[I.] In the Book of Leinster, a manuscript now in Trinity College, Dublin, which was transcribed about the year 1130, there is a very interesting list of ancient historic tales—187 in all—classified in the manner indicated above, which an ollave was obliged to master, so as to be able to repeat any one of them from memory, whenever his patron required him to do so. (See O'Curry, "Lectures on the MS. Materials of Irish History," pages 243 and 584.)

[II.] Macpherson never sinned in this way. He caught the true keynote; and his "Poems of Ossian," however perverted in other respects, are always dignified in thought and expression. Among other examples of the true interpretation of the spirit of these old romances, prose and poetry, I may mention Miss Brooke's "Reliques of Irish Poetry," published in the end of the last century; the Rev. Dr. Drummond's "Ancient Irish Minstrelsy," published in 1852; Lady Ferguson's graceful and interesting book, "The Story of the Irish before the Conquest" (1868); and Mr. Standish O'Grady's ably written volume, the "History of Ireland" (Vol. I., The Heroic Period 1878).

[III.] With one partial exception. In "The Book of the Dun Cow," "The Voyage of Maildun" is divided into parts or chapters, which are numbered on the margin in Roman numerals, each chapter relating to one particular island; but no spaces are left, and the chapters have no headings. In this tale I have followed the old sub-division.

[IV.] "DeirdrÈ," by Robert D. Joyce, M.D., M.R.I.A. Boston: Roberts Brothers. Dublin: M.H. Gill and Son.

[V.] O'Curry, Atlantis, Nos. vii. and viii., page 390.

[VI.] See the ballad and air of "The Fairy King's Courtship," in the author's "Ancient Irish Music," page 1.

[VII.] Now Teltown, on the river Blackwater, between Kells and Navan, in Meath. (See note 1 at the end, for this battle.)

[VIII.] The numbers refer to the notes at the end of the book.

[IX.] At the end of the book will be found an alphabetical list of all the names of persons and places mentioned through the volume, with their Gaelic forms, and, in many cases, their meanings.

[X.] Shee Finnaha, Lir's residence, is thought to have been situated near the boundary of Armagh and Monaghan, not far from Newtown Hamilton.

[XI.] Ara, the islands of Aran, in Galway Bay.

[XII.] The Great Lake, i.e. Lough Derg, on the Shannon, above Killaloe.

[XIII.] The word "fratricide" is the nearest English equivalent to the original word, fionghal, which means the murder of a relative.

[XIV.] Lake Darvra, now Lough Derravaragh, in Westmeath.

[XV.] The sea between Erin and Alban (Ireland and Scotland) was anciently called the Sea of Moyle, from the Moyle, or Mull, of Cantire.

[XVI.] Irros Domnann; Erris, in the county Mayo. Inis Glora; a small island about five miles west from Belmullet, in the same county, still known by the same name.

[XVII.] Taillkenn, a name given by the druids to St. Patrick.

[XVIII.] demon of the air was held in great abhorrence by the ancient Irish.

[XIX.] The Milesian people; the colony who conquered and succeeded the Dedannans. (See note 1 at end.)

[XX.] The Dedannans were regarded as gods, and were immortal or semi-immortal. (See note 1 at the end.)

[XXI.] It must be remembered that the children of Lir had some obscure foreknowledge of the coming of Christianity.

[XXII.] Many of these old poems begin and end with the same line or couplet.

[XXIII.] Fairy host; i.e. the Dedannans. (See note 1 at the end of the book.)

[XXIV.] Iniskea; a little rocky island near the coast of Erris, in Mayo. "The lonely crane of Iniskea" was one of the "Wonders of Ireland." According to an ancient legend, which still lives among the peasantry of Mayo, a crane—one lonely bird—has lived on the island since the beginning of the world, and will live there till the day of judgment.

[XXV.] Donn's Sea Rocks—called in the text Teach-Dhuinn, or Donn's House, which is also the present Irish name; a group of three rocks off Kenmare Bay, where Donn, one of the Milesian brothers, was drowned. These remarkable rocks are now called in English the "Bull, Cow, and Calf."

[XXVI.] These are well-known historical personages, who flourished in the seventh century.

[XXVII.] Among the ancient Celtic nations, the dead were often buried standing up in the grave. It was in this way Finola and her brothers were buried.

[XXVIII.] Ogam, a sort of writing, often used on sepulchral stones to mark the names of the persons buried.

[XXIX.] The Hill of Usna, in the parish of Conry, in Westmeath, one of the royal residences of Ireland.

[XXX.] Luga of the Long Arms is often called The Ildana, i.e. the Man of many sciences, to signify his various accomplishments.

[XXXI.] Eas-Dara, now Ballysodare, in the county Sligo.

[XXXII.] See page 1.

[XXXIII.] Tara, in Meath, the chief seat of the kings of Ireland.

[XXXIV.] Fairy Host, i.e. the Dedannans. (See notes 1 and 8 at end.)

[XXXV.] Moy Murthemna, a plain in the county of Louth.

[XXXVI.] Fratricide; Gaelic, fionghal, the murder of a relative. (See note, page 7.) The sons of Turenn and the sons of Canta appear to have been related to each other (see the third stanza of the poem, page 94).

[XXXVII.] Ath-Luan, now Athlone; Ros-Coman, now Roscommon; Moy-Lurg, a plain in the county Roscommon; Curlieu Hills, a range of hills near Boyle, in Roscommon; Kesh-Corran, a well-known mountain in Sligo. The "Great Plain of the Assembly" must have been near Ballysodare, in Sligo.

[XXXVIII.] A usual form of oath among the ancient Irish. (See, for an account of this oath, the author's "Origin and History of Irish Names of Places," Series II. chap. XIV.)

[XXXIX.] A kind of writing. (See note, page 36.)

[XL.] Chain of silence; a chain, probably hung with little bells, which the lord of a mansion shook when he wished to get silence and attention.

[XLI.] Mico'rta; the name of the great banqueting hall of Tara, the ruins of which are to be seen to this day.

[XLII.] The Garden of the Hesperides.

[XLIII.] Sigar, i.e. Sicily.

[XLIV.] Iroda was the name given by the Irish to some country in the far north of Europe, probably Norway.

[XLV.] Bruga of the Boyne, the palace of Angus, the great Dedannan magician, was situated on the north shore of the Boyne, not far from Slane. (See note 1 at end.)

[XLVI.] Ferdana, a poet; literally, "a man of verse."

[XLVII.] Caher-Crofinn, otherwise called Rath-ree, the principal fortress at Tara, the remains of which are still to be seen.

[XLVIII.] Ben Edar, now Howth Hill, near Dublin. Dun Turenn, the fortress of their father Turenn.

[XLIX.] Dianket, the great Dedannan physician. His son Midac and his daughter Armedda were still more skilful than their father. (See note 1 at the end.)

[L.] Bregia, the plain lying between the Liffey and the Boyne.

[LI.] Tailltenn, now Teltown, on the Blackwater, about midway between Navan and Kells, in Meath. Here annual meetings were held from the most ancient times, on the first of August, and for some days before and after, at which games were celebrated, like the Olympic games of Greece.

[LII.] Bruga on the Boyne, where Angus or Mac Indoc, the great Dedannan enchanter, had his "mystic mansion hoar." (See note 1 at the end.)

[LIII.] Ahaclee, the old name of Dublin.

[LIV.] Frevan, now the hill of Frewen, rising over Lough Owei, near Mullingar, where the ancient Irish kings had one of their palaces.

[LV.] Tara, in Meath, the chief seat of the Irish kings.

[LVI.] Banba, one of the ancient names of Ireland.

[LVII.] Muman, i.e. Munster.

[LVIII.] Slieve Eblinne, now Slieve Eelim or Slieve Phelim, in Tipperary, sometimes called the Twelve Hills of Evlinn. "Eblinne" is the genitive of "Ebliu."

[LIX.] Now Lough Ree, on the Shannon.

[LX.] See note, page 62; see also note 1 at the end of the book.

[LXI.] The Plain of the Grey Copse, according to the legend, was the name of the plain now covered by Lough Neagh.

[LXII.] Ulad, i.e. Ulster.

[LXIII.] Lough Necca, now Lough Neagh.

[LXIV.] Gregory, i.e. Pope Gregory.

[LXV.] Dalaradia, the old name of a territory which included the southern half of the county Antrim and a part of Down.

[LXVI.] Inver Ollarba, i.e. the inver, or mouth of the river Ollarba, which was the ancient name of the Larne Water, in Antrim.

[LXVII.] Miluc, or Meelick, the name of an ancient ecclesiastical establishment in the county Antrim. See "Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor, and Dromore" (page 3), by the Rev. William Reeves, M.B., M.R.I.A.

[LXVIII.] Hill of Usna. (See note, page 37.)

[LXIX.] This is an expansion, rather than a translation, of the original, which is very short, and in some places very obscure.

[LXX.] There were several tribes named Owenaght in the south of Ireland. This particular tribe were called, as in the text, the Owenaght of Ninus, and also, according to an interlined gloss in the "Book of the Dun Cow," the Owenaght of the Aras, i.e. of the Aran Islands. Their territory was situated in the north-west of the county Clare, opposite the Islands of Aran.

[LXXI.] Corcomroe, an ancient territory, now a barony in the north-west of the county Clare. (For the meaning and history of this name, see the author's "Origin and History of Irish Names of Places," Series I. Part i. Chapter ii.)

[LXXII.] See note, page 128.

[LXXIII.] The verse in the original is quite serious; but I could not resist the temptation to give it a humorous turn. The same observation applies to the verse at page 122.

[LXXIV.] The incident of the big miller occurs in the Voyage of the Sons of O'Corra, as well as in the Voyage of Maildun. The two accounts are somewhat different; and I have combined both here.

[LXXV.] Encos means "one foot."

[LXXVI.] Tory Island, off the coast of Donegal, where there was a monastery dedicated to St. Columkille.

[LXXVII.] The quicken tree, or quickbeam, or mountain ash, or roan-tree; Gaelic, caerthainn. Many mystic virtues were anciently attributed to this tree.

[LXXVIII.] Ulad, i.e. Ulster.

[LXXIX.] The Hill of Allen, in the county Kildare, where Finn had his palace. (See note 23 at the end.)

[LXXX.] The cantreds of Kenri and Islands are now two baronies: the former the barony of Kenry, in Limerick, a little below the city; the latter the barony of Islands, in Clare, on the opposite side of the Shannon, including the mouth of the river Fergus, with its numerous islands, from which the barony has its name.

[LXXXI.] Brugaid, a sort of local officer, who was allowed a tract of land free, on condition that he maintained a large establishment as a house of public hospitality. Many of the brugaids were very rich.

[LXXXII.] Fermorc and Hy Conall Gavra are now the baronies of Upper and Lower Connello, in the county Limerick.

[LXXXIII.] Knockfierna, a conspicuous hill, celebrated for its fairy lore, near Croom, in the county Limerick; very near Kenri, Midac's territory.

[LXXXIV.] Ferdana, a poet.

[LXXXV.] Bruga of the Boyne. (See note, page 62.)

[LXXXVI.] The poets were much given to proposing poetical puzzles of this kind; and it was considered a mark of superior education, and of great acuteness in a champion to be able to explain them. (For another example, see the enigmatical verse about the skin of the pig, in the story of "The Children of Turenn," page 69.)

[LXXXVII.] Bregia or Magh Breagh, the ancient name of the plain extending from the Liffey northwards to the borders of the county Louth. (For this name, see the author's "Irish Names of Places," Series II. Part IV. chap. II.)

[LXXXVIII.] The houses of the ancient Irish were circular, and generally made of wood.

[LXXXIX.] "As cold as the snow of one night;" "As white as the snow of one night," are usual comparisons in Gaelic. The first night's snow seems particularly cold and white when you see it in the morning on account of the contrast with the green fields of the day before.

[XC.] Dord-Fian, or Dord-Fiansa, a sort of musical war-cry, usually performed by several persons in chorus.

[XCI.] Irla, i.e. an earl, a chief.

[XCII.] A satirical allusion to Conan's well-known cowardice.

[XCIII.] Beltane, the first of May; Samin, the first of November.

[XCIV.] Beta, a public house of hospitality.

[XCV.] Offaly, now the name of two baronies in the county Kildare.

Fera-call, or Fircal, an ancient territory in the present King's County.

Brosna, a small river rising in the Slieve Bloma, or Slieve Bloom mountains, which flows by Birr, and falls into the Shannon near Banagher; usually called the Little Brosna, to distinguish it from the Great Brosna, which flows through King's County into the Shannon.

The Twelve Mountains of Evlinn. (See note, page 97.)

Knockainy, a small hill much celebrated in fairy lore, in the county Limerick, giving name to the village of Knockainy at its base. It appears from the text that it was more anciently called Collkilla, or hazel-wood.

[XCVI.] Ardpatrick, a beautiful green hill, with a remarkable church ruin and graveyard on its summit, two miles from Kilfinane, county Limerick.

Kenn-Avrat was the ancient name of Seefin mountain, rising over the village of Glenosheen, two miles from Ardpatrick. Slieve-Keen, the old name of the hill of Carrigeennamroanty, near Seefin.

Fermoy, a well-known town and barony in the county Cork. It appears from the text that the district was anciently known by the name of Coill-na-drua, or the wood of the druids.

Lehan, the ancient name of the district round Castlelyons, in the county Cork.

Fermorc, now the baronies of Connello, in Limerick. (See note, page 184.)

Curoi Mac Dara, a celebrated chief who flourished in the time of the Red Branch Knights of Ulster, viz., in the first century of the Christian era. Curoi had his residence on a mountain near Tralee, still called Caherconree (the fortress of Curoi), and his "patrimony" was South Munster. The remains of Curoi's great stone fortress are still to be seen on Caherconree.

Loch Lein, the Lakes of Killarney.

Caher-Dun-Isca, now the town of Caher, on the Suir, in Tipperary.

Femin was the name of the great plain lying to the south and west of the mountain of Slievenaman, or Slieve-na-man-finn, near Clonmel, in Tipperary.

Balla-Gavran, or the pass of Gavran, an ancient road, which ran by Gavran (now Gowran), in the county Kilkenny.

Cratloe, a well-known district on the Clare side of the Shannon, near Limerick.

[XCVII.] Cliach, the old name of the plain lying round Knockainy.

[XCVIII.] Fomor, a gigantic warrior, a giant; its primitive meaning is "a sea-robber," commonly called a Fomorian. (See note 5 at the end.)

[XCIX.] Gilla Dacker means "a slothful fellow"—a fellow hard to move, hard to manage, hard to have anything to do with.

[C.] Fermorc, now the baronies of Connello, in Limerick. Slieve Lougher, a celebrated mountain near Castle Island, in Kerry. Corca Divna, now the barony of Corkaguiny, the long peninsula lying west of Tralee, and containing the town of Dingle, and the mountain range of Slieve Mish. Cloghan Kincat, now called Cloghan, a small village on the northern coast of the peninsula.

[CI.] Ben Edar, now Howth Hill, near Dublin.

[CII.] Gael Glas, the traditional ancestor of the Gaels.

[CIII.] Crann-tav'all, a sort of sling for projecting stones, made of an elastic piece of wood, and strung somewhat like a cross-bow.

[CIV.] See note, page 302.

[CV.] The original word, which I have translated "wizard-champion," is gruagach. This word literally means "hairy," "a hairy fellow;" and it is often used in the sense of "giant." But in these romantic tales it is commonly used to signify a champion who has always something of the supernatural about him, yet not to such a degree as to shield him completely from the valour of a great mortal hero like Dermat O'Dyna.

[CVI.] Tir-fa-tonn, literally "the country beneath the wave." (See note 13 at the end.)

[CVII.] See foot-note, page 55.

[CVIII.] Ath-Luan, now Athlone, on the Shannon. In ancient times the river had to be crossed by a ford, where the bridge is now built.

[CIX.] The Wood of the two Tents was situated in the territory of Clanrickard, in the county Galway.

[CX.] Original: "It was little but that the salmon of her life fled through her mouth with joy before Dermat."

[CXI.] The river Laune, flowing from the Lakes of Killarney into Dingle Bay.

[CXII.] The Grey Moor of Finnlia (Bogach-FhinnlÉithe in the original) was somewhere between the river Laune and the river Caragh, but the name is now forgotten.

[CXIII.] The river of Carra, the Caragh river, flowing into Dingle Bay from the beautiful lake Caragh, twenty miles west of Killarney.

[CXIV.] Beha, the river Behy, about a mile and a half west from the Caragh, flowing through Glanbehy into Rossbehy creek.

[CXV.] Tonn Toma, the wave of Toma (a woman). The word Tonn (a wave or billow) was often applied to the sea-waves that break over certain sandbanks and rocks with an exceptionally loud roaring. Tonn Toma is the name of a sandbank at the head of Dingle Bay, just outside the extreme point of Rossbehy peninsula; and in the winter storms, the sea thunders on this sandbank, and indeed on the whole length of the beach of the peninsula, so as often to be heard twenty miles inland. This roaring is popularly believed to predict rain.

There is a chain of three hills, Stookaniller, Knockatinna, and Knockboy, lying between Behy bridge on the east and Drung mountain on the west, and isolated from the hills to the south-east by the valley of Glanbehy. These hills rise directly over Tonn Toma; and the old Gaelic name, Currach-Cinn-Adhmuid (the moor of the head [or hill] of timber) must have been anciently applied to one or all of them.

(See, for an account of the great historical tonns of Ireland, the author's "Origin and History of Irish Names of Places," series ii. page 251.)

[CXVI.] Iccian Sea (Irish, Muir nIcht), the Irish name for the sea between England and France.

[CXVII.] Ducoss, Fincoss, and Trencoss, i.e. Blackfoot, Whitefoot, and Strongfoot.

[CXVIII.] Dermat had two spears, the great one called the Ga-derg or Crann-derg (red javelin), and the small one called Ga-boi or Crann-boi (yellow javelin): he had also two swords: the Morallta (great fury), and the Begallta (little fury). These spears and swords he got from Mannanan Mac Lir and from Angus of the Bruga. He carried the great spear and sword in affairs of life and death; and the smaller in adventures of less danger.

[CXIX.] A usual form of challenge among the ancient Irish warriors. It is very curious that this custom is remembered to the present day in the patois of the peasantry, even where the Irish language is no longer spoken. In the south, and in parts of the west, they call a distinguished fighting man a buailim sciach, an expression which means literally, "I strike the shield."

[CXX.] Slieve Lougher, a mountain near Castle Island. (See note, page 237.)

[CXXI.] See note, page 36.

[CXXII.] Hy Ficra, now the barony of Tireragh, in Sligo.

[CXXIII.] The Lake of Lein of the Crooked Teeth, i.e. Loch Lein, or the Lakes of Killarney.

[CXXIV.] The Land of Promise, or Fairyland. (See note 8 at the end.)

[CXXV.] Quicken tree. (See note, page 177.)

[CXXVI.] Fomor, a giant. (See note, page 227.)

[CXXVII.] Slieve Cua, the ancient name of the highest of the Knockmeal-down mountains, in Waterford.

[CXXVIII.] Slieve Crot, the ancient name of the Galty mountains.

[CXXIX.] Slieve Gora, a mountainous district in the barony of Clankee, County Cavan.

[CXXX.] Slieve Mucka, now Slievenamuck (the mountain of the pig), a long mountain ridge in Tipperary, separated from the Galties by the Glen of Aherlow. Slieve Luga, a mountainous district, formerly belonging to the O'Garas, in the barony of Costello, county Mayo. Slieve Mish, a mountain range west of Tralee.

[CXXXI.] The cantred of O'Dyna, now the barony of Corkaguiny, in Kerry. (See note, page 237.)

[CXXXII.] The cantred of Ben-Damis, or Ducarn of Leinster, probably the district round Douce mountain, in the county Wicklow.

[CXXXIII.] The district round the mountain of Kesh-Corran, in Sligo.

[CXXXIV.] See note, page 302.

[CXXXV.] Now Benbulbin, a mountain five miles north of the town of Sligo.

[CXXXVI.] See this story told at length, page 177.

[CXXXVII.] A prophetic allusion to the battle of Gavra. (See note 28 at the end.)

[CXXXVIII.] A prophetic allusion to the events related in the story of "Oisin in Tirnanoge," page 385.

[CXXXIX.] It is necessary to remind the reader that this story and the two following are related by Oisin, in his old age, to St. Patrick. (See the prefatory note to the story of "Oisin in Tirnanoge," p. 385; and see also note 23 at the end.)

[CXL.] Now Slieve Gullion, a lofty, isolated mountain in the south of the county Armagh, celebrated in legendary lore.

[CXLI.] The Hill of Allen, in Kildare, where Finn had his palace. (See note 23 at the end.)

[CXLII.] The little lake for which this legendary origin is assigned lies near the top of Slieve Gullion. There were several wells in Ireland which, according to the belief of old times, had the property of turning the hair grey. Giraldus Cambrensis tells us of such a well in Munster; and he states that he once saw a man who had washed a part of his head in this well, and that the part washed was white, while the rest was black!

It is to be observed that the peasantry of the district retain to this day a lingering belief in the power of the lake of Slieve Gullion to turn the hair grey.

[CXLIII.] Knocka, now Castleknock, near Dublin. (See note 27 at the end.)

[CXLIV.] This story is told by Oisin to St. Patrick. (See the prefatory note to the next story, "Oisin in Tirnanoge," page 385.)

[CXLV.] Slieve Fuad was the ancient name of the highest of the Fews mountains, near Newtown Hamilton, in Armagh; but the name is now lost.

[CXLVI.] Now probably the village of Carrigans, on the river Foyle, five miles south-west of Londonderry.

[CXLVII.] Dord-Fian, a sort of musical war-cry. (See note, page 195.)

[CXLVIII.] Knockanare (the hill of slaughter), where a great battle was fought between the Fena under Finn, and the foreigners under Mergah of the Sharp Spears, in which Mergah was defeated and slain. This battle forms the subject of a poetical romance. It may be as well to observe that this hill is not Knockanare in Kerry, near the mouth of the Shannon, as some say.

[CXLIX.] Tirnanoge, the Land of Youth. (See note 19 at the end.)

[CL.] Gavra, now Garristown, in the north-west of the county Dublin. (For an account of this battle, see note 28 at the end.)

[CLI.] Lough Lein, the Lakes of Killarney.

[CLII.] Greenan, a summer-house; a house in a bright, sunny spot.

[CLIII.] The gigantic race of the Fena had all passed away, and Erin was now inhabited by people who looked very small in Oisin's eyes.

[CLIV.] Glenasmole, a fine valley about seven miles south of Dublin, through which the river Dodder flows.

[CLV.] I translated this tale fifteen years ago (as mentioned in Preface, page xiii) from two Royal Irish Academy MSS., 23. N. 15 and 23. M. 50; and I subsequently made some modifications after I had an opportunity of consulting the more correct text of the Book of Fermoy. This last text has since been published, with literal translation, by Dr. Whitley Stokes, in the Revue Celtique (Jan. 1893). After comparing my somewhat free version with Dr. Stokes's close translation, I have not thought it necessary to make any changes.

A few of the adventures in this tale are identical with those described in the Voyage of Maildun: the description of these I have omitted here. Lochan, Enna, and Silvester, the chief characters in this extraordinary fiction, are historical: they were saints of the primitive Irish church, and lived in the sixth century.

[CLVI.] Brugaid, a sort of local officer who maintained a large establishment as keeper of a house of public hospitality. See my "Short History of Ireland," p. 57.

[CLVII.] Chess-playing was a favourite amusement among the ancient Irish.

[CLVIII.] Cairderga: original Caer-derg, red berry.

[CLIX.] Erenach, the holder or impropriator of a church and its lands: usually a layman.

[CLX.] Clogher in Tyrone where there was a monastery.

[CLXI.] Tuam-da-Gualann, where was formerly a celebrated ecclesiastical establishment: now Tuam in Galway.

[CLXII.] Greenan: original grianan, literally a sunny place: a summer-house: the most lightsome, airy, and pleasant apartment of a house. See this word discussed in my "Irish Names of Places," vol. i. p. 291.

[CLXIII.] For St. Finnen of Clonard in the County Meath, see my "Short History of Ireland," p. 175

[CLXIV.] Kenn-Mara, now Kinvarra on Galway bay.

[CLXV.] Curragh, see note 17 at end. Some curraghs were made with two—some with three—hides, one outside another, for the better security.

[CLXVI.] Crossans: travelling gleemen: the clothes, musical instruments, &c., were the property of the company. This word is the origin of the Scotch and Irish family name MacCrossan, now often changed to Crosbie. A company of crossans had always among them a fuirseoir, i.e. a juggler or buffoon.

[CLXVII.] According to very ancient legends, which are still vividly remembered and recounted all over the country, almost every lake in Ireland has a tremendous hairy reptile in its waters. Some say they are demons, sent by St. Patrick to reside at the bottom of the lakes to the Day of Judgment.

[CLXVIII.] St. Ailbe, the patron of Munster, was a contemporary of St. Patrick. He founded his great monastery and school at Emly in the County Limerick.

[CLXIX.] The translation that follows is my own, and is of course copyright, like all the other translations in this book. On this fine story is founded the epic poem of "Deirdre," by Robert Dwyer Joyce, M.D.

[CLXX.] Ulaid (pronounced Ulla), Ulster.

[CLXXI.] For Concobar and the Red Branch Knights, see note 15 farther on: and for much fuller information, see my "Social History of Ancient Ireland," vol. i, page 83; or the Smaller Soc. Hist., page 38.

[CLXXII.] The druids professed to be able to foretell by observing the stars and clouds. See Smaller Social History, p. 98.

[CLXXIII.] "Deirdre" is said to mean "alarm."

[CLXXIV.] That is 1665. This inverted method of enumeration was often used in Ireland. But they also used direct enumeration like ours.

[CLXXV.] This and the other places named in Deirdre's Farewell are all in the west of Scotland.

[CLXXVI.] Irish name, Drum-Sailech; the ridge on which Armagh was afterwards built.

[CLXXVII.] These champions, as well as their wives, took care never to show any signs of fear or alarm even in the time of greatest danger: so Naisi and Deirdre kept playing quietly as if nothing was going on outside, though they heard the din of battle resounding.

[CLXXVIII.] The "Three Tonns or Waves of Erin" were the Wave of Tuath outside the mouth of the river Bann, off the coast of Derry; the Wave of Rury in Dundrum Bay, off the county Down; and the Wave of Cleena in Glandore Harbour in the south of Cork. In stormy weather, when the wind blows from certain directions, the sea at those places, as it tumbles over the sandbanks, or among the caves and fissures of the rocks, utters a loud and solemn roar, which in old times was believed to forebode the death of some king.

The legends also tell that the shield belonging to a king moaned when the person who wore it in battle—whether the king himself or a member of his family—was in danger of death: the moan was heard all over Ireland; and the "Three Waves of Erin" roared in response. See "Irish Names of Places," Vol. II., Chap. XVI.

[CLXXIX.] Slieve Cullinn, now Slieve Gullion mountain in Armagh.

[CLXXX.] For a full account of the Highland traditions regarding Dermat, and of the Highland monuments that commemorate his name, see "Loch Etive and the Sons of Uisnach" (p. 255), a very valuable and interesting book, recently published, which came into my hands after I had written the above.

[CLXXXI.] The above legend is taken from "The Boyish Exploits of Finn Mac Cumal," published, with translation, by John O'Donovan, LL.D., in the fourth volume of the Ossianic Society's Transactions, from a MS. transcribed in 1453, now lying in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. But the internal evidence of the language shows that the piece is far more ancient than the fifteenth century. The legend of Finn and the Salmon of Knowledge is still current among the peasantry; and a modern popular version of it may be seen in the Dublin Penny Journal, Vol. I. page 110.

As to the process of putting his thumb under his tooth of knowledge, even the English-speaking peasantry of the south still retain a tradition that it was painful; for they say that Finn "chewed his thumb from the skin to the flesh, from the flesh to the bone, from the bone to the marrow, and from the marrow to the smoosagh."