I.

A Mháire mhilis bhreágh, d'fhúig an chnead so am lár,
Nach leigheasfadh sin oileán na fódhladh,
A's go m-béarfainn dar mo láimh, dá d-tuigfeá féin
mo chás,
Nach leigfeá mo bhás gan fóirthin;
Ní chaithim unsa bidh, ní chodlaim neul ó luidhim,
Ní'l tapa' ionnam ná brígh acht sgáil bheag:
mara bh-faghaidh mé uain no sgith air dhian-ghrádh lár mo
chroidhe,
Ní mhairfidh mé beó mí ná ráithe.

II.

Ní'l fhios ná leigheas mo chráidh ag aon-ne beó le fáthail
Acht amháin ag an mhnaoi do bhreoigh mé;

Ní'l mo leigheas air mhuir ná tráth, ni'l mo leigheas air
luibh na laimh.
Ní'l mo leigheas acht ag bláth na h-óige:
Ní aithníghim cearc thar chuach, ní aithníghim teas tar
fhuacht
Ní aithnighim aon uair mo cháirde;
Ní aithnighim oidhche tar lá, agus d'aith'neóchadh mo chroidhe
mo ghrádh,
Dá d-tagadh sí a d-tráth agus fóirthin.

III.

Fóir, a chumainn, déan, tabhair dam póg mhilis ód' bheul,
Agus tóg chughat féin aníos ó'n m-bás mé;
Nó órduig dam leaba chaol a g-comhra chluthmar dale,
A g-comhgar an daoil 'sa cháirde.
Ní beó mo bheó acht eug, ní glór mo ghlór acht gaoth,
Ní'l snuadh orm, saoghal, ná sláinte;
Acht go deórach, brónach, tréith, gan cheól 'gan spórt,
gan réim,
A n-dar-bhruid 'sa b-péin le grádh dhuit.

Cnead sigh, groan; Fodhla, one of the names for Ire-
land; sgáile, a shadow; sgáil, in Munster; brigh,
strength; cradh, pain; mara, colloquially for muna,
unless; faghaim, I find; muna bh-faghaidh me, unless I
find or get; uain, time, leisure; sgith, rest; lar, the
ground, midst; aon-ne, for aon neach, any one; luibh,
an herb; Lámh, hand, skill; blath, a blossom; na
h-óige, of youth; ni aithnighim, I do not know; cuach
a cuckoo; cearc, a hen; tar, beyond, rather than; fóir,
save, relieve; am 'fhóirthin, to my relief; cumhgar,
convenience, vicinity; daol, gen. daoil, a chafer. Sin, in
the second line, is an expletive, and pronounced san. It
occurs very early in the Irish Imitation. Nach in lines
two and four are pronounced ná. D'aithineochadh
(daith'neochadh), conditional mood of aithnighim. The final
letter th in gaoth is pronounced in Munster like gh in lough.

VOCABULARY AND ERRATA

To the First Part of Sgeul Mhic Bradáin.

COLUMN 1.

Line 2. For tonn mhaith aois read tonn mhaith aois',
literally, “a good wave of age,” meaning that
he was pretty far advanced in years. Ex-
pression peculiar to the west coast.

Line 5. n-iasg, the pronunciation of the “thick slender
n,” requires for its expression the prefixing of
n before nouns beginning with vowels in
situations similar to this, although according
to the grammars the n of aen or aon is not
repeated.

Line 6. Do chaith sé, &c. “He spent a long time in this
way.” Bealach is not used in this sense in
Munster.

Line 7. i n-imtheacht an lae, during the day.

Line 8. a ghabadh, local abbreviation for ghabháil.

Line 10. icineacht, local form for éigin, a certain, a par-
ticular (day).
Line 12. th'réis, abbr. for tar éis, after.

Line 12. for a marbhadh read a mharbhadh.

Line 13. crapadh suas, winding up.

Line 14. a dhorubha, a line of any kind, particularly a
fishing line.

Line 14. chonnaic, spoken form of chonnairc, saw.

Line 15. port, bank, wharf, shore.

COLUMN 2.

Line 1. do bhárr an lae read do bhár, &c, as a day's
return; bár, crop, produce.

Line 4. an t-aen n-iasg. In Connaught aon is used in
the abstract, aen in the concrete. For n-iasg
see above, col. 1, l. 5.

Line 6. céa'r'd, abbr. of cé an rud, by metathesis
creud. Cad is more used in Munster.

Line 7. dh'á fheuchaint, literally, “to its trying,” i.e., try-
ing it. See Joyce's Grammar, p. 116. The
d of dh'á is aspirated for euphonic reasons.

Line 13. air bruach. Air in the west only aspirates in
certain cases, i.e., when the dative governs a
genitive after it. See above air bhruach na
h-aibhne.

Line 15. do bhain, &c., as. The fisherman took out.
The form in books is do bhean.

Line 16. suas, sic, tautological.

Line 18. tabhair a bhaile é, take it home. Remark the
two meanings of tabhair in this sentence.

Line 19. nár e, much used instead of óir, for.

Line 21. chúcub, to them, i.e., to himself and his wife.
Example of third pl. prep. pronoun.

Line 24. ithead sí, third pers. sing. imperative for itheadh
sí, let her eat. Form frequently used all over
Connaught.

Line 24. drei'shiur; book form deirbhshiur, a sister.

Line 25. I buill sibh, along with you.

Line 29. For ba é duine, &c., read ba duine bean-
nuighthe, &c. — é.

Line 30. For aimsire read aimsir,

Line 32. For chuimne read chuimhnigh.

COLUMN 3.

Line 1. bagairt, to charge, warn.

Line 3. roinnt, form used for roinn.

Line 5. ó'n n-oídhche. See remarks above on initial n.

Line 11. an bheirt mhac, the two sons.

Line 11. 'na malraighibh, malrach, a growing boy, from
5 to 15.

Line 12. ag borrughadh, swelling out, increasing, growing
strong.

Line 13. For go íongantas read go raibh íongantas.

Line 18. For thar leanbh read thar an leanbh.

Line 19, 20. Supply hyphen to ghlaodh-faduís.

Line 21. dhíobhtha, generally written díobh.

Line 26. ádhbhar so may be read without so.

Line 27. aineachdail, form used for aithniughadh, to re-
cognise.

Line 28. deirbhsiúthra, pron. dreithiúra. Another geni-
tive form is deirbhshéathra, pron. dreifeura.

Line 28, 29. seanbhain ag siubhail, an old woman tra-
velling, may read sean-bhean siubhail, an old
travelling woman.

Line 31. dhui or dí.

Line 38. fiafhróghaidh used for fiafróchaidh, will inquire.

Line 39. déarfíor for déarfidhear. The book form is
déarfar, of the fut. pass., it will be said.

Line 44. h-ú better ú.

COLUMN 4.

Line 7. For h-ú read ú.

Line 8. do dhreatháthair, local pronunciation of
dearbhráthair, brother. The word is no-
where pronounced as it is spelled.

Line 11. m-beireach, adv. were it not.

Line 13. For imtheoghadh read imtheodhad, I shall go away.

Line 16. Leis an m-bealaigh, localism for leis an
m-bealach.

Line 27. For báile read bhaile.

Line 28. ag is understood for fágáil.

Line 35. cáide for cé h-as, whence.

Line 39. ag tóruigheacht aimsire, seeking employment.

Line 42. For sasda read sásda. This whole sentence
from béarfaidh mise to air bith é should be
included in inverted commas as being spoken
by Seághan.

COLUMN 5.

Line 3. For ghlaoidh read ghlaodh.

Line 10. fosuidheadht — le, herd, mind, care for.

Line 12. Dele period.

Line 14. teórainn, supply comma.

Line 18. cúirialta, nice, well-kept.

Line 18. For ann bh-fuil read ann, 'na bfuil.

Line 20, 21. For iteadh n-ubhall read itheádh na n-ubhall.

Line 21. do gnáthuigh, in dictionaries gnódhuigh.

Line 33. For roinnt read le roinnt.

Line 33. pé ar budh rud for cé'r dubh rud, the same as
gidh b'é rud air bith.

Line 35. Lár na cloidhe or lár an chloidhe, this word being m.
and f. in Connaught, in the middle of the wall.

Line 36. I n-a bhárr (among the stones) in its top.

Line 37. air dhul used for air dul.

Line 38. go mh-baineadh used for go m-beanfadh.

Line 39. For an dara úbhall read and dara h-úbhall.

Line 42. Shorro, an exclamation, a “soft” curse.

Line 43. For úbhall read h-úbhall.

Line 44. chuici, d'ith sí, &c. Although gabhar is mas-
culine, the narrator applied feminine pronouns
to the goat. This, though strictly speaking
ungrammatical, is generally done.

COLUMN 6.

Line 1. do chrádh &c., a “soft” curse.

Line 7. For nícomhartha read ní córa.

Line 14. d'aire sé for d'airigh sé.

Line 15. g-colainn localism for g-colann.

Line 15. cloidhmhe and claimhe, the usual spoken forms for
cloidheamh, a sword.

Line 17. bhreugach, bhradach, used by the narrator for
bhreugaigh bhradaigh, probably to five addi-
tional force, the verb is being understood.

Line 21. For sáitibh read sáthadh.

Line 25. Dele (;) after duit.

Line 26. Insert (,) after so.

Line 32. For solus read soluis.

Line 33. áiníochaidh used for áinníocaibh, red cinders,
same as aithinnighibh, sparks, red coals.

Line 38. For cos a bhaint as read na cosa a bhaint uaidh.

Line 39. For deirg read dheirg.

Line 41. For sé read sí. For Sheághan read a Sheághain.

Line 45. g-ceudaibh used for g-ceud.

COLUMN 7.

Line 1. Insert colon after arís.

Line 3. For glúineadh read nglúineadh.

NOTE. — It is of importance that local peculiarities
should e noted correctly, especially in remote localities
where the language has been preserved in great purity.
There is, however, no locality in which corruptions have
not crept in.

Clann Chonchobhair.