Duanaire Na Sracaire: Anthology of Medieval Gaelic Poetry
320
Duanaire Na Sracaire: Anthology of Medieval Gaelic Poetry
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Overview
Duanaire na Sracaire—or Songbook of the Pillagers—is the first anthology to bring together Scotland’s Gaelic poetry from c.600-1600 AD, a time when Scotland shared its rich culture with Ireland. It includes a huge range of diverse poetry: prayers and hymns of Iona, Fenian lays, praise poems and satires, courtly songs and lewd rants, songs of battle and death, incantations and love poems.
All poems appear with facing-page translations which capture the spirit and beauty of the originals and are accompanied by detailed notes. A comprehensive introduction sets the context and analyses the role and functions of poetry in Gaelic society. This collection will appeal to poetry lovers, Gaelic speakers and those keen to explore a vital part of Scotland’s literary heritage.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780857909732 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Birlinn, Limited |
| Publication date: | 03/23/2021 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 320 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
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CHAPTER 1
The Learned Tradition
Religion
1. Tiugraind Beccáin do Cholum Cille
Beccán mac Luigdech
Rinn Colum Cille eilthireachd gu saor-thoileach a dh'Alba ann an 563 mar pheanas airson rudeigin ceàrr a rinn e. Chan eil e cinnteach dè bha ann: an e gun do rinn e lethbhreac de shaltair gun chead, no gum b' esan a dh'adhbhraich bàs na h-uiread sa bhatail a dh'èirich air sgàth seo, no gun do rinn e droch dhìoladh air a' cheangal a bha aige ri Dia le bhith ag ùrnaigh airson an taoibh aige fhèin? Co-dhiù, bha buaidh mhòr aige air Crìosdaidheachd ann an 'Alba', 's e sin, Breatainn, mar thoradh air fhuil rìoghail agus a chumhachd spioradail, agus stèidhich e lìonradh de mhanachainnean an sin.
The na 'rannan deireannach' an seo a' sealltainn mar a bha cliù an naoimh air a stèidheachadh beagan dheicheadan as dèidh a bhàis am measg na clèire. Tha am bàrd, Beccán mac Luigdech, a' moladh Choluim Chille air sgàth a chruadail, a fhoghlaim agus a shinnsearachd rìoghail, agus air sgàth na rinn e ann an stèidheachadh nam manachainn. Coltach ri Colum Cille, bhuineadh Beccán do mheur de Chloinn Uí Néill, an teaghlach a bu chudromaiche an Èirinn, agus tha e coltach gun robh e an sàs ann an riaghladh manachainn Idhe anns na 630an mus deach e na dhìthreabhach do Rùm, far an do chaochail e ann an 677, is e an sàs ann am peregrinatio pro Christo no 'martre bán'. Thòisich an cleachdadh seo anns na manachainnean Èiphiteach, ach anns an Roinn Eòrpa, ghabh eilthireachd sa chuan àite eilthireachd anns an fhàsach.
Tha oidhirp ga dèanamh anns an eadar-theangachadh pàtranan uaim an dàin a leantail is i a' nochdadh taobh a-staigh nan sreathan, thairis air na caesurae agus eadar na sreathan agus na rannan.
To-fed andes i ndáil fíadat findáil caingel; Columb Cille — cétaib landa lethan caindel.
Caíni rissi: ríge la Día i ndeüd retho, ríge n-úasal ó ro-cinni céim mo betho.
The Last Verses of Beccán to Colum Cille
Colum Cille took voluntary exile to Iona in 563 as a penance for the wrongdoings that had led to his excommunication. These variously are attributed to his copying of a psalter without permission, the deaths he caused in the ensuing battle or his abuse of his connection with God in praying for the victory of his own side. Through his spiritual and diplomatic prowess he had a strong impact on Christianity in 'Alba', that is Britain, and established a network of monasteries there.
These 'last verses', composed some decades after Colum Cille's death in 597, show the consolidation of the saint's cult among later clerics. The poet, Beccán mac Luigdech, praises Colum Cille for his asceticism, learning and royal blood, and for establishing the monastic life. He also makes constant comparison between Colum Cille and Christ (as did the saint's biographer, Adomnán), speaking of the saint as a light and as peace-maker between God and man, and desiring to be at Colum Cille's right hand in heaven. The image of Colum as an oak tree and the place accorded to poetry may be derived from pagan learning. The poet – like Colum Cille, a member of the powerful Uí Néill kindred in Ireland, albeit a different branch – appears to have been involved in the administration of Colum Cille's monastery in Iona during the 630s and then to have become a hermit on the isle of Rum, where he died in 677, thus fulfilling the monastic ideal of peregrinatio pro Christo or 'white martyrdom'. The practice of taking voluntary exile had its roots in Egyptian monasticism, but in European monasticism, withdrawal into the desert is replaced by withdrawal to the sea.
This translation echoes the alliteration of the original over the caesuras, within the line and between lines and verses.
He brings northwards nearing the Godhead gathered bright chancels, Colum Cille, cells for hundreds, haloed candle.
Cherished tidings: truth's kingdom completing my lifetime, a lofty kingdom, for He laid out my life's pathway.
Brississ tóla, to-bert co crú cruü glinne gabaiss foraib findaib coraib Columb Cille.
Caindel Connacht, caindel Alban, amrae fíadat fichtib curach cechaing tríchait troich-chét cíabat. 8
Cechaing tonnaig, tresaig magain, mongaig, rónaig, roluind, mbedcaig, mbruichrich, mbarrfind, faílid, mbrónaig.
Birt búaid n-eccnai hi cúairt Éirenn combo hardu, amrae n-anmae, ailtir Lethae, líntair Albu.
Amrae tuire, teöir lemnacht, lethnaib coraib, Columb Cille, comland gnátho gnóü foraib.
For muir gáirech, gairt in ruirich follnar mílib, follnar mag ós mruigib réidib, rígaib, tírib. 16
Trínóit hi seilb siächt cobluth — caín con-úalath — úasal la Día, díambo forderc fesccur mbúarach.
Búachail manach, medam cléirech, caissiu rétaib rígdaib sondaib, sonaib tedmann, tríchtaib cétaib.
Columb Cille, caindel toídes teöir rechtae, rith hi ráith tuir to-réd midnocht migne Ercae.
Aiéir tinach, tingair níulu nime dogair, dín mo anmae, dún mo uäd, hauë Conail. 24
Cloth co mbúadaib, ba cáin bethu. Ba bárc moíne, ba muir n-eccnai, hauë Conail, cotsid doíne.
Ba dair nduillech, ba dín anmae, ba hall nglinne, ba grían manach, ba már coimdiu, Columb Cille.
Ba cóem la Día, díambo hadbae ail fri roluind, ropo dorair, dú forriä imdae Coluimb.
Colainn crochsus, scuirsius for foill finda tóeba, to-gó dánu, dénis lecca, lécciss cróeba. 32
Passions he conquered, cast asunder sealed prisons; over-powered them with pure habits, he, Colum Cille.
Connacht's candle, candle of Britain, blazing ruler, rowed in currachs with a company of pilgrims past the sea's tresses.
Through the billowing bellicose margins, mane-like, seal-rich, savage, skittish, seething, white-crested, welcoming, weeping.
Wisdom's upholder all over Ireland, exalted he was; wondrous his title, tended is Brittany, Britain is sated.
Supporting column, contemplation's milk, mettlesome customs, Colum Cille, consummate practice, brighter than baubles.
On the boisterous ocean he implored the Ruler who rules thousands, who rules heaven above smooth moorlands, monarchs and countries.
In the Trinity's safe-keeping he sought a currach – courageous his leaving – aloft with the Father, ever watched by him, night and morning.
Monks' shepherd, mediator of clerics, keener than any object, than entries of monarchs, than moans of sickness, than serried champions.
Colum Cille, candle illuminating legal texts; the hero's racecourse ran through the midnight of Erc's region.
The air's make-peace, he mollifies the storm-clouds of surly heaven; haven of my soul, safeguard of my creativity, Conal's descendant.
Declaimed for virtues, his ways gentle; galley of treasure, tide of knowledge, Conal's offspring, everyone's counsel.
Crested oak-tree, soul's fortress, fast summit, sun of clerics, consummate chieftain, Colum Cille.
Cherished by the deity, his dwelling was against an unforgiving cliff-face; a challenge it was to uncover the position of the pallet of Colum.
He crucified his body, abandoned forever fair bodies; bent on learning, he lay on flagstones, forsook padding.
Lécciss coilcthi, lécciss cotlud — caíniu bertaib — brisiss bairnea, ba forfaílid feisib tercaib.
Techtaiss liubru, léicciss la slán selba aithri, ar seirc léigind, lécciss coicthiu, lécciss caithri.
Lécciss cairptiu, carais noä námae guë, gríandae loingsech, lécciss la séol seimann cluë.
Columb Cille, Columb boíë, Columb biäss, Columb bithbéo — ní hé sin in snádud ciäss. 40
Columb canmae, co dáil n-ecco, íarum, riäm, ríaraib imbaiss, ima-comairc cách fo-n-gniäm.
Guidiu márguidi macc do Eithne — is ferr moínib — m'anam día deis dochum ríchid re ndomuin doínib.
Día fo-ruigni, rígdae écndairc, hiland lessaib, la toil n-aingel, hauë treibe Conail cressaib.
Cernach dúbart Día do adrad, aidchib, laithib, lámaib fáenaib, findaib gartaib, gnímaib maithib. 48
Maith boí hi corp, Columb Cille — cléirech nemdae — imbed fedbach, fírían mbélmach, búadach tengae.
2. Má Ro-m-Thoiccthi Écc i ndhÍ
Gun urra (am beul Adomnáin)
Tha cliù Adomnáin, a bha mar aba Idhe bho 679 gu ruige a bhàs ann an 704, stèidhichte gu ìre mhòir air an eachdraidh a sgrìobh e air beatha Choluim Chille (Vita Columbae), ach rinn e obair chudromach eile a thaobh sgoilearachd agus leasachadh na h-Eaglais ann an Alba. Am measg nan euchdan sònraichte aige
He forsook bedding, forsook sleeping – sublime doings – defeated angers, was ecstatic, had sparse mealtimes.
Manuscripts he owned, disowned completely claims of kinship: in concern for learning he left off battles, abandoned castles.
He discarded chariots, chose currachs, challenger of error; his exile was sun-like, by sail he released reputation's cables.
Colum Cille, Colum who was ever, Colum who will be, eternal Colum, not he the safe conduct to cause keening.
Colum, we keep singing, stand behind, before us, until death's meeting, him we are serving through poetry's injunction which invokes him.
Him I implore, Eithne's offspring – opulence beyond riches – on his right to bring my soul into heaven's kingdom before any other's.
He wrought for the Ruler a royal requiem within church ramparts, at the request of angels, Conal's household's heir in vestments
Victorious prayer: to praise the Deity, daily and nightly, with hands in supplication, splendid alms-giving, and good actions.
Good his body, Colum Cille – cleric of heaven – a husbandless multitude – melodious true one, tongue triumphant.
If in Iona I Should Demise
Adomnán, abbot of Iona from 679 until his death in 704, is best remembered as the author of the Vita Columbae (Life of Colum Cille), one of the great works of the early Gaelic church, but he was an immensely important spiritual and scholarly figure in his own right. Among his achievements is the famous Cáin Adomnáin (Law of the bha sgrìobhadh Cáin Adomnáin ann an 697, oidhirp a chum dìon nan neòdrach is nan neoichiontach – boireannaich gu h-àraidh – ro ionnsaighean an lùib còmhstri no cogaidh.
Tha an dàn goirid seo, anns a bheil Eilean Idhe air a mholadh mar an t-àite as fheàrr airson fois shìorraidh, air ainmeachadh air Adomnáin anns a' chunntas Betha Adamnáin, a chaidh a sgrìobhadh mu mheadhan an deicheamh linn.
Chaidh an aon smuain a chur an cèill le Colum Cille fhèin sa bheannachadh dheireannach aige air a' mhanachainn, air aithris ann am Vita Columbae: 'Huic loco quamlibet angusto et vili non tantum Scotorum reges cum populís, sed etiam barbararum et exterarum gentium regnatores ... grandem et non mediocrem conferent honorem'.
Má ro-m-thoiccthi écc i ndhÍ,
3. Mór do Ingantu Do-Gní
Gun urra (am beul Adomnáin)
Tha na rannan seo cuideachd a' nochdadh ann am Betha Adamnáin agus is dòcha gur e an t-aba fhèin a rinn iad. Tha iad a' tighinn an dèidh earrann anns an eachdraidh anns a bheil Adomnán a' toirt mìorbhail gu buil air corp Bhruide mhic Bili, rìgh nan Cruithneach, a chaochail ann an 693, agus a chaidh a thoirt do dh'Eilean Idhe airson a thìodhlachadh. An dèidh do dh'Adomnán caithris a dhèanamh air corp Bhruide rè na h-oidhche, thòisich an corp ri gluasad agus ri fosgladh a shùilean. Nuair a chaidh a ràdh nach bu chòir duine a chur an oifis an aba an dèidh Adomnáin mura robh comas aigesan na mairbh ath-bheothachadh cuideachd, thug Adomnán beannachadh do Bhruide, a 'chaochail a-rithist'.
Innocents), promulgated in 697, which strove to protect all noncombatants – and especially women – from attack in the course of warfare.
This short poem is attributed to Adomnán in the mid-tenth- century Betha Adamnáin (Life of Adomnán), praising Iona as the finest place for eternal rest.
The same contrast between Iona's smallness and fame is made in Colum Cille's final blessing on the monastery, reported in Vita Columbae: 'This place, however small and mean, shall have bestowed on it no small but great honour by the kings and peoples of Ireland, and also by the rulers of even barbarous and foreign nations'.
If in Iona I should demise it would be a merciful goodbye:
Great the Wonders He Performs
These verses also appear in Betha Adamnáin and may possibly be the work of the abbot himself. They follow a passage in which the abbot was said to have performed a miracle upon the body of the Pictish king Bruide mac Bili, who died in 693, and was brought to Iona for burial. After Adomnán had watched over Bruide's body through the night, the corpse was said to stir and open its eyes. When it was suggested that no abbot should be appointed to succeed Adomnán unless he too could raise the dead, Adomnán gave a blessing for Bruide, who then 'died again'.
The epigrammatic thought of the second verse, contrasting Tha stoidhle ghoirid na dàrna rainn, anns a bheil coimeas ga dhèanamh eadar lughad na ciste is meud na rìoghachd, cumanta ann am bàrdachd nam manachainnean aig an àm seo.
Mór do ingantu do-gní,
Is annam,
4. Fil Súil nGlais
Gun urra (am beul Choluim Chille)
Tha an ceathramh seo, a rinneadh, a rèir coltais, anns an aonamh linn deug, air aon de ghrunn dhàn no rannan a chumadh anns na linntean an dèidh bàs Choluim Chille a tha air an cur 'am beul' an naoimh. A rèir dualchais chuir an naomh an rann seo an cèill agus e a' fàgail Èirinn agus a' tòiseachadh fhèinfhògraidh ann an Eilean Idhe.
Ann am beul-aithris, bhite ag ràdh gun do chùm Colum Cille brat ciarta thairis air a shùilean gus nach briseadh e a mhionnan is e air tilleadh a dh'Èirinn gu Cruinneachadh Droma Ceat ann an 575.
Fil súil nglais fégbas Érinn dar a hais;
the size of a coffin and a kingdom, is typical of Gaelic monastic poetry of this period.
Great the wonders He performs,
Strange,
A Blue Eye Turns
One of many poems or fragments composed in the centuries after Colum Cille's death and phrased as if composed by the saint himself, this quatrain from the eleventh century is supposed to have been uttered as the saint prepared to leave Ireland for Iona. Here as elsewhere, the saint is depicted as plunging himself into deliberate exile.
The tradition developed that when Colum Cille returned to Ireland to the Convention of Drum Cett in 575 he wore a waxed bandage over his eyes so as not to break the conditions of his oath.
A blue eye turns,
5. Meallach Liom Bheith i n-Ucht Oiléin
Gun urra (am beul Choluim Chille)
Tha e coltach gun do rinneadh an dàn seo anns an dàrna linn deug; seo aon de ghrunn dhàn a rinneadh mun àm seo agus a chuireadh 'am beul' Choluim Chille.
Tha am far-ainm 'Cúl re hÉirinn' (sreath 24) cumanta gu leòr; tuigear gur e nàdar de dh'fhògradh a bha fa-near do Cholum Chille agus e a' fàgail Èirinn gu sìorraidh. A rèir dualchas Eilean Idhe, thog an naomh 'càrn cùl ri Èirinn' air tom anns an eilean, às nach fhaicte sealladh an iar-dheas idir.
Tha coltas nas tràithe air cuspair an dàin seo na tha air a' chànain a chleachdar ann. Mar as trice tha bàrdachd an linn Chlasaigich nas dubhaiche mun t-saoghal, a tha air fhaicinn mar ribe no co-dhiù mar chunnart a bheir an aire air falbh bho rudan spioradail. Ach tha an neach-labhairt an seo a' moladh beatha ann an uaigneas eilein mar shlighe gu Dia air trì adhbharan. Tha na h-eòin, na mucan-mara is sruth na mara a' taisbeanadh cho mìorbhaileach 's a tha an Cruthachadh; chì e mar a tha na tuinn gu nàdarrach a' seinn rin Athair; agus aithnichidh e làthaireachd Dhè sa Chruthaidheachd, chan ann a-mhàin mar an Cruthaidhear ach cuideachd mar an Riaghladair.
Meallach liom bheith i n-ucht oiléin
Go bhfaicinn a tonna troma
Go bhfaicinn a trácht réidh rionnghlan
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Duanaire na Sracaire Songbook of the Pillagers"
by .
Copyright © 2007 Wilson McLeod and Meg Bateman.
Excerpted by permission of Birlinn Limited.
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Table of Contents
List of Poems,
Introduction,
Ro-ràdh,
A Note on Translation,
Acknowledgements,
Abbreviations,
THE LEARNED TRADITION,
Religion,
Panegyric,
Elegy,
Incitement,
Satire and Humour,
Love,
Ballads,
Occasional Verse,
THE SONG TRADITION,
Panegyric,
Elegy,
Occasional Verse,
Love,
Satire,
Ballad,
Lullaby,
Notes,
Glossary of Place Names,
Glossary of Personal Names,
Bibliography,