The Triads of Ireland.

by Kuno Meyer.

PREFACE

The collection of Irish Triads, which is here edited and translated for the first time, has come down to us in the following nine ma.n.u.scripts, dating from the fourteenth to the nineteenth century:--

=L=, _i.e._ the Yellow Book of Lecan, a vellum of the end of the fourteenth century, pp. 414_b_--418_a_, a complete copy.

=B=, _i.e._ the Book of Ballymote, a vellum of the end of the fourteenth century, pp. 65_b_-66_b_ (ends imperfectly).

=M=, _i.e._ the Book of Hui Maine, a vellum of the fourteenth century, fo. 190_a_[1]-fo. 191_a_[2]. A complete copy beginning: 'Ceand Erenn Ardmacha,' and ending: 'tri hurgairt bidh a caitheam diescaidheadh (_sic_) a chaitheam iarna coir a caitheam gan altughudh.' Then follow proverbial sayings from the 'colloquy of Cormac and Cairpre,' such as: 'Dedhe ara ndligh gach maith domelar ithe [et] altugud. Anas deach gacha fleidhe a cainaltughudh [et] a mochdingbail.

Caidhe deach samtha. Ni _hansa_. Gal gan forran. Deasgaidh codulta frislige,' &c., ending: 'deasgaidh aineolais imreasain. Ni d'agallaim Cormaic [et] Cairpre coruici sin.'

=Lec=, _i.e._ the Book of Lecan, a vellum of the fifteenth century. The leaves on which the Triads are found are now bound up with the codex H. 2. 17 belonging to Trinity College. It is a complete copy beginning on p. 183_b_: 'Ceand _erenn_ Ardmacha,' and ending on p. 184_b_: 'ceitheora aipgitri baisi baig connailbi gell imreasain.'[1]

=N=, _i.e._ 23. N. 10, a paper MS. written in the year 1575,[2] pp. 98-101. A complete copy, the gap between pp.

100 and 106 being made up by pp. 7_a_-10_b_ of the vellum portion of the ma.n.u.script.

[1] By an oversight I have referred to this MS. sometimes by Lec and sometimes by H. In some cases both Lec and H will be found quoted in the variants. The same MS. is always meant.

[2] As appears from the following colophon on p. 101: 'Oraoit uaim ar do lebor a hOedh in c_ed_luan iar n-aurtach Johannes. Baile Tibhaird ar bla maige mo mendad scribne hi farrad Se(a)ain hi Maoilconari. Mese (Dubthach) do scrib in ball soin da derpiris [et] rlae. Anno domini 1575.

Guroiuh maith ag_a_t.

=H=[Prime], _i.e._ H. 1. 15, pp. 946-957. This is a paper ma.n.u.script written by Tadhg Tiorthach O Neachtain in 1745.

It is a complete copy, with copious glosses in Modern Irish, the more important of which are printed below on pp. 36-43.

At the end O Neachtain has added the following:--'Tri subhailce diadha: creidhemh, dothchus agus gradh. Tri a n-aon: athair, mac, spiorad naomh, da raibh gloir, mola[dh]

[et] umhlacht tre bith sior tug re don bhochtan bocht so.

Aniu an 15 do bhealltuine 1745. Tadhg O Nechtuin mac Seain a n-aois ceithre bliadhna deag et tri fithchit roscriob na trithibh [.s]uas.'

These ma.n.u.scripts have, on the whole, an identical text, though they all occasionally omit a triad or two; and the order of the single triads varies in all of them. They have all been used in constructing a critical text, the most important variants being given in the foot-notes. The order followed is in the main that of the Yellow Book of Lecan.

There are at least three other ma.n.u.scripts containing copies of the Triads. One of them I discovered in the Stowe collection after the text had been printed off. It is a paper quarto now marked 23. N. 27, containing on fo. 1_a_-7_b_ a copy of the Triads, followed on fo.

7_b_-19_a_ by a glossed copy of the _Tecosca Cormaic_. It was written in 1714 by Domnall (or Daniel) O Duind mac Eimuinn. Its readings agree closely with those of N. In -- 237, it alone, of all ma.n.u.scripts, gives an intelligible reading of a corrupt pa.s.sage. For _cia fochertar im-muir, cia berthair hi tech fo gla.s.s dodeime a tiprait oca mbi_, it reads: _cia focearta im-muir, cia beirthear hi tech fo gla.s.s no do theine, dogeibther occan tiprait_, 'though it be thrown into the sea, though it be put into a house under lock, or into fire, it will be found at the well.' In -- 121 for _cerdai_ it reads _cerd_; in -- 139 it has _rotioc_ and _rotocht_; in -- 143 for _gruss_ its reading is _gris_; in --153 it has _aibeuloit_ for _eplet_; in -- 217 _tar a n-eisi_ for _dia n-eisi_; in -- 218 _lomradh_(twice) for _lobra_ and _indlighidh_ for _i n-indligud_; in -- 219 it has the correct reading _eiric_, and for _dithechte_ it reads _ditheacht_; in -- 220 it reads _fri aroile_ for _fria ceile_; in -- 223 after _ile_ it adds _imchiana_; in -- 224 it reads _gris brond .i. galar_; in -- 229 for _meraichne_ it has _mearaigheacht_; in -- 235 it has _mhamus_ for _mam_; in -- 236 _Maig Hi_ for _Maig Lii_; and for _co ndeirgenai in dam de_ it reads _co nderna in dam fria_.

Another copy, written in 1836 by Peter O'Longan, formerly in the possession of the Earls of Crawford, now belongs to the Rylands Library, Manchester, where it was found by Professor Strachan, who kindly copied a page or two for me. It is evidently a very corrupt copy which I have not thought worth the trouble of collating.

Lastly, there is in the Advocates' Library a copy in a vellum ma.n.u.script marked Kilbride III. It begins on fo. 9_b_^2 as follows:--'Treching breath annso. Ceann Eirind Ardmacha.' I hope to collate it before long, and give some account of it in the next number of this series.

In all these ma.n.u.scripts the Triads either follow upon, or precede, or are incorporated in the collections of maxims and proverbial sayings known as _Tecosca Cormaic_, _Auraicept Morainn_, and _Senbriathra Fithil_, the whole forming a body of early Irish gnomic literature which deserves editing in its entirety. It is clear, however, that the Triads do not originally belong to any of these texts. They had a separate origin, and form a collection by themselves. This is also shown by the fact that the Book of Leinster, the oldest ma.n.u.script containing the _Tecosca Cormaic_ (pp. 343_a_-345_b_), the _Senbriathra Fithail_ (pp.

345_b_-346_a_), and the _Briathra Moraind_ (pp. 346_a_-_b_), does not include them.

It is but a small portion of the large number of triads scattered throughout early Irish literature that has been brought together in our collection under the t.i.tle of _Trecheng breth Fene_, i.e., literally 'a triadic arrangement of the sayings of Irishmen.' I first drew attention to the existence of Irish triads in a note on Irish proverbs in my addition of the _Battle of Ventry_, p. 85, where a few will be found quoted. A complete collection of them would fill a small volume, especially if it were to include those still current among the people of Ireland, both among Gaelic and English speakers. I must content myself here with giving a few specimens taken at random from my own collections:--

Three kinds of martyrdom that are counted as a cross to man, _i.e._ white martyrdom, green martyrdom, and red martyrdom.--The Cambray Homily (_Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, II., p. 246).

Three enemies of the soul: the world, the devil, and an impious teacher.--Colman maccu Beognae's Alphabet of Piety (_Zeitschrift fur celtische Philologie_, III., p. 452).

Three things whereby the devil shows himself in man: by his face, by his gait, by his speech.--_Ib._, p. 453.

Three profitable labours in the day: praying, working, reading.--Regula Choluimb Cille (_Zeitschr._, III., p. 29).

Three laymen of Ireland who became monks: Beccan son of Cula, Mochu son of Lonan, and Enda of Arann.--Notes on the Felire of Oengus (Henry Bradshaw Society, vol. xxix., p.

112).

Three chief artisans of Ireland: Ta.s.sach with Patrick, Conlaed with Brigit, and Daig with Ciaran.--_Ib._, p. 186.

Three poets of the world: Homer of the Greeks, Vergil of the Latins, Ruman of the Gaels.--Book of Leinster, p. 354_b_.

The three worst counsels that have been acted on in Ireland through the advice of saints: the cutting short of Ciaran's life, the banishment of Colum Cille, the expulsion of Mochuta from Rathen.--Notes on the Felire of Oengus, p. 204, and Tripart.i.te Life, p. 557.[3]

[3] Where for 'wrong stories' read 'wrong counsels' (_sanasa saeba_).

This triad is thus versified in the Brussels MS. 5100:--

Teora saoba sanasa Leithe Cuind roc[h]aras-[s]a: Mochuda cona clamhra[i]d d'ionnarba a Rathain roghlain, cur Coluim Cille tar sal, timdibhe saeghail Ciarain.

Three things there are for which the Son of living G.o.d is not grateful: haughty piety, harsh reproof, reviling a person if it is not certain.[4]

[4] LB., p. 225 marg. inf., and Brussels MS. 5100, fo. 86_a_:

Fuil tri ni (a tri Br.) dona (danach Br.) buidech mac De bi: crabud uallach, coisced (coiccsed Br.) serb, ecnach duine mad inderb.

Three things there are for which the King of the sun is grateful: union of brethren, upright conversation, serving at the altar of G.o.d.[5]

[5] Edinburgh MS. xl, p. 28, and Brussels MS. 5100, fo. 86_a_:

Fuil treide dianab buidech ri greine: oenta brathar, comrad (fodail Ed.) cert, altoir De do thimthirecht.

Woe to the three folk in horrid h.e.l.l of great blasts: folk who practise poetry, folk who violate their orders, mercenaries.[6]

[6] LB., p. 236, marg. inf.:

Mairg na tri lucht a n-iffirn uathmar anside: oes dogni dan, oes choilles grad, oes amsaine.

Three things there are which do not behove the poor of living G.o.d: ingrat.i.tude for his life whatever it be, grumbling, and flattery.[7]

[7] LB., p. 238, marg. inf.:

Fuil tri ni na dlegair do bocht De bi: dimmda da bethaid cipe, cesacht ocus aibele.