Foghmhar na bhfileadh fuil Bhrianach

[10]

Mac Í Bhriain dá ttráighid tonna
an té thagruim
as é an t-aoinfhear rem cheird thogruim
gan fheirg admhuim.

[13]

D’uaill ná d’iomthnúth ná d’fhonn ionnmhuis
ós é ar mbraith-ne
ní leigeabh uaim fear ar bhfeithmhe
gruaidh gheal ghairthe.

[16]

Go Mac Í Bhriain ós dó dlighthear
an dil dreachnáir
béarad lem chuaird go a ghnúis ghuithmhín
cúis shuairc seachráin.

Et as suairc an seachrán ré a fhaisnéis ⁊ re innisin mar ro cheannchadur bráithre Moighe Luirg cead na feola Corghais d’ithe ón chuirr chomhranna do bhí a ttigh Mheic Dhiarmuda Mhoighe Luirg .i. Cobhlach a hainm. Óir do cheannchadur leasdur lobhtha láinbhréan ime uaidhthe, et as amhlaidh do chruinnigh an chailleach chraosainmheach chrapchuisleannach chorpghránna an leasdur ar feadh ⁊ ar foirleithead na cóisreach .i. gach re spólla ime, gearach, ⁊ feola do chur ann. Dála na mbráthar do bhuaileadur ar an leasdur d’ithe Céadaoine an Luaithrigh; ⁊ do ithiodur an t-im go rángadur an fheoil, ⁊ mar fuaradur an fheoil ina bántsaill, do ithiodur mórán di a riocht an ime. Do aithnigheadur na bráithre a n-anntráth gur feoil do bhí aco ⁊ a-dúbhairt fear dhíobh go mallfhocalach míchéadfadhach ‘as feoil seo do dhíol an chailleach rinn a riocht ime‘ ar sé. ‘Dar San Próinsias as eadh‘ ar an tionól uile ‘⁊ do mhill an chailleach go bráth sinn‘ ar siad, ‘as cóir dho Dhia san do chionn ar margála do dhéanamh ré n-a leithéid; ⁊ usacht dúinn im glan d’fhagháil ar airgiod‘ acht cuirid fios ar an ccailligh, ⁊ táinig sí go haimhleasg chuca, ⁊ a-dubhradur go hoirbhireach aithbhéalach: “a chailleach mhallaighthe mhíothrócaireach do mhillis go bráth sinn leis an leasdur úd do reicis rinn‘ ar siadsan, ‘óir as mó d’fheoil, ⁊ do gheir do bhí ann ná dh’im‘. ‘Dar láimh Mheic Dhiarmuda as fíor san‘ ar an chailleach, ‘Dar láimh Mheic Dhiarmuda as fíor san‘ ar an chailleach ‘as dá ttrían feola, ⁊ geire a-tá ann ⁊ níor chuimhnigheasa air ⁊ ó tá a dhearbh agam a-nois caithfe sibh-si fiacha na feola dho thabhairt damh. ⁊ bíodh an gheir leam anmuin ag na bráithribh‘. Do mholsad breitheamhuin na tíre oiread eile a ttugadur ar an leasdur do thabhairt di a-rís a ndíol bhriste an Chorghuis dóibh óir as fa chomhair na Cásga do bhí an fheoil aice; ⁊ ní hé dála na caillighe gruaimgháibhthe gortaighe sin do-dhéanad féin le Donnchadh Ó Briain mac Toirdhealbhaigh Charraigh mheic Thoirdhealbaigh mheic Mhuirchertaigh mheic Dhomhnaill mheic Thaidhg mheic Thoirdhealbaigh mheic Mhurchaidh na Ráithnighe meic Bhriain Ruaidh mheic Dhomhnaill mheic Conchubhair na Siúduine meic Dhonnchadha Chairbrigh mheic Dhomhnaill mhóir mheic Thoirdhealbaigh mheic Dhiarmuda mheic Thoirdhealbaigh mheic Thaidhg mheic Bhriain Bhóroimhe, ó nach raibh do fheoil ná d’im ná d’arán agam féin acht an beagán do rannaibh díoghlama-sa do bhí agam fam chomhair féin, do chuireas chuige-sion iad le toil ⁊ le tromghrádh dhó.

[17]

Mo sgéal sgigeach
Sliabh Mis a mbláthaigh ag bodach
bráthair bradach
Dún Trí Liag ag snámh go Sligeach
ar clár cragach.

[20]

Ceann fine Brianach bruigh déarcach
draig ar dhásacht
tearc dhá dtiubhrainn uaim ar iasacht
gruaidh gan ghnásolc.

[21]

Néall soininne fréimhe ríoghTháil
rún gan fhormad
mogha Í Chais am dhuain gan dearmad
gruaidh thais tonnbhog.

Narrative

The text presented here is an extract from a crosántacht beginning Foghmhar na bhFileadh fuil Bhrianach, written for Donnchadh (mac Toirdhealbhaigh) Ó Briain (fl.c.1655), of Béal an Átha (Ballina) in modern-day county Tipperary. Donnchadh Ó Briain is referred to as Mac Í Bhriain and Ceann fine Brianach, meaning that he was the head of his clan, the house of Uí Bhriain of Aradh.

This crosántacht survives in nine manuscripts, none of which are contemporary with Donnchadh Ó Briain himself. Its earliest witness, RIA 24 L 13, dates from c.1747, and this manuscript is used as the basis for this extract.

A crosántacht is a combination of poetry and prose which has certain characteristic features. For example, the poetic element of a crosántacht uses a specific metre, called snéadhbhairdne, which contains alternating lines of eight syllables and four syllables, respectively. The final word of each line contains two syllables, and various forms of ornamentation required by poems written in Dán Díreach (strict verse), such as alliteration and rime, are also requirements of this metre.

The lay-out or composition of a crosántacht is as follows: after a number of stanzas of poetry (the amount of which is not fixed) comes a prose passage, which is usually linked to the preceding poetry by a bridge or echo-word. This bridge or echo-word contrasts with the lack of thematic unity between the poetic and prose sections. The subject matter of the poetry in a crosántacht is typically of the official eulogistic kind, with formulaic praise of the chieftain and his attributes, the attendant benefits of his reign for the natural world, his patronage of the arts etc. to the forefront.

The prose element, however, is of a very different kind. It is usually unrelated to the poetry. Rather than praising the named chieftain or patron, instead it tells tales of human folly and foibles, presumably for humorous purposes. Although employing a specific metre, a crosántacht has no requirements regarding either the amount of stanzas or the length of any prose piece contained within it. Similarly, their distribution is not governed by any rules. Foghmhar na bhFileadh fuil Bhrianach contains forty six stanzas with two prose sections interspersed. We can compare this to another crosántacht which has come down to us, Tugam aghaidh ar Mhaol Mhórdha, which contains thirty nine stanzas, with four prose sections.

In this extract we can see clearly the contrasting natures of poetry and prose in a crosántacht. Stanza ten refers to Donnchadh Ó Briain as Mac Í Bhriain, ‘to whom waves recede’, illustrating both his standing (as ceann fine or head of his clan) and also his power (nature yielding to him). Stanza 13 refers to him in characteristically laudatory terms, as a gruaidh gheal ghairthe ‘a bright warm cheek’. The prose section which follows tells the story of the unfortunate friars of Magh Luirg, who broke their Lenten abstinence by buying and consuming meat-laden butter. A cailleach (hag) named Cobhlach, who sold them the butter, is described in extravagantly pejorative fashion. The tale of the friars’ dealings with Cobhlach appears to bear no relation at all to Donnchadh Ó Briain, and indeed is said to occur in a different part of the country. Nevertheless, the poet forges a link of sorts between the friars’ tale and Donnchadh Ó Briain by contrasting Cobhlach’s tryst with the friars to his own relationship to Ó Briain. Having listed Ó Briain’s noble ancestry, the poet then expresses the wish to honour him with his ‘compiled quatrains’, resuming his stanzas in snéadhbhairdne.

While the content of prose and poetry may differ in crosántachtaí, a common feature of such compositions is the bridge or echo-word linking the two types of text. There are various kinds of such bridge or echo-words, ranging from repetition of a word or phrase, to a ‘metrical echo’ between the prose and poetry. In the extract of Foghmhar na bhfileadh fuil Bhrianach given here, the final line of stanza sixteen (‘cúis shuairc seachráin’) is repeated in the prose section which immediately follows it (‘Et is suairc an seachrán’).

Many of the characters that feature in the prose anecdotes of crosántachtaí are presented in a foolish light. In our extract, the friars of Magh Luirg inadvertently break their Lenten fast by eating butter full of animal fat, which they had bought from a hag (‘cailleach’) named Cobhlach. The friars’ misfortune is compounded by the subsequent judgment passed by the judges of the land (‘breitheamhuin na tíre’) to compensate the hag for the loss of her lenten meat. Cobhlach herself is also described as a corr [chuirr] chomhranna. Corr means a crane, or a heron, the use of which is difficult to understand in this context; the qualifying noun comhrann(a) means ‘sharing’ or ‘dividing out’, hence ‘apportioning’ in the translation here. Another term containing corr found elsewhere in Irish literature is perhaps of relevance, corr m[h]argaidh ‘market trader; vulgar, base person’. This implies a person of low social status. Given that she is previously called a ‘gluttonous-disfigured, squash-piped, horrible-bodied hag’ our corr chomhranna, Cobhlach, is portrayed as both ugly and of low station. Despite this, she outwits the friars, exemplifying their folly. Such humour is typical of anecdotes found in the prose sections of crosántachtaí.

Although texts containing a mixture of prose and poetry (often referred to as prosimetrum) are very common in Early and Medieval Irish, the genre of crosántacht originates within the Early Modern Irish period. Interestingly, the crosántacht survived beyond this period, with alterations to its poetic form. A number of compositions which have come down to us show that the requirements of Dán Díreach were no longer followed in the poetry of crosántachtaícomposed from around the end of the 17^th century onwards, such as those of Dáibhí Ó Bruadair. Fittingly, given the alleged performative aspect of crosántachtaí, such compositions have survived even into our own time. One of these, Seachrán Chearbhaill, has been recorded by renowned sean-nós singers from Conamara.

[10]

Mac Í Bhriain dá ttráighid tonna
an té thagruim
as é an t-aoinfhear rem cheird thogruim
gan fheirg admhuim.

[13]

D’uaill ná d’iomthnúth ná d’fhonn ionnmhuis
ós é ar mbraith-ne
ní leigeabh uaim fear ar bhfeithmhe
gruaidh gheal ghairthe.

[16]

Go Mac Í Bhriain ós dó dlighthear
an dil dreachnáir
béarad lem chuaird go a ghnúis ghuithmhín
cúis shuairc seachráin.

[17]

Mo sgéal sgigeach
Sliabh Mis a mbláthaigh ag bodach
bráthair bradach
Dún Trí Liag ag snámh go Sligeach
ar clár cragach.

[20]

Ceann fine Brianach bruigh déarcach
draig ar dhásacht
tearc dhá dtiubhrainn uaim ar iasacht
gruaidh gan ghnásolc.

[21]

Néall soininne fréimhe ríoghTháil
rún gan fhormad
mogha Í Chais am dhuain gan dearmad
gruaidh thais tonnbhog.

Translation

[10]
Mac Í Bhriain, to whom waves recede
is the one to whom I refer
He is the sole man of my craft that I choose
I acknowledge without anger.

[13]
For pride or envy or desire for wealth
Since he is our hope
I will not abandon the man who guards us
[He is] a bright warm cheek.

[16]
To Mac Í Bhriain, since to him it is due
The noble, dear honourable one
I will bring on my visit to his voice-gentle countenance
the cause of a pleasant wandering.

&nbsp

And pleasant is the wandering to relate and to tell how the friars of Maigh Luirg bought consent to eat the Lenten meat from the apportioning crane who was in the house of Mac Diarmuda of Maigh Luirg whose name was Cobhlach. For they bought a rotten fully-stinking vessel of butter from her, and it happened that the gluttonous-disfigured, squash-piped, horrible-bodied hag drew the vessel about the extent and expanse of the banquet, gathering every other joint of butter, lard and meat into it. Regarding the friars, they set about eating the vessel on Ash Wednesday, and they ate the butter until they reached the meat, and as they found that the meat was white fat, they ate a good amount of it in the guise of butter. The friars realised too late that it was [in fact] meat which they had, and one of them said in a slow and ill-humoured manner: ‘it is meat which the hag has sold us in the guise of butter’, he said. ‘By Saint Francis it is’, said the whole assembly, ‘the hag has eternally ruined us’, they said. ‘It is fitting that God has done that for our bargaining with her kind, given how easy it is for us to get clean butter for money’. So the hag was summoned, and she reluctantly came to them, and they said reproachfully and remorselessly: ‘o merciless cursed hag, you’ve eternally ruined us by that vessel you sold us’, they said, ‘for there was more meat and lard than there was butter in it’. ‘By the hand of Mac Diarmuda that is true’, said the hag. ‘It is two-thirds meat and lard, and I didn’t remember it, and since I now have certainty of it, you yourselves will have to give me the price of the meat, and let the friars have the lard with my soul’. The judges of the land advised that the same amount which they paid for the vessel be given to the hag also in recompense for their having broken Lent, as it was for Easter that the hag had the meat. And it is not the tryst of the sad-merry, hungry hag which I myself shall make with Donnchadh Ó Briain son of Toirdhealbhach Carrach son of Toirdhealbhach son of Muircheartach son of Domhnall son of Tadhg son of Toirdhealbhach son of Murchadh na Ráithnighe son of Brian Ruadh son of Domhnall son of Conchubhar na Siúduine son of Donnchadh Cairbreach son of Domhnall Mór son of Toirdhealbhach son of Diarmuid son of Toirdhealbhach son of Tadhg son of Brian Bóroimhe, for I had no meat, nor butter nor bread, except these few compiled quatrains which I had for my own purpose. I sent these to him with desire and heavy love for him.

&nbsp
[17]
My derisive tale
Sliabh Mis in buttermilk because of a churl
A treacherous friar
Dún Trí Liag swimming to Sligo
On a cragach board.

[20]
The head of the kin of Uí Bhriain, an alms-giving abode
A frenzied dragon
Is is little if I were to give away
A cheek unaccustomed to evil.

[21]
A cloud of fine weather of the root of royal Tál
A secret without envy
The servant of the descendent of Cas, I don’t forget him in my song
A soft, gentle-waved cheek.

[10]

Mac Í Bhriain dá ttráighid tonna
an té thagruim
as é an t-aoinfhear rem cheird thogruim
gan fheirg admhuim.

[13]

D’uaill ná d’iomthnúth ná d’fhonn ionnmhuis
ós é ar mbraith-ne
ní leigeabh uaim fear ar bhfeithmhe
gruaidh gheal ghairthe.

[16]

Go Mac Í Bhriain ós dó dlighthear
an dil dreachnáir
béarad lem chuaird go a ghnúis ghuithmhín
cúis shuairc seachráin.

[17]

Mo sgéal sgigeach
Sliabh Mis a mbláthaigh ag bodach
bráthair bradach
Dún Trí Liag ag snámh go Sligeach
ar clár cragach.

[20]

Ceann fine Brianach bruigh déarcach
draig ar dhásacht
tearc dhá dtiubhrainn uaim ar iasacht
gruaidh gan ghnásolc.

[21]

Néall soininne fréimhe ríoghTháil
rún gan fhormad
mogha Í Chais am dhuain gan dearmad
gruaidh thais tonnbhog.

Translation

The sections of Foghmhar na bhFileadh fuil Bhrianach presented here were chosen for their relative accessibility and intelligibility. Pending a critical edition of the full crosántacht, consulting all manuscripts, the many challenging forms encountered in the text are best dealt with here by focussing on the stanzas which are, generally speaking, least problematical and most amenable to deciphering.

Linguistic forms

On the basis that the bardic tracts were compiled for the regulation of poetry alone, the prose sections in this sample of text are not standardised to the language of the tracts. For this reason, various non-classical features of Foghmhar na bhfileadh fuil Bhrianach as found in the oldest manuscript, RIA 24 L 13, have been allowed to stand and have not been emended. The following are examples of such forms:

-dh- for -gh-: the confusion in writing, presumably stemming from speech, of lenited d and lenited g is very common in manuscripts of the post-classical period, and indeed in the Early Modern period itself. In the prose extract given here the first person singular future tense of the verb do-ní is do-dhéanad. The classical form is do-ghéan. As well as containing -dh- for -gh-, this form also shows the spread of verbal endings, as final -ad (the first singular ending in regular verbs) has spread to a so-called irregular or compound verb.

raibh for raibhe: in classical Early Modern Irish, the form of the third singular dependent past tense of the verb a-tá is raibhe/rabha, with a final vowel. This final vowel is eventually dropped, giving us the modern form raibh.

sinn for inn: we would expect a form without initial s, such as inn/ionn for the first person plural pronoun when used as object in classical Early Modern Irish. Instead, here we find sinn (the subject form), as we would in Modern Irish.

Syntax

Certain features of the order of words (syntax) of the verse sections of this crosántacht are worth noting, as they occur in many poems in Early Modern Irish. For example, lines where the copula is not written, but is instead to be understood to make sense of the text, are found here. In stanza ten, where Mac Í Bhriain is referred to, we are required to understand something like is é, the third singular present tense form of the copula (is), and the third singular masculine pronoun (é), before Mac Í Bhriain. In the final line of stanza sixteen, something similar is implied by the verbless sentence ‘cúis shuairc seachráin’.

Related to this, and as in other poems examined on this site (cf. Brian Ó Ruairc mo rogha leannán) appositive phrases occur. Stanza twenty tells us that Donnchadh, Ceann fine Brianach (‘The head of the kin of Uí Bhriain’) is a draig ar dhásacht (‘a frenzied dragon’). Again, this is expressed without using a verb, and indeed another appositive noun phrase (bruigh déarcach) occurs between these two phrases. Such phrases describe the subject, Ceann fine Brianach, but are not themselves the subject of the verb (even where such a verb is lacking).

Imagery

Some of the imagery and metaphorical description commonly used in bardic poetry can appear unusual to modern readers (cf. Cú Chulainn an chroidhe mhir). This is often apparent when a chieftain is being praised. So-called metonymical description, where ‘a single part of the body’ may be chosen ‘for the purpose of complimenting the whole’ is very common in bardic verse (the quote is from Eleanor Knott’s introduction to the poetry of Tadhg Dall Ó hUiginn). In Foghmhar na bhFileadh fuil Bhrianach, Donnchadh Ó Briain is repeatedly referred to as gruaidh, a cheek, with accompanying adjectives (stanzas thirteen, twenty, twenty one). All of these instances of gruaidh are intended as terms of praise, and as pointed out by Eleanor Knott, a part of the body implies the whole body of the person being praised.

Similarly, stanza sixteen, although not mentioning gruaidh, does contain two words meaning ‘face’, dreach (in the compound dreachnáir) and gnúis. In these cases, something other than straightforward praise for praise’s sake is intended. Words for ‘face’, particularly eineach/oineach, are strongly associated with honour (cf. ‘to save face’ in English) and generosity. Poets were, of course, dependent on the generosity of chieftains when rewarding them for their compositions, and typically expound their patrons’ generosity in their verse.

Chunk Title Goes Here, the Original Text

Definition

Form

Function