax. Finally we are wearied with a constant repetition of the same epithets and similes, and with turgid descriptions; even the grotesque exaggerations pall when we find them to be stereotyped. But the early epics do not offend our sense of propriety in expression to the same extent as the later Finn cycle.

The _Tain Bo Cualnge_ formed a kind of nucleus round which a number of other tales clustered. A number of these are called _remscela_ or introductory stories to the _Tain_. Such are the "Revealing of the Tain" (already mentioned), the "Debility of the Ultonians" (giving the story of the curse), "The Cattle-Driving of Regamon, Dartaid and Flidais," "_Tain bo Regamna_," "The Cattle-Driving of Fraech," "The Dispute of the Swineherds," telling the previous history of the Bulls, "The Capture of the Fairy Mound," "The Dream of Mac oc," the "Adventures of Nera," the "Wooing of Ferb." Other stories form a kind of continuation of the _Tain_. Thus the "Battle of Rosnaree" ("_Cath Ruis na Rig_") relates how Conchobar, as a result of the loss of the Bull, sends an army against the kings of Leinster and Tara, and would have been routed but for the prowess of Cuchulinn. The "Great Rout of the Plain of Murthemne" and "Cuchulinn's Death" tell how the hero's downfall is compassed by a monstrous brood of ill-shapen beings whose father and brothers had been slain by him during the _Tain_. He finally meets with his end at the hands of Lugaid, son of Curoi mac Daire (the central hero of a Munster cycle which has not come down to us), and Erc, king of Tara. We are also told of the terrible vengeance taken on the murderers by Conall Cernach. Other stories deal with the "Conception of Conchobar," the "Conception of Cuchulinn," "The Glories of Conchobar's Reign," with an account of how he acquired the Throne from Fergus, "The Wooing of Emer and the Hero's Education in Scotland under Scathach," "The Siege of Howth," "Bricriu's Feast and the Exile of the Sons of Doel Dermait," "The Battle of the Boyne" (_Eriu_, vol. ii.), "The Deaths of Ailill, Medb and Conall Cernach," "Destruction of Bruden Da Choca," "The Tragical Death of Conlaech at the hands of Cuchulinn his father," "The Deaths of Goll and Garbh," "The Sickbed of Cuchulinn," in which the hero is lured away for a time into the invisible land by a fairy, Fand, wife of Manandan, "The Intoxication of the Ultonians," telling of a wild raid by night across the entire extent of the island from Dun-da-Benn near Coleraine to the fort of Curoi MacDaire at Temair-Luachra in Kerry, "The Death of Conchobar," "The Phantom Chariot of Cuchulinn," in which the hero is brought up from the grave to witness before St Patrick and King Loigaire to the truth of the Christian doctrine.

Four other stories in connexion with the Ulster cycle remain to be mentioned. The first is "_Scel mucci Maic Datho_" ("The Story of MacDatho's Pig"). Various writers of antiquity inform us that at the feasts of the Gauls the champion received the best portion of meat, which frequently led to brawls. In this savage but picturesque Irish story we find the Ulstermen vaunting their achievements against the Connaughtmen, until at last the contest lies between Conall Cernach and Cet MacMagach. Nowhere, perhaps, is the dramatic element better brought out.

Apart from the _Tain_ the greatest and at the same time the longest saga in which Cuchulinn figures is _Fled Bricrend_ (Bricriu's Feast). Bricriu is the mischief-maker among the Ulstermen, and he conceives the idea of building a banqueting hall in order to invite Conchobar and his nobles to a feast. After much hesitation they consent. Bricriu in turn incites the three chief heroes, Cuchulinn, Conall Cernach and Loigaire Buadach, to claim the champion's portion. He does the same thing with the spouses of the three warriors, who declaim in obscure verse the achievements and excellences of their several husbands in a passage entitled the "Women's War of Words." Loosely attached to this story follows a wild series of adventures in which the powers of the three champions are tested, Cuchulinn always proving his superiority. In order to decide the dispute, visits are paid to Medb at Rath Cruachan and to Curoi in Kerry, and the story ends with the "beheading incident," which occurs in the romance of "Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight." _Fled Bricrend_ presents a number of textual difficulties. The text of the oldest MS. (LU.) shows signs of contamination, and several versions of the story seem to have been current.

But the story of the Ulster cycle which is better known than any other, is the story of the "Tragical Death of the Sons of Usnech, or the Life and Death of Deirdre," one of the "Three Sorrows of Story-telling." This is the only tale of the group which has survived in the minds of the common people down to the present day. It is foretold of Deirdre, a girl-child of great beauty, that she will be the cause of great misfortunes, but Conchobar, having lost his wife, determines to have her brought up in solitude and marry her himself. However, the maiden chances to see a noble youth named Naisi, one of the three sons of Usnech, and persuades him to carry her off to Scotland, where they live for many years. At length they are induced to return after several of the most prominent Ulster warriors have gone bail for their safety. But Conchobar resorts to treachery, and the three sons of Usnech are slain, whilst the account of Deirdre's end varies. The oldest version of the story is found in LL., and the characters are as rugged and unsophisticated as those of the _Tain_. But in the later versions the savage features are toned down.

Before passing on, we must mention several old stories which are independent of the Ulster cycle, but which deal with events which are represented as having taken place before the Christian era. Few of the old romances deal directly with what we may call Irish mythology. The "Battle of Moytura" tells of the tremendous struggle between the Tuatha De Danann and their enemies, the Fomorian pirates. Connected with the events of this saga is the story of the "Tragic Deaths of the Sons of Tuirenn," which, though mentioned in Cormac's glossary, is not found in any MS. older than the 18th century. The three sons of Tuirenn have slain Cian, father of Lug Lamfhada, who lays upon them a huge eric-fine. They go through terrific ordeals and accomplish their task, but return home to die. This is the second of the "Three Sorrows of Story-telling." An old story dealing with Tuatha De Danann personages, but having a certain bearing on the Cuchulinn cycle, is the "Courtship of Etain," who, though of supernatural (_sid_) birth, is wedded to Eochaid Airem, a mortal king. In her previous existence she was the wife of the supernatural personage Midir of Bri-leith, who wins back Etain from her mortal husband in a game of chess and carries her off to his fairy mound.

For sake of completeness we may add the titles of two other well-known stories here. The one is the "Story of Baile the Sweet-spoken," which tells of the deaths of two lovers for grief at the false tidings of each other's death. The other is the "Fate of the Children of Lir," the third of the "Three Sorrows of Story-telling," which is only known in a modern dress. It relates how the four daughters of Lir (father of the sea-god Manandan and the original of Shakespeare's Lear) were changed into swans by a cruel stepmother, and how, after 900 years of wandering on the ocean, they at length regain their human form through the instrumentality of St Mochaomhog.

A large number of sagas, which claim to be founded on historical events, present a great similarity to the tales of the Ulster cycle. Most of them are mentioned in the old catalogues. We can only name the more important here. The "Destruction of Dind-Rig and Exile of Labraid Loingsech" relates how the kingdom of Leinster was snatched by one brother from another in the 6th century B.C., and how the son of the murdered prince with the aid of a British force sacked Dind-Rig, the fortress of the usurper. The story of the visit of the pigmies to the court of Fergus MacLeite, king of Ulster in the 2nd century B.C., is only contained in a 15th-century MS. This tale is commonly stated to have given Swift the idea of his _Gulliver's Travels to Lilliput_. "_Caithreim Chonghail Claringnigh_," which only occurs in a modernized 17th-century version, deals with a revolution in the province of Ulster, supposed to have taken place before the Christian era.

The most important Old Irish saga after the _Tain_ is beyond doubt the _Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel_, contained in LU. It deals with events in the reign of the High-King Conaire Mor, who is said by the annalists to have been slain in 43 B.C. after a reign of seventy years. Conaire, who was a descendant of the Etain mentioned above, was a just ruler, and had banished among other lawless persons his own five foster brothers. These latter devoted themselves to piracy and made common cause with one Ingcel, a son of the king of Britain, who had been outlawed by his father. The high-king was returning from Co. Clare when he found the whole of Meath in flames. He turned aside into Leinster and made for Da Derga's hostel. The pirates perceive this, and Ingcel is sent to spy out the hostel and discover the size of Conaire's force. This gives the story-teller a chance for one of those lengthy minute descriptions of persons in which his soul delighted. This catalogue occupies one-half of the whole story. The pirates make their attack, and the king and most of his followers are butchered.

We can do no more than enumerate the titles of other historical tales: The "Destruction of the Hostel of MacDareo," describing the insurrection of the Aithech-Tuatha (1st century A.D.), "The Expulsion of the Deisi" and the "Battle of Mag Lemna" (2nd century A.D.), "Battle of Mag Mucrime" (A.D. 195 or A.D. 218), "Siege of Drom Damgaire" (3rd century), "Adventures of the Sons of Eochaid Muigmedoin, father of Niall Noigiallach" (4th century), "Death of Crimthann" (reigned 366-378), "Death of Dathi" (d. 428), "Death of Murchertach, son of Erc," and "Death of Diarmait, son of Cerball" (6th century) "Wooing of Becfola, who became the wife of Diarmait, son of Aed Slane" (reigned 657-664), "Battle of Mag Rath" (637), "Battle of Carn Conaill" (c. 648), "Death of Maelfothartaig MacRonain" (7th century), who was a kind of Irish Hippolytus, "Battle of Allen" (722).

It will be well to deal here with another class of story in its various stages of development. We have seen that in the older romances there is a close connexion between mortals and supernatural beings. The latter are represented as either inhabiting the _sid_ mounds or as dwelling in islands out in the ocean, which are pictured as abodes of bliss and variously called _Mag Mell_ (Plain of Delight), _Tir na n-Oc_ (Land of Youth) and _Tir Tairngiri_ (Land of Promise). The visits of mortals to the Irish Elysium form the subject of three romances which we must now examine. The whole question has been exhaustively dealt with by Kuno Meyer and Alfred Nutt in the _Voyage of Bran_ (London, 1895-1897). Condla Caem, son of Conn Cetchathach, was one day seated by his father on the hill of Usnech, when he saw a lady in strange attire approaching invisible to all but himself. She describes herself, as coming from the "land of the living," a place of eternal delight, and invites the prince to return with her. Conn invokes the assistance of his druid to drive away the strange visitor, who in parting throws an apple to Condla. The young man partakes of no food save his apple, which does not diminish, and he is consumed with longing. At the end of a month the fairy-maiden again makes her appearance. Condla can hold out no longer. He jumps into the damsel's skiff of glass. They sail away and were seen no more. This is the _Imram_ or Adventure of Condla Caem, the oldest text of which is found in LU. A similar story is entitled _Imram Brain maic Febail_, contained in YBL. and Rawlinson B 512 (the end also occurs in LU.), only with this difference that Bran, with twenty-seven companions, puts to sea to discover _tir na mban_ (the land of maidens). After spending some time there, one of his comrades is seized with home-sickness. They return, and the home-sick man, on being set ashore, immediately turns to dust. A later story preserved in BB., YBL. and the Book of Fermoy, tells of the visit of Cormac, grandson of Conn Cetchathach, to Tir Tairngiri. These themes are also worked into tales belonging to the Ossianic cycle, and Finn and Ossian in later times become the typical warriors who achieve the quest of the Land of Youth. The romances we have just mentioned are almost entirely pagan in character, but a kindred class of story shows us how the old ideas were transformed under the influence of Christianity. A typical instance is _Imram curaig Maelduin_, contained in YBL. and in part in LU. Maelduin constructs a boat and sets out on a voyage with a large company to discover the murderer of his father. This forms the framework of the story. Numerous islands in the ocean are visited, each containing some great marvel. _Imram ua Corra_ (Book of Fermoy) and _Imram Snedgusa ocus Mac Riagla_ (YBL.) contain the same plan, but in this case the voyage is undertaken as an expiation for crime. In the 11th century an unknown monkish writer compiled the _Navigatio S. Brendani_, drawing the material for his episodes from _Imram curaig Maelduin._ This famous work only appears in an Irish dress in a confused and disconnected "Life of St Brendan" in the Book of Lismore. The same MS. contains yet another voyage, the "Adventure of Tadg MacCein."

Fenian or Ossianic cycle.