Transcript

[Pádraig:]

A Oisín, is binn liom do ghlór
(Ba bhinn) scéal do cloisint uait;
Aithris dúinn ós gach aird
Agus (ar an bhfear) ós gach (céim) do bheireadh bua.

[Oisín:]

Lá dá raibh Fionn na bhflaith,
Feargus binn, a mhac féin, (Oscar),
Diarmaid Donn, Conán Maol
Agus tuilleadh dhen fhéinn.

Ag triall chun seilge dóibh
(...) go rómhoch,
Agus dar do láimh, a chléirigh (gan mhaith),
Ba mhór é a ndóchas as luas a gcon.

Do tháineamar chun (...) ard aoibhinn
Mar a raibh crainn is duilleabhar fáis,
Éanlaith suairc ag déanamh ceoil
Agus fuaim cuaiche le fáil.

Do dúisíodh linn an eilit mhaol
Ba ghile taobh ná eala ar linn,
Agus an taobh eile bhí ar dhath an ghuail,
Agus ba luaithe í ná seabhac ar choill.

Do scaoil gach n-aon a chú dhá éill
Agus do scaoill Fionn féin Bran
Chun go ndeachadar as ár n-amharc go léir,
Agus is beag an caoi a bhí acu ar dhul 'na gar.

Do scaoileamair(ne) ár gconaibh dár n-éill
Go luathléimneach faoin ngleann
Chun go dtáinigeadar ar a n(...),
Agus ní fheacamar cú, éan ná seabhac.

Chuir Fionn a ordóg faoina dhéid
Agus do chogain í go lom cruaidh,
Agus ansan d'fhiafraigh Conán Maol,
"(Cár ghaibh ár) ngadhair bhéalbinne uainn?"

"Dar do láimh," (a ráidh) Conán Maol
Fionn críonna (maith),
"(Cú na gadhar) ní fhillfidh oraibh
Dár lean an eilit mhaol ach Bran."

Is gairid go bhfacamair chughainn tríd...

Is gairid go bhfacamair chughainn tríd an ngleann
Bran agus í go suaite fliuch,
Agus ar a teacht 'nár láthair
(...).

Translation

[Patrick:]

Oisín, your voice is sweet
It would be pleasant (?) to hear a story from you;
Tell us from every high place (?)
And of the man (?) who emerged victorious from every struggle(?).

[Oisín:]

One day that Fionn of the heroes,
Sweet Feargus, his own son, Oscar(?),
Diarmaid Donn, Conán Maol
And more of the Fianna.

As they went off hunting
(...) very early,
And by your hand, worthless clergyman,
They had great expectations of the speed of their hounds.

We came to (...) a beautiful elevation
Where there were trees and growing foliage,
Cheerful birds making music
And the sound of a cuckoo to be heard.

We woke the hornless doe
Her side was whiter than a swan on a lake,
And the other side was the colour of coal,
And she was speedier than a hawk above a forest.

Each man released his hound from its leash
And Fionn himself released Bran
Until they all went out of our sight completely,
And they had little chance of getting near her.

We released our hounds from their leashes
Leaping quickly about the glen
Until they came to (...),
And we saw neither hound, bird nor hawk.

Fionn placed his thumb under his tooth
And bit it sharp and hard,
And then Conán Maol asked,
"Where did our sweet-sounding dogs go?"

"By your hand," said(?) Conán Maol
Wise(?) (...) Fionn ,
"Hound nor dog (?) will not return to you
Of all who followed the hornless doe except Bran."

Before long we saw towards us through...
Before long we saw coming towards us through the glen
Bran and she was agitated and wet,
And when she came to us
(...).

Commentary

This is an example of a Fenian lay that is commonly referred to as 'Laoi na Mná Móire' ('The Lay of the Big Woman'). It describes a Grecian princess who is under a spell which causes her to appear as a monstrous hag. She battles the Fianna, who end up slaying her. It was a relatively popular poem in Ireland at a time when such lay poetry was commonly recited. Examples can be found in eighteenth-century manuscripts, such as the version from Mount St Joseph Abbey, Roscrea, county Tipperary. See Pádraig de Brún, 'Lámhscríbhinní Gaeilge i Ros Cré', Éigse 17:2 (1978), 215–19. Another eighteenth-century example, found in Gaelic Ms. 11, is housed in St Malachy's College, Belfast. A similar manuscript from county Louth formed the basis of a translation entitled The giantess, published by Matthew Graham in Belfast in 1833. See Henry Morris, 'Matthew Moore Graham', Journal of the Louth Archaeological Society 9 (1938), 117. The lay continued to be sung and chanted into the twentieth century. However, it seems only two such renditions were recorded in Ireland. These recordings were made by the Irish Folklore Commision in 1945 and 1949, of informants Séamus and Mícheál Ó hIghne of southwest Donegal. Both recordings were versions of the present poem. See Hugh Shields (ed.), Scéalamhráin cheilteacha (Dublin, 1985), 9, 23-5. The present example, recited by Tomás Breathnach of county Kerry, seems closer to the full-length version published by Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha (pseud. 'An Seabhac') in his collection Laoithe na Féinne (Dublin, 1941), 137-45. A sung version was also recorded by Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh on the album Dual (Machair Records, 2008).