Manannan Beg was son of Leirr,

He was the first that e’er had Mann;

But as it seemeth unto me,

He himself was but a heathen.

’Twas not with his sword he kept her,

Nor with his arrows, nor his bow;

But when he would see ships sailing,

He hid her right round with a fog.

He’d set a man upon a brow,

You’d think there were a hundred there;

And thus did wild Manannan guard

That island with all its booty.

The rent each paid out of the land

Was a bundle of green rushes;

And that was on them for a tax

Throughout the country each John’s Eve.

Some went up with the rushes to

The great mountain up at Barrule;

Others would leave the grass below,

With Manannan above Keamool.

In this way, then, they lived, I think

Myself their tribute very small,

Without care or anxiety,

Or labour to cause weariness.