Tras-scríbhinn

[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
(...).

Aistriúchán

[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
(...).

Tráchtaireacht

Seo sampla de laoi Fiannaíochta ar a dtugtar 'Laoi na Mná Móire' de ghnáth. Déantar cur síos ar bhanphrionsa ón nGréig atá faoi gheasa a fhágann go bhfuil cuma caillí gránna uirthi. Cuireann sí cath ar na Fianna, agus maraíonn siad í. Bhí éileamh cuíosach mór ar an laoi san am a gcantaí a leithéid de laoithe go coitianta in Éirinn. Tá samplaí le fáil i lámhscríbhinní de chuid na hochtú haoise déag, ina measc leagan as Mainistir Chnoc Sheosaimh, Ros Cré, contae Thiobhraid Árann. Féach Pádraig de Brún, 'Lámhscríbhinní Gaeilge i Ros Cré', Éigse 17:2 (1978), 215–19. Tá sampla eile ón ochtú céad déag in Gaelic Ms. 11 i gColáiste Naomh Maoileachlainn, Béal Feirste. Is ar lámhscríbhinn dá leithéid as contae Lú a bunaíodh an t-aistriúchán dar teideal The giantess, a d'fhoilsigh Matthew Graham i mBéal Feirste sa bhliain 1833. Féach Henry Morris, 'Matthew Moore Graham', Journal of the Louth Archaeological Society 9 (1938), 117. Leanadh ar an laoi a chanadh isteach sa bhfichiú haois. Mar sin féin, is cosúil nár taifeadadh ach dhá shampla dá leithéid in Éirinn. Rinne Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann na taifeadtaí sna blianta 1945 agus 1949; ó Shéamus agus ó Mhícheál Ó hIghne as iardheisceart chontae Dhún na nGall. Leaganacha den laoi seo a bhí sa dá thaifead. Féach Hugh Shields (ed.), Scéalamhráin cheilteacha (Dublin, 1985), 9, 23-5. Tá an chuma ar an scéal go bhfuil an sampla atá anseo againn, ó Thomás Breathnach as contae Chiarraí, níos gaire don leagan iomlán a d'fhoilsigh Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha ('An Seabhac') ina chnuasach Laoithe na Féinne (BÁC, 1941), 137-45. Rinneadh taifeadadh leis ar leagan de á chanadh ag Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh ar an albam Dual (Machair Records, 2008).