Notes to Poem XV

i. MS Text  The text of this poem occupies the upper half of MS p. 171. It is easily legible throughout, but the hand appears to be thicker and less tidy than that normally associated with the majority of ballad items in BDL. Spacing of lines is also different; qq. 3 and 4 are separated from the preceding quatrains, and from one another, by a relatively large gap. The lines also have a marked slant (rising from left to right).

The same hand may be represented in the writing of BDL XXIV, which is likewise different from that of the majority of items. Both pieces appear to have a similar, distinctive capital A, and capital F, the latter with a broad top, as distinct from the commoner MS type with a narrower top. In addition, the two poems may share some unusual orthographic features (as discussed in BDL XXIV).

There is no evidence that another version of this poem was available, although scribal carelessness is occasionally apparent.

ii. General background:  The reference to Eas Ruaidh (Assaroe, at Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal) which occurs in q. 3 a supports the probability that the piece originated in Ireland.

iii. Later versions:  No later versions of this poem are known to survive.

iv. Metre:  Rannaigheacht Mhór

v. Line annotation

4 a Bun Dá Treóir: Here a may be construed as either “in” or “from”.

5-6 ghaoth…cuaich[e]: Aicill is evidently lacking in this couplet. The problem may lie in MS coych, which was inserted in superscript by the scribe, evidently to remedy an omission. There may be some confusion with 11, where a similar phrase occurs. Could the original reading have involved caoch, “one-eyed one” (RIA Dict. s.v. cáech II), perhaps applied to a bird of some sort?

7 The line is hypermetric as it stands, and HP omits the article before deallradh.

10 Cuain Mhic Morna: coayn<’> vc moyrnye MS. Was the original reading perhaps Cuain Mhic Modhuirn? This would be appropriate in view of the reference to Eas Ruaidh (9), which was itself known as Eas Ruaidh Mhic Modhuirn (Onom. Gad.)

15 an uair a: In oayr a MS. The line is hypermetric as it stands, but may be restored by reading ’nuair. This seems preferable to omitting a with HP.

leig<[d]ís>: lykeyst MS. HP supposes that the MS form should be restored as 1 pl. impf. indic.; the present restoration offers the 3 pl. impf. in view of the 3 pl. poss. pron. in 16. It is, however, possible that the MS reflects a past impers. form in -(a)ist found in certain Sc. G. dialects; but, on balance, it seems more likely that a degraded classical form is involved. On the final -st of the MS form, cf. II, 4 n.