Book of the Dean of Lismore Book of the Dean of Lismore Fian-lays and other heroic verse
University of Glasgow

BDL and later Irish collections

Much of the existing Irish corpus of Gaelic ballads is preserved in MSS compiled throughout the eighteenth century, and in the first half of the nineteenth.  These MSS, for the most part, tend to derive from the south and west of Ireland, notably the Munster counties of Cork, Clare, Kilkenny and Tipperary (as with RIA MSS 23 O 32, 23 A 47, 24 L 37 and 24 B 12), with some specimens from the Connacht counties of Mayo, Roscommon and Leitrim (as with BM MS Egerton 144, RIA 23 M 6).  Only occasional MSS from Ulster appear to have survived (e.g, BM MSS Egerton 106, 161), probably because of the social and political upheavals of the post-1609 period, which, in part, may account for the arrival of Gaelic ballads in Ostend.

In trying to obtain an overview of the Irish corpus, we are indebted to three types of compilation.  Occurring throughout the period there are compendia of prose tales and verse (dán) of different kinds, including ballads, presented sometimes as sequences or as individual items (as in RIA MSS 23 M 6, 23 C 9, 23 C 15).   There are also duanairí, compendia which consist entirely of miscellaneous verse.  In certain MSS, the ballads may occupy a particular section, sometimes near the beginning (as in RIA MSS 3 B 9, 24 A 17), but in others the verse types intermingle, with occasional items of heroic verse, in a manner strikingly similar to that of BDL itself (as in RIA MSS 23 O 25, 23 O 28).  The third type of compilation comes into prominence in the second half of the eighteenth century.  This too is a duanaire, but with the distinction that it is devoted solely to ballads, in a manner very similar to DF. It seems highly likely that this form of compilation is much older than the eighteenth century, though the genre appears to have been given a renewed boost by the Ossianic Controversy. DF itself may well be derived, in part at least, from MSS which were somewhat similar to this eighteenth-century type.  The general style of the later duanairí is represented very fairly by a MS now in Scotland, and owned by Professor William Gillies (Gillies, 'An Irish MS in Scotland').  It was evidently compiled by Mícheal Og Ó Longáin, most probably in Co. Cork, between 1812 and 1837.  The Ó Longáin family of scribes produced a very large number of MSS of all types, including a substantial quantity of the present genre (see RIA MSS 23 O 32, 23 O 33, 24 C 15).


Texts common to BDL and the later Irish MSS

There is no single Irish MS which is directly comparable with BDL, and, in order to assess the representation and popularity of particular ballad texts in later Irish tradition, it is useful to assemble the cumulative evidence.  In so doing, we need to bear in mind that there is a fair degree of variety in the sample of Irish texts found in individual MS collections.  (For eclectic texts of the principal Fian poems in the Irish MSS, see O Síochfhradha, Laoithe na Féinne; for Ulster poems, see B.)

Of the 80 ballads which occur regularly in the Irish MSS, 14 are represented in BDL.  This figure represents a proportion of more than 50% of the BDL corpus.  It includes the three poems noted in 'BDL and Duanaire Finn' as common to DF and BDL.  The remaining 11 (not found in DF) are: BDL I, X, XI, XII, XIV, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXVI. A couple of the 'banner quatrains' found in BDL XVI are attested occasionally in Irish collections, but the full sequence is found only on the Scottish side. To these we may add the stray quatrain on the age of Fionn presented in Appendix B, which is found in Irish (but not Scottish) tradition as part of a longer poem on the ages of the Fian nobility.  Five of the BDL texts appear to be found only in Irish MSS (including DF), namely I, IV, VII, IX and X.

 

Thematic emphases in the later Irish MSS

For the reasons indicated in 'Texts Common to BDL and later Irish MSS', it is useful to consider the broader cumulative evidence of the MSS when arriving at an appreciation of the thematic emphases in the tradition as a whole.  We must, however, bear in mind that no single MS represents the balance of emphases delineated for the entire corpus, and that none has a selection similar to that of BDL.

Elegies and death-tales are fairly well attested overall, but no duanaire displays a dominant elegiac interest in any way comparable with that of BDL. The Irish collections do not attest either BDL XIII or BDL XXVII.  Their primary elegiac focus rests on the Battle of Gabhair, which is represented in a long medley of poems generally known as 'Tuarasgabhail Chatha Gabhra'; this usually includes versions of BDL XXI and (occasionally) XXII.  Versions of BDL XXIII, on the death of Conlaoch, are conspicuous, as well as a lament by Cú Chulainn on Conlaoch's death.  Part of BDL XXVI is preserved in 'Buile Oisín i ndiaidh na Féinne'.  Lists of deceased warriors, such as BDL I, occur as independent pieces, and there are a few laments for the past, among them BDL IV.  Eulogy is represented principally by versions of BDL XII, in praise of Goll.

Adventure narratives are prominent in this corpus of verse, though the surviving number is relatively small.  Three Viking ballads are found regularly, and the theme of the individual invader is popular.  Unusual women are also attested; versions of BDL VII are very common, and texts of BDL XX occur frequently.  Versions of BDL XIV are found, and the ballad would appear to be the only surviving poem describing an expedition by the Fiana in any detail. Hunts are represented by occasional texts of BDL V and by a couple of other ballads, including 'Seilg Sléibhe gCrot'.  Versions of DF XXIV and LX, describing encounters with monsters, are found fairly frequently.

In the field of rivalries and elopements, poems on Diarmaid and Gráinne are remarkably scarce, only three having been traced.  The enmity between Fionn and the Tara dynasty provides background to certain poems, but is not a prominent theme.  Goll's standing in the later tradition is significant, and poems based on the rivalry between the Clann Baoisgne and the Clann Morna appear occasionally.  The debate between Patrick and Oisín is represented by 'Agallamh Oisín agus Phádraig', which is an expanded omnibus version of DF LVII, beginning 'A Oisín, is fad do shuan'.  This occurs frequently, and is commonly the first item in the duanairí devoted to heroic verse.

There is no overtly onomastic verse in the later Irish MSS, but brief lyrical poems describing the sights and sounds of the countryside are fairly common.  These are very similar in style to BDL XV.