GREANN NA GAEDHILGE.

Marbhadh an Chait.

Bhí beirt bhan ag caint. Chaill
bean aca cat agus d'fhág sí ar
an mhnaoi eile gur mharbh sí
e agus dubhairt sí,

“Maise mo phisín beag reamhar
Bhí agam fá Shamhain,
Ó, a Bhidí, nach sleamhain a mharbh tú mo
chat!”

Thug an bhean eile saorthadh dí nár mharbh
sí e, agus annsin thug sí mionna mór nár mharbh
sí an cat. Dubhairt sí,

“Dar Sligeach na long,
Dar Cháirlinn na dtom,
Agus dar an Mhuileann Donn tá thiar in-sa'
Chairg;
Dar an meád is théid siar
Go Droichead Bhail'-Loch'-Riabhach,
Agus dar a' cibé thig aniar de na cliabh-
airíbh cearc;
Dar na ceannaidheannaibh snáith
Théid go h aonach Bhaile-an-chláir,
Char ghoid me 's char bháidh me 's char mharbh
me do chat.

A Thríona Bhriain mhodhmhair,
Má chreideann tú mo ghlórthaí,
Chan mé bhuail an stól in-sa' chionn ar do
chat,
Acht má leanann tú go géar í
Siar go Binn Éadain,
Siubhán Ní Raghailligh, bean Fheidhlimidh
Airt;
Dá leanfá go géar í
Siar go Binn Éadain,
Siubhán Ní Raghailligh, bean Fheidhlimidh
Airt;
Dá leanfá go géar í
Siar go Binn Éadain,
P'fhéatar leat fhéin go bhfuighfeá do chat.”

NOTES.

D'fhág sí ar an mhnaoi eile gur mharbh sí e, she
accused the other woman of killing it. Soarthadh(or
saorthach), exculpation, acquittal, clearing one's charac-
ter; thug an bhean eile saorthadh dí nár mharbh sí e,
the other woman acquitted herself of killing it. These
two locutions are very clear and simple, as well as idiom-
atic. Sligeach, Sligo. Cáirlinn, Carlingford. An
Muileann Donn: this may be the old windmill on the
Gallows Hill beside Carrickmacross. An Chairg: per-
haps Carrickmacross, as this lies due west of Omeath;
Cairg is probably a form manufactured to suit the rhyme,
by dropping the e of Cairge (in Farney the nom. is An
Charraic, and the gen. na Cairge). Inps' Chairg; ar a'
Charraic is the Farney usage. Droichead Bhail' Loch'
Riabhach, the bridge of Loughrea (in Connaught two
forms are used: Bail' Locha Riabhach and Baile Loch'
Riabhach). The bh of riabhach is slilent as in Munster
and Co. Galway. A' (the article?). Cibé is pronounced
kebaa, and even tebaa(the latter chiefly in Monaghan).
Cliabhairí cearc, dealers in poultry, or “cleavers,” as the
word is aglicised; it is clearly derived from cliabh, a
creel. Ceannaidheannaibh, pron. kaNeeNoow, also used
as nom.; in these eastern districts all nouns in -aidhe have
this plural, and those ending in -óg have -aibh = oow.
Baile an Chláir, Jonesborough, a village in the south-east
of Co. Armagh. Tríona (from Caitríona) = “Katty”
(bilingual people never english it otherwise), is a very
usual female forename in Ulster; strange to say, the intial
Tr is broad, and when the word is aspirated one hears
a CHreena. Binn Eadain = (?) Beneden, in Clondagad
Parish, Islands Barony, Co. Clare (as this townland is
beside Liscasey and within a few miles of Kilmihil, I
should be obliged to any member of either branch who
would let me know the Irish form of its name). Binn
Eadain, however, is certainly the form under which we
often find Beann Eadair in the folk-lore of the North and
West, and the use of siar may be sarcastic. It is strange
that a certain Kerry song has as its opening line Dá
mbeinn-se im' iasgaire thiar i mBinn Eadair, as if to
corroborate this placing of the Hill of Howth on the
wrong side of Ireland! Siubhán = Judith or Susan in
Ulster and Louth, and Johanna or Joan in Connacht and
Munster. Feidhlimidh, pron. felimee, and usually sub-
stituted in English by Felix. P'fhéatar = b'fhéadar
(Farney) = b'fhéidir, and the locution cp. b'fhéidir
leis a bheith annseo, he might be here (Donegal).

The above was given me by Eibhlin Ní Anluain, or
Nelly Hanlon, usually called Inghean Pheadair Duibh,
who lives at Drummulagh, one of the ten townlands of
Omeath. She and her sister have beautiful Irish, which
they speak with a very clear and most intelligible enun-
ciation.

Mac Tíre.