Chapter XVIII: Appendix: A

IRISH TERMS USED IN THE VERSE

=Aely= [_Éli_, L.U. 78ᵃ, margin]. A spell or incantation.

=An-dord´= [_Andord_, L.L. 261ᵃ31]. Apparently a kind of tenor singing. _Dord_ means the bass in music. _An_ here is probably a negative, not an intensive, prefix; for O’Curry (M. & C. iii. 379) says that the short strings of the harp were called _andord_, “not bass.”

=Bălt´-thănă= [_Beltene_. Mod. I. _Bealtaine_]. The first of May. This was one of the chief points of division in the year. See Corm., _Belltaine_.

=Ban´-a-nah= [_Bânanach_]. A kind of airy spirit.

=Barnbrogues= [_Bernbróic_]. Probably a long, close-fitting covering for the legs, breeches and hose combined. See Zimmer, K.S. 6, pp. 81-88.

=Bive= [_Badb_]. The raven, hooded-crow, carrion-crow, or other rapacious bird. Often used as a name for the More-reega, the goddess of war, who was wont to appear in the form of a carrion-bird.

=Boc´-a-nah= [_Bócanach_]. A kind of airy spirit.

=Boo´-an-bac= [_Buanbach_, _buanfach_]. A game, probably of the nature of chess or draughts. See Zimmer, K.S. 6, p. 78.

=Baw´-ee Brashee= [_Bái brassi_]. One of Cucullin’s feats. _Brasse_ means “quickness,” “readiness” (see Fél. Index). But it seems impossible to determine the nature of the feat.

=Bran´-duv= [_Brandub_; Mod. Ir. _brannamh_]. Chess. Dr. Joyce (Soc. Hist. ii. 480, 1) says that nothing has been discovered to show the exact nature of this game. But in Keating’s _Trí Bior-ghaoithe an Bháis_ (“Three Shafts of Death”), p. 25, there is a passage in which the fate of men is compared to the fate of the troop in a game of _brandubh_. It is pointed out that just as in the game of _brandubh_, so long as the game is being played, each man has his own rank, the King being in the most honoured place on the board, and the Queen in the second place, and so on,—similarly in the _brandubh_ of life each man has his own place. And just as, when the game is over, the men of the _brandubh_ are poured into the bag all mingled together without any respect to their rank,—similarly, when Death comes to men he pays no more honour to one than to another.

This passage shows that in Keating’s time, at all events, _brandubh_ meant “chess,” not “backgammon” or “draughts.”

=Bratt= [_Bratt_]. An outer covering, cloak, or mantle.

=Bressla More= [_Breslech mór_]. The great breaking or slaughter. The name _Breslech mór_ seems afterwards to have been given to the spot where the slaughter took place. See L.L. 75ᵇ49.

=Brewy= [_Bríuga_]. “A lord of land,” as (following Dr. Kuno Meyer) I render it in Book vii; a wealthy farmer; a hospitaller.

=Broo= [_Brúgh_]. A mansion; a fairy palace. “The Broo of Angus Ōg” was probably the great tumulus of New Grange on the Boyne. Angus Ōg was the son of the great Dagda and of Boand (“Boyne”), whose name was given to the river. See _Aislinge Oengusso_, Rev. Celt. iii. 344.

=Călăd-colg= [_Calad colg_]. The name of the sword of Fergus. Apparently from _calad_, “hard,” and _colg_, “a straight sword,” “a dagger.” But from its being compared to a rainbow, I judge that the _Calad colg_ was curved, and I have treated it so. It is sometimes called the _calad bolg_.

=The two Cann-bracks´= [_na da chend bricc_]. The two dappled-heads: Conor’s two steeds.

=Cantred= [_Tricha cét_]. Following the usual custom, I render the Irish term, _tricha cét_, “thirty hundred,” by the Welsh word “cantred.” A _tricha cét_ (defined in the Laws, vol. v, 50, 3, as “one _tuath_”) was a territory containing thirty ballys or townlands. It corresponded roughly to the modern barony. When _tricha cét_ is used to denote a division in an army, it seems uncertain whether it means literally 3000 men, or simply the complement of fighting men which a cantred of land was able to furnish forth.

=Cass-awn´= [_Cassán_]. A brooch or pin.

=Cathbarr= [_Cath barr_]. A helmet, a head-piece.

=Cloth-nell´= [_Cloth nell_, L.L. 261ᵃ29]. I am not sure whether I have been right in interpreting this as the name of the song. It may be merely a _cheville_, a stop-gap, such as often occur in Irish poetry. In any case, I do not understand what it means.

=Cōla= [_Coblach_, L.L. 261ᵃ30]. Apparently the voice or a mode of singing between bass (_dord_) and tenor (_andord_). O’Curry (M. & C. iii. 252, 379) says that the middle strings of the harp were called the _cobhlaighe_.

=Con´-gan-ess= [_Congan-chness_]. Horn-skin; the name of Faerdeeah’s armour. It may have been a close-fitting dress of leather, sewn all over with little plates of horn.

=Cooal= [_Cual_, L.L. 102ᵃ37]. The word seems to refer to the bristling mass of swords and spears with which each of these battle-castles was surrounded. See the description of them: Windisch, Táin, pp. 809-821. Compare L.L. 115ᵇ19, where cual gai seems to mean a _cheval-de-frise_ of spears.

=Crann-dord´= [_Crandord_]. The musical lowing made by the Donn of Cooley. _Crann_ means “a tune,” “a melody.” _Dord_ means “a humming,” also “the bass in music.” O’Brien has _crann dordáin_, “a kind of music made by putting the hand to the mouth.”

=Crann-towl´= [_crantaball_]. A sling-staff, or perhaps a kind of crossbow, for shooting stones.

=Creev Roe= [_Cráebrúad_]. “The Red Branch”: the name of Conor’s great banqueting-house at Avvin Maha.

=Croo´-a-deen= [_Cruadín_]. The name of Cucullin’s sword; formed from _cruaidh_, “hard.” _Cruaidh_ is the modern word for “steel.”

=Crooan= [_Cruan_]. Probably a kind of red enamel. Very beautiful examples of early Irish enamel-work may be seen in the collection of the R.I.A. in Dublin.

=Curragh= [_Currach_]. A coracle: a light boat made of a wooden framework, which in ancient times used to be covered with hides, and in modern times is covered with tarred canvas.

=Dael= [_Dáel_]. Some kind of black chafer or beetle.

=Dael-clish= [_Deil chliss_; _deil chniss_]. Of somewhat uncertain meaning. In the passage in Book xi., where it occurs (see L.L. 77ᵇ5; L.U. 79ᵇ9), the context seems to suggest that it was a dart greater and more important than the eight little darts; but it may have been some kind of bow or sling for shooting the little darts. In Book v. I have rendered the word vaguely, “dael-feat”; it may mean a sling-staff with which the ball was to be cast. _Del_ or _deil_ meant “a rod,” or “switch.”

=Dael-feat.= See =Dael-clish=.

=Doon= [_Dún_]. A fortress; a fortified residence.

=The Enga= [_an Engach_]. The name of Conall Carna’s ship, as given in the _Foghlaimh Chonchulainn_.

=Eric= [_Eric_]. “A fine or penalty exacted from an offender, according to the assessment of established custom, or the determination of the Brehons.” Laws vi., p. 311.

=The Eura= [_An Iubrach_, _in Ibhrach_]. The name of the boat belonging to Fergus. It seems to be connected with ibar (Mod. Ir., _iubhar_), “a yew-tree.”

=Faen-feat= [_Foenchless_]. One of Cucullin’s feats. From _foen_, “supine,” “flat.” A passage in the “Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel” shows that this feat was performed with the shield. See L.U. 97ᵇ20, 21, where Mac Cecht performs the faen-feat with his shield, and the edge-feat with his sword.

=Faer-dord´= [_Ferdord_ L.U. 78ᵃ23, 24]. _Fer_ (Mod. Ir., _fear_) is “a man.” _Dord_ means “a humming,” also “the bass in music.” Thus _ferdord_ was probably some kind of deep bass crooning with the intent of inducing sleep.

=Feea= [_Fiach_]. A debt.

=Feehill= [_Fidchell_, _fithchioll_]. Often translated “chess.” But _fidchell_ and _brandubh_ seem to have been distinct games. In the _Agallamh_ (I. T. Vierte Serie, 1 Heft. p. 196) we are told that on a certain occasion a _fidchell_ was given to every six men, a _brannabh_ to every five men, and so on. As _brandubh_ seems certainly to have been chess, perhaps _fidchell_ may have been a game like draughts. Dr. Stokes and Dr. Meyer translate it “draughts.” At the same time, a line occurring in a poem in “The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne,” _idir triath agus laoch_, “both chief and soldier,” seems to show that in _fidchell_ there were pieces of more than one value. See Oss. iii. 154.

=Fertas= [_Fertas_]. A distaff; a spindle; the pole of a chariot. Hence, probably in place-names, a sandy bar across the mouth of a river. Was the modern _fersad_, which has all these meanings, formed by metathesis from _fertas_? See Windisch, Táin, line 5650, where _ferrsat_ is used for _fertas_.

=Fin-drin´-ny= [_Findruine_]. Often translated “white bronze.” It seems to have been some kind of white alloy.

=Fooan= [_Fúan_]. This seems to have been a kind of very ample wrap or mantle.

=Fooavrōg= [_Fuathbróc_]. A covering for the lower part of the body, probably short breeches. See Zimmer, K.S. 6, pp. 81-88.

=Gae Bulg.= The name of Cucullin’s famous spear. _Gae_ means “a spear,” “a dart.” In the L.L. text of the Táin we have the forms _gai bulgga_, _gae bulgae_, _gae bulga_. Perhaps I ought to have adopted the form _gae bulga_. But in the _Foghlaimh Chonchulainn_ we have _cles an gadh builg_. In the curious poem translated by O’Curry, M. & C. ii. 311, we twice have the form _Gae Bolg_. This poem says that the spear was made from the bones of a sea-monster by Bolg mac Buain a famed champion of the east, and that after passing through various other hands it came to Scawtha.

=The Gantree= [_Gentraide_]. A kind of music. From _gen_ (Mod. Ir. _gean_), “laughter,” “a smile.” See L.L. 249ᵃ; also M. & C.

=Gass=, pl. =gassa= [_Geis_, pl. _gesa_. Mod. Ir. _geas_, pl. _geasa_]. A prohibition or injunction, magically imposed and involving magical penalties if disregarded. Often translated “taboo.”

=Gillie= [_Gilla_, Mod. Ir. _Giolla_]. “A lad,” “a youth,” generally “a servant-lad.”

=The Goltree= [_Goltraide_]. A kind of music; from _gol_, “the act of weeping or crying.” See L.L. 249ᵃ.

=Greeanawn= [_Gríanán_]. A sunny apartment; from _grian_, the sun.

=Guipney= [_Gipne_]. A fillet passed round the forehead.

=The Iarngool= [_Ind ierngúali_, L.U. 121ᵇ8]. “The Iron-coal,” the name of the wonderful vat or cask in the Creev Roe. It would appear to be the same as the _ól-nguala_, the mighty _dabach_ or vat of brass, which Conor took as loot from the fortress of Gerg. See L.L. 258ᵇ14-19; L.L. 107ᵇ11.

=Imbas Forosnai= [_Imbas Forosnai_]. A method of divination. It is said to have been prohibited by St. Patrick. See Corm., _Imbas Forosnai_.

=Imda= [_Imda_, _imdae_]. A small sleeping compartment or cubicle contained within the great dwelling-house or hall. See the excellent account given by Joyce, Soc. Hist. ii. 45-54.

=Imlee of Glendomna= [_Imslige glennamnach_, L.L. 78ᵃ52; _Imsligi gleanndomnach_, Y.B.L. 43ᵃ25]. _Imslige_ means “mutual slaughter.” The name seems afterwards to have been given to the spot where this slaughter took place (see L.L. 92ᵃ24); but I cannot identify it.

=Innar= [_Inar_]. This would seem to have been a kind of short, close-fitting body-coat or tunic.

=Inver= [_Inber_, Mod. Ir. _Inbhear_]. The mouth of a river.

=Kenn´caem= [_Cend-chaem_]. “Handsome head,” the name of Conor’s playing-board for feehill.

=Kesh= [_Cess_]. Suffering, torture. The _cess_ (more fully, _cess noinden_) was the name of the peculiar suffering into which the Ultonian warriors were thrown as the result of the curse of Maha.

=Layna= [_léne_, _léine_], A shirt or smock; a linen garment worn next the skin.

=Liss= [_Lis_, Mod. Ir. _lios_]. A dwelling or space protected by a circular mound.

=Mĭnd= [_Mind_]. A crown, a diadem.

=Neev= [_Nóeb_, _nóem_]. Holy. “_Neev_ Kieran” means “Saint Kieran.”

=Nomad= [_Nomad_]. A period of nine days.

=The Nowin= [_ind Neamain_]. At L.L. 76ᵃ14 this name is glossed _in badb_, “the Bive,” and it evidently refers either to the More-reega or to a sister-goddess.

=Ogam= [_Ogum_, Mod. Ir. _ogham_]. A kind of writing, the letters of which were formed by combinations of points and short lines set at both sides of a stem or middle-line. In the Book of Ballymote, p. 308, there is an ancient treatise on ogam, with fascinating diagrams. Readers interested in the subject may consult ¹ Brash: _The Ogam inscribed Monuments of the Gaedhil in the British Islands_. ² Macalister: _Irish Epigraphy_.

=The Ō-hawn´= [_in n-ócháin_]. The name of Conor’s great shield. This shield had four ears of gold. _Ó_ means “an ear”; and Dr. Windisch (_Táin_, p. 864) thinks that this element is contained in the name.

=Ollav= [_Ollam_, Mod. Ir. _ollamh_]. A doctor of learning; a chief professor; a man in the highest rank of learned poets.

=Partar= [_Partar_]. This is the form of the word that occurs L.L. 259ᵇ36 and 40. At L.L. 55ᵇ41 we have the form _partaing_. According to Dr. Windisch (_Táin_, p. 28), it was the name of the _Purpureae Parthicae_, “the Parthian purple.”

=Rath= [_Ráith_, _raith_]. A fort, usually a circular earthen fort; a dwelling or collection of dwellings enclosed by an earthen rampart.

=The Reeastartha= [_in ríastarde_]. “The Contorted,” a name sometimes given to Cucullin, owing to the contortion to which he was subject when overcome by rage. A description of this contortion occurs in Book xi.

=Shee or Shee-mound= [_Síd_]. A hill or mound which was believed to be the dwelling of supernatural beings, gods or fairies.

=Shee= [_Síde_, Mod. Ir. _sídh_]. The supernatural inhabitants of a Shee-mound.

=Shessra= [_Seisrech_, L.L. 78ᵃ50]. This is evidently derived from _sesser_, six (persons), which in its genitive form occurs two lines previously. I have rendered it “the six-fold slaughter.”

=Sooantree= [_Suantraide_]. A kind of music, from suan, “sleep.” See L.L. 249ᵃ.

=Sowin= [_Samain_]. The first of November, now Hallowe’en. This was one of the chief points of division in the year. It was believed that evil spirits and also people of the Shee were specially wont to appear on that night. See the wild, weird tale of the Adventures of Nera, edited by Dr. Kuno Meyer, Rev. Celt. x. 212. There can be no doubt that many Hallowe’en customs of the present day, both in Ireland and Scotland, have come down to us from pagan times.

=Srōl= [_sról_]. This was some kind of silken material of delicate texture. An old Connaught native speaker tells me that in her youth _sról_ was the name of a kind of very beautiful tabbinet made of a mixture of silk and wool.

=Stooag= [_Stuag_]. Something arched or curved or peaked; a hook.

=Táin= [_Táin_]. A cattle-raid, a cattle-driving.

=Tal´-kend= [_Tal-cend_, _tail-cend_]. See Lib. Hym. i. 100. “Adze-head,” a name given to St. Patrick in allusion to his tonsure. It was evidently meant to express derision. I hope I do not err in using it as a term of honour! But compare _Battle of Magh Rath_, p. 182, line 17, “_Tricha Tailgenn togaide_,” on which O’Donovan remarks: “Here the word ‘Tailgenn’ is used to denote a distinguished saint or ecclesiastic.”

=Timpan= [_Timpan_]. Derived form the Latin _Tympanum_; yet it was certainly a stringed instrument. See O’Curry’s discussion of the whole subject, M. &. C. vol. iii. lecture xxxii.

=Turlough= [_Taurloch_, L.L. 59, 31]. A lake which dries up in summer.

=Yō= [_Eó_]. A brooch; probably a brooch of the familiar Irish type, having a long spike or stave. _Eó_ was an old word for “tree.” See L.L. 200ᵃ12, _Dair dano eo Mugna_, “Now the tree of Mugna is an oak.” “Spike” or “stave” was probably a derivative meaning.