Buile Suibhne (The Frenzy of Suibhne)
The Adventures of Suibhne Geilt
One of the great pieces of Irish Myth that survived into the Christian era, though with a strong Christian gloss, the Shamanic roots are pure gold. It was not uncommon for the church in Ireland to use older materials, and to preserve old tales, and for this we can be thankful..Some of the phrasing is arcance, but worth the reading...
Author: [unknown]
Background
details and bibliographic information
Sources
Manuscript sources.
1. B IV I, p. 82a - 95b (A paper MS in the Royal Irish Academy: written
between 1671 and 1674 by Daniel O'Duigenan. The following text is
taken from this MS. In instances where other readings were preferred
this is shown in the footnotes.)
2. 23 K 44, p. 131- 180 (A paper MS in the Royal Irish Academy: written
in 1721 - 1722 by Tomaltach Mac Muirghiosa. It is not derived from B.
More important variants are given in the footnotes. Many stanzas
contained in B are not in K.)
3. Brussels 3410, fo. 59a - 61b (This MS is in the Royal Library,
Brussels, and was written by Michael O'Clery in 1629. It is a brief
summary of the version in B and K. The whole of the verse except for
three stanzas is omitted. The text is appended to the Irish digital
edition, G302018.)
Editions.
1. James G. O'Keeffe, Buile Shuibhne (The Frenzy of Suibhne). Being the
Adventures of Suibhne Geilt. A Middle-Irish Romance. Edited, with
Translation, Introduction, Notes and Glossary. 38 + 198 pp., 8vo,
London, Irish Texts Society, Vol XII. [from Stowe B. IV 1, fol. 82a
Br. Bibl. Roy. 3410, fol. 59a, with readings from a 23 K 44] Ériu
1,
1904, pp. 113-121.
Translations.
1. See under Editions.
2. Gerard Murphy (ed.), Early Irish Lyrics: eighth to twelfth century.
Oxford: Clarendon, 1956. [58 items; texts reconstructed and normalized
according to the editor's dating; Engl. transl., notes, glossary.] 45.
Súanach sin, a Éorann án (Suibne and Éorann),
118-123; 46. A bennáin,
a búiredáin (Suibne in the woods), 122-137; 47. Mór
múich i túsa
in-nocht (Suibne in the snow), 138-141.
Secondary literature.
1. Georges Dottin, Buile Shuibhne [Notice] In: Revue Celtique XXXIV
(1913) 326-30.
2. Kenneth H. Jackson, The motive of the treefold death in the story of
Suibhne. In: Féil-Sgríbhinn Eóin Mhic Néill,
1940, 535-550.
3. Nora K. Chadwick, Geilt. In Scottish Gaelic Studies 5 (1942) 106-153.
[History and function of the geilt in Irish (Buile Suibne, Cath
Almaine, etc.), Welsh and early Norse literature.]
4. Roland M. Smith, King Lear and the Merlin tradition. In Modern
Language Quarterly 7 (1946) 153-174.
5. J. Vendryes, [ad Buile Shuibhne Best 2nd, edition 1238) 1301] In:
Études Celtiques 4 (1941/48) (fasc.2, 1948) 320-322. (Notes critiques
sur des textes, no. 9.)
6. James Carney, 'Suibne Geilt' and 'The children of Lir'. In. Éigse
6
(1948/52) (pt.2, 1950) 83-110.
7. Kenneth H. Jackson, A further note on Suibhne Geilt and Merlin. In:
Éigse 7, (1953/55) (pt. 2, 1953) 112-116, 120 [add.]. Criticism
of
Carney in Éigse 6.
8. Ruth P. Lehmann, A study of the Buile Shuibhne. In: Études Celtiques
6
(1953/54) 289-311; 7 (1955/56) 115-38.
9. James Carney, The origin of Suibne Gelt. In: Studies in Irish
literature and history. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies,
1955, Appendix B, 385-393.
10.
Birgit Bene[scaron], Spuren von Schamanismus in der Sage Buile
Suibhne. In: Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie 28 (1960/61)
309-334.
11.
Gearóid S. Mac Eoin, Gleann Bolcáin agus Gleann na nGealt.
In:
Béaloideas 30 (1962)[1964] 105-120.
12.
Brian Ó Cuív, in: Éigse 11 (1964/66) (pt.2, 1965)
155-56. [Review of
Mac Eoin in Béaloideas 30].
13.
David Greene & Frank O'Connor (eds. & trs.), Binne liom um na tonna.
In: A Golden treasury of Irish poetry, A.D. 600 to 1200. London:
Macmillan, 1967, 179-180.
14.
Donncha Ó Crualaoich, 'Eolchaire mo mhendatáin. Staidéar
ar scéal Meán
Ghaeilge. In: Irisleabhar Mhá Nuad 1970, 94-103.
15.
Vernam Hull: A note on Buile Shuibhne. In: Celtica 9 (1971) 214.
The edition used in the digital edition.
1.
Buile Shuibhne (The Frenzy of Suibhne) being The Adventures of Suibhne
Geilt. A Middle-Irish Romance. Edited with translation, intoduction,
Notes and Glossary by . J. G. O'Keeffe First edition. [One volume.
xxxviii + 198 pp. ix-xiii Summary, xiii-xv Mansuscripts, xv-xix Date
of Tale, xix-xxx The Battle of Magh Rath, xxx-xxxii Suibhne Geilt,
xxxii-xxxv Origin, xxxvi-xxxviii The Composition, 3-159 Text (even
pages) and translation (odd pages), 161-173 Notes, 174-178 Brussels
MS. 3410, 179-192 Glossary of the rarer words, 193 Index of First
Lines of Poems, 194 Index of Places and Tribes, 198 Index of Persons.]
David Nutt, 17 Grape St., New Oxford St. for the Irish Texts Society
London (1913) . Irish Texts Society (Comann na Sgríbheann Gaedhilge).
, No. XII [1910]
Created: Translated by J.
G. O'Keeffe.
There are a few untranslated
Irish words, either of uncertain
meaning/interpretation,
or technical terms.
List of Participants
* Suibhne
* Cailleach
an Mhuilinn, the mill-hag
* Finnsheng
ingen Fhíndealaigh, Finnsheng Daughter of Fíndealach
* Domhnall
* Congal
* Cléirech,
a cleric
* Fear Caille,
another madman
* Moling
* Mongán
* Eorann
* Énna
mac Bracáin
* Loingseachán
* Rónán
1
As to Suibhne, son of Colman
Cuar, king of Dal Araidhe, we have already
told how he went wandering
and flying out of battle. Here are set forth the
cause and occasion whereby
these symptoms and fits of frenzy and
flightiness came upon him
beyond all others, likewise what befell him
thereafter.
2
There was a certain noble,
distinguished holy patron in Ireland, even
Ronan Finn, son of Bearach,
son of Criodhan, son of Earclugh, son of
Ernainne, son of Urene,
son of Seachnusach, son of Colum Cuile, son of
Mureadhach, son of Laoghaire,
son of Niall; a man who fulfilled God's
command and bore the yoke
of piety, and endured, persecutions for the
Lord's sake. He was God's
own worthy servant, for it was his wont to
crucify his body for love
of God and to win a reward for his soul. A
sheltering shield against
evil attacks of the devil and against vices was
that gentle, friendly, active
man.
3
On one occasion he was marking
out a church named Cell Luinne in Dal
Araidhe. (At that time Suibhne,
son of Colman, of whom we have spoken, was
king of Dal Araidhe.) Now,
in the place where he was, Suibhne heard the
sound of Ronan's bell as
he was marking out the church, and he asked his
people what it was they
heard. ‘It is Ronan Finn, son of Bearach,’ said
they, ‘who is marking out
a church in your territory and land, and it is
the sound of his bell you
now hear.’
Suibhine was greatly angered
and enraged, and he set out with
the utmost haste to drive
the cleric from the church. His wife Eorann,
daughter of Conn of Ciannacht,
in order to hold him, seized the wing of the
fringed, crimson cloak which
was around him, so that the fibula of pure
white silver, neatly inlaid
with gold, which was on his cloak over his
breast, sprang through the
house. Therewith, leaving his cloak with the
queen, he set out stark-naked
in his swift career to expel the cleric from
the church, until he reached
the place where Ronan was.
4
He found the cleric at the
time glorifying the King of heaven and earth
by blithely chanting his
psalms with his lined, right-beautiful psalter in
front of him. Suibhne took
up the psalter and cast it into the depths of
the cold-water lake which
was near him, so that it was drowned therein.
Then he seized Ronan's hand
and dragged him out through the church after
him, nor did he let go the
cleric's hand until he heard a cry of alarm. It
was a serving-man of Congai
Claon, son of Scannlan, who uttered that cry;
he had come from Congal
himself to Suibhne in order that he (Suibhne) might
engage in battle at Magh
Rath. When the serving-man reached the place of
parley with Suibhne, he
related the news to him from beginning to end.
Suibhne then went with the
serving-man and left the c1eric sad and
sorrowful over the loss
of his psalter and the contempt and dishonour which
had been inflicted on him.
5
Thereafter, at the end of
a day and a night, an otter that was in the
lake came to Ronan with
the psalter, and neither line nor letter of it was
injured. Ronan gave thanks
to God for that miracle, and then cursed
Suibhne, saying: Be it my
will, together with the will of the mighty Lord,
that even as he came stark-naked
to expel me, may it be thus that he will
ever be, naked, wandering
and flying throughout the world; may it be death
from a spear-point that
will carry him off. My curse once more on Suibhne, and my blessing on
Eorann who strove to hold
him; and furthermore, I bequeath to the race of
Colman that destruction
and extinction may be their lot the day they shall
behold this psalter which
was cast into the water by Suibhne; and he
uttered this lay:
6
Ronan
1. Suibhne, son of Colman, has
outraged me, he has dragged me with him by the hand,
to leave Cell Luinne with him,
that I should be for a time absent from it.
2. He came to me in his swift course
on hearing my bell;
he brought with him vast, awful
wrath to drive me out, to banish me.
3. Loth was I to be banished here from
the place where I first settled
though loth was I, God has been
able to prevent it.
4. He let not my hand out of his until
lie heard the loud cry which said to
him: ‘Come to the battle, Domnall’
has reached famous Magh Rath.
5. Good has come to me therefrom,
not to him did I give thanks for it
when tidings of the battle came for
him to join the high prince.
6. From afar he approached the battle
whereby were deranged his sense and reason,
he will roam through Erin as a stark madman,
and it shall be by a spear-point he will die.
7. He seized my psalter in his hand,
he cast it into the full lake,
Christ brought it to me without a blemish,
so that no worse was the psalter.
8. A day and a night in the full lake,
nor was the speckled..white [book] the worse;
through the will of God's Son
an otter gave it to me again.
9. As for the psalter that he seized in his hand,
I bequeath to the race of Colman
that it will be bad for the race of fair Colman
the day they shall behold the psalter.
10. Stark-naked he has come here
to wring my heart, to chase me;
on that account God will cause
that Suibhne shall ever naked be.
11. Eorann, daughter of Conn of Ciannacht,
strove to hold him by his cloak;
my blessing on Eorann therefor,
and my curse on Suibhne.
7
Thereupon Ronan came to
Magh Rath to make peace between Domnall son of
Aodh, and Congal Claon son
of Scannlan, but he did not succeed. Howbeit,
the cleric used to be taken
each day as a guarantee between them that
nobody would be slain from
the time the fighting was stopped until it would
be again permitted. Suibhne,
however, used to violate cleric's guarantee of
protection inasmuch as every
peace and truce which Ronan would make Suibhne
would break, for he used
to slay a man before the hour fixed for combat
each day, and another each
evening when the combat ceased.
Then on the day fixed for
the great battle Suibhne came
to battle before the rest.
8
In this wise did he appear.
A filmy shirt of silk was next his white
skin, around him was a girdle
of royal satin, likewise the tunic which
Congal had given him the
day he slew Oilill Cedach, king of the Ui Faolain,
at Magh Rath; a crimson
tunic of one colour was it with a close, well-woven
border of beautiful, refined
gold set with rows of fair gems of carbuncle
from one end to the other
of the border, having in it silken loops over
beautiful, shining buttons
for fastening and opening it, with variegation
of pure white silver each
way and each path he would go; there was a
slender-threaded hard fringe
to that tunic. In his hands were two spears
very long and (shod) with
broad iron, a yellow-speckled; homy shield was on
his back, a gold-hilted
sword at his left side.
9
He marched on thus until
he encountered Ronan with eight psalmists of his
community sprinkling holy
water on the hosts, and they sprinkled it on
Suibhne as they did on the
others. Thinking it was to mock him that the
water was sprinkled on him,
he placed his finger on the string of the
riveted spear that was in
his hand, and hurling it at one of Ronan's
psalmists slew him with
that single cast. He made another cast with the
edged, sharp-angled dart
at the cleric himself, so that it pierced the bell
which was on his breast
and the shaft sprang off it up in the air,
whereupon the cleric said:
‘I pray the mighty Lord that high as went the
spear-shaft into the air
and among the clouds of Heaven may you go likewise
even as any bird, and may
the death which you have inflicted on my
foster-child be that which
will carry you off, to wit, death from a
spear-point; and my curse
on you, and my blessing on Eorann; (I invoke)
Uradhran and Telle on my
behalf against your seed and the descendants ofColman Cuar,’ and he said:
10
Colmáin
1. My curse on Suibhne!
Great is his guilt against me,
his smooth, vigorous
dart he thrust through my holy belly.
2. That bell which thou hast wounded
will send thee among branches,
so that thou shalt be one with the birds—
the bell of saints before saints.
3. Even as in an instant went
the spear-shaft on high,
mayst thou go, O Suibhne,
in madness, without respite!
4. Thou hast slain my foster-child,
thou hast reddened thy spear in him,
thou shalt have in return for it
that with a spear-point thou shalt die.
5. If there should oppose me
the progeny of Eoghan with stoutness
Uradhran and Telle will send them into decay.
6. Uradhran and Telle
have sent them into decay,
this is my wish for all time:
my curse with thee!
7. My blessing on Eorann!
Eorann fair without decay:
through suffering without stint
my curse on Suibhne!
11
Thereafter, when both battle-hosts
had met, the vast army on both sides
roared in the manner of
a herd of stags so that they raised on high three
mighty shouts. Now, when
Suibhne heard these great cries together with
their sounds and reverberations
in the clouds of Heaven and in the vault of
the firmament, he looked
up, whereupon turbulence (?), and darkness, and
fury, and giddiness, and
frenzy, and flight, unsteadiness, restlessness,
and unquiet filled him,
likewise disgust with every place in which he uséd
to be and desire for every
place which he had not reached. His fingers were
palsied, his feet trembled,
his heart beat quick, his senses were overcome,
his sight was distorted,
his weapons fell naked from his hands, so that
through Ronan's curse he
went, like any bird of the air, in madness and
imbecility.
12
Now, however, when he arrived
out of the battle, it was seldom that his
feet would touch the ground
because of the swiftness of his course, and
when he did touch it he
would not shake the dew from the top of the grass
for the lightness and the
nimbleness of his step. He halted not from that
headlong course until he
left neither plain, nor field, nor bare mountain,
nor bog, nor thicket, nor
marsh, nor hill, nor hollow, nor dense-sheltering
wood in Ireland that he
did not travel that day, until he reached Ros
Bearaigh, in Glenn Earcain,
where he went into the yew-tree that was in the
glen.
13
Domnall, son of Aedh, won
the battle that day, as we have already
narrated. Suibhne had a
kinsman in the battle, to wit, Aongus the Stout,
son of Ardgal, son of Macnia,
son of Ninnidh, of the tribes of Ui Ninnedha
of Dal Araidhe; he came
in flight with a number of his people out of the battle, and the
route he took was through
Glenn Earcain. Now he and his people were conversing
about Suibhne (saying) how
strange it was that they had not seen him alive
or dead after the battle-hosts
had met. Howbeit, they felt certain it was
because of Ronan's curse
that there were no tidings of his fate. Suibhne in
the yew-tree above them
heard what they spoke, and he said:
14
Suibhne
1. O warriors, come hither,
O men of Dal Araidhe,
you will find in the tree in which he is
the man whom you seek.
2. God has vouchsafed me here
life very bare, very narrow,
without music and without restful sleep,
without womenfolk, without a woman-tryst.
3. Here at Ros Bearaigh am I,
Ronan has put me under disgrace,
God has severed me from my form,
know me no more, O warriors.
15
When the men heard Suibhne
reciting the verses, they recognized him, and
urged him to trust them.
He said that he would never do so. Then, as they
were closing round the tree,
Suibhne rose out of it very lightly and nimbly
(and went) to Cell Riagain
in Tir Conaill where he perched on the old tree
of the church. It chanced
that it was at that tree Domnall, son of Aedh,
and his army were after
the battle, and when they saw the madman going into
the tree, a portion of the
army came and closed in all round it. Thereupon
they began describing aloud
the madman; one man would say that it was a
woman, another that it was
a man, until Domnall himself recognized him,
whereupon he said: ‘It is
Suibhne, king of Dal Araidhe,
whom Ronan cursed the day
the battle was fought.
Good in sooth is the man
who is there,’ said he, ‘and if he wished
for treasures and wealth
he would obtain them from us if only he would
trust us. Sad is it to me,’
said he, ‘that the remnant of Congal's people
are thus, for both good
and great were the ties that bound me to Congal
before undertaking the battle,
and good moreover was the counsel of Colum
Cille to that youth himself
when he went with Congal to ask an army from
the king of Alba against
me’; whereupon Domnall uttered the lay:
16
Domhnall
1. How is that, O slender Suibhne?
thou wert leader of many hosts;
the day the iniquitous battle was fought
at Magh Rath thou wert most comely.
2. Like crimson or like beautiful gold
was thy noble countenance after feasting,
like down or like shavings
was the faultless hair of thy head.
3. Like cold snow of a single night
was the aspect of thy body ever;
blue-hued was thine eye, like crystal,
like smooth, beautiful ice.
4. Delightful the shape of thy feet,
not powerful methinks was thy chieftainship;
thy fortunate weapons—they could draw blood—
were swift in wounding.
5. Colum Cille offered thee
Heaven and kingship, O splendid youth,
eagerly (?) thou hast come into the plain
from the chief prophet of Heaven and earth.
6. Said Colum Cille,
steadfast prophet of truth,
'as many of you as come over the strong flood
will not all return from Erin.'
7. I offered Congal Claon
when we were together
the blessing of all the men of Erin;
great was the mulct for one egg.
8. If thou wilt not accept that from me,
O fair Congal, son of Scannal,
what judgment then—deed of great moment—
wilt thou pass upon me?
Congal:
9. (These) will I accept from thee if thou deemest it well:
give me thy two sons,
thy hand from thee, likewise thy stately wife,
thy daughter and thy eye blue-starred.
Domnall:
10. Thou shalt not have but spear to spear,
I shall be evermore lying in wait for you,
this is our speech about the bondage;
take thou the full of my curse!
11. Thy body will be a feast for birds of prey,
ravens will be on thy heavy silence,
a fierce, black spear shall wound thee,
and thou shalt be laid on thy back, destitute.
12. My bane from land to land
art thou alone beyond each king,
yet I have befriended thee
since the day thy mother brought thee forth.
13. 'Tis there the battle
was fought—
at the stead in Magh Rath—
there was a drop on a gleaming sword;
so fell Congal Claon.
17
Now when Suibhne heard the
shout of the multitude and the tumult of the
great army, he ascended
from the tree towards the rain-clouds of the
firmament, over the summits
of every place and over the ridge-pole of every
land. For a long time thereafter
he was (faring) throughout Ireland,
visiting and searching in
hard, rocky clefts and in bushy J branches of
tall ivy-trees, in narrow
cavities of stones, from estuary to estuary, from
peak to peak, and from glen
to glen, till he reached ever-delightful Glen
Bolcain. It is there the
madmen of Ireland used to go when their year in
madness was complete, that
glen being ever a place of great delight for
madmen. For it is thus Glen
Bolcain is: it has four gaps to the wind,
likewise a wood very beautiful,
very pleasant, and clean-banked wells and
cool springs, and sandy,
clear-water streams, and green-topped watercress
and brooklime bent and long
on their surface. Many likewise are its
sorrels, its wood-sorrels,
its lus-bian and its biorragan, its berries, and
its wild garlic, its melle,
and its miodhbhun its black sloes and its brown
acorns. The madmen moreover
used to smite each other for the pick of
watercress of that glen
and for the choice of its couches.
18
Suibhne also remained for
a long time in that glen until he happened one
night to be on the top of
a tall ivy-clad hawthorn tree which was in the
glen. it was hard for him
to endure that bed, for at every twist and turn
he would give, a shower
of thorns off the hawthorn would stick in him, so
that they were piercing
and reiiding his side and wounding his skin.
Suibhne thereupon changed
from that bed to anotherplace,
where there was a dense
thicket of great briars with fine thorns and
a single protruding branch
of blackthorn growing alone up through the
thicket. Suibhne settled
on the top of that tree, but so slender was it
that it bowed and bent under
him, so that he fell heavily through the
thicket to the ground, and
there was not as much as an inch from his hole
to the crown of his head
that was not wounded and reddened. He then rose
up, strengthless and feeble,
and came out through the thicket, whereupon he
said: ‘My conscience!’ said
he, ‘it is hard to endure this life after a
pleasant one, and a year
to last night I have been leading this. life,’
whereupon he uttered the
lay:
19
Suibhne
1. A year to last night
have I been among the gloom of branches,
between flood and ebb,
without covering around me.
2. Without a pillow beneath my head,
among the fair children of men;
there is peril to us, O God,
without sword, without spear.
3. Without the company of women;
save brooklime of warrior-bands—
a pure fresh meal—
watercress is our desire.
4. Without a foray with a king,
I am alone in my home,
without glorious reavings,
without friends, without music.
5. Without sleep, alas!
let the truth be told,
without aid for a long time,
hard is my lot.
6. Without a house right full,
without the converse of generous men,
without the title of king,
without drink, without food.
7. Alas that I have been parted here
from my mighty, armed host,
a bitter madman in the glen,
bereft of sense and reason.
8. Without being on a kingly circuit,
but rushing along every path;
that is the great madness,
King of Heaven of saints.
9. Without accomplished musicians,
without the converse of women,
without bestowing treasures;
it has caused my death, O revered Christ.
10. Though I be as I am to-night,
there was a time
when my strength was not feeble
over a land that was not bad.
11. On splendid steeds,
in life without sorrow,
in my auspicious kingship
I was a good, great king.
12. After that, to be as I am
through selling Thee, O revered Christ!
a poor wretch am I, without power,
in the Glen of bright Bolcan.
13. The hawthorn that is not soft-topped
has subdued me, has pierced me;
the brown thorn-bush
has nigh caused my death.
14. The battle of Congal with fame,
to us it was doubly piteous;
on Tuesday was the rout;
more numerous were our dead than our living.
15. A-wandering in truth,
though I was noble and gentle,
I have been sad and wretched
a year to last night.
20
In that wise he remained
in Glen Bolcain until at a certain time he
raised himself up (into
the air) and went to Cluain Cille on the border of
Tir Conaill and Tir Boghaine.
He went then to the brink of the well where
he had for food that night
watercress and water. Thereafter he went into
the old tree of the church.
The erenach of the church was Faibhlen of the
family of Brughach, son
of Deaghadh. That night there came an exceeding
great storm so. that the
extent of the night's misery affected Suibhne
greatly, and he said: ‘Sad
indeed is it that I was not slain at Magh Rath
rather than that I should
encounter this hardship’; whereupon he uttered
this lay:
21
Suibhne
1. Cold is the snow to-night,
lasting now is my poverty,
there is no strength in me for fight,
famine has wounded me, madman as I am.
2. All men see that I am not shapely,
bare of thread is my tattered garment,
Suibhne of Ros Earcain is my name,
the crazy madman am I.
3. I rest not when night comes,
my foot frequents no trodden way,
I bide not here for long,
the bonds of terror come upon me.
4. My goal lies beyond the teeming main,
voyaging the prow-abounding sea;
fear has laid hold of my poor strength,
I am the crazy one of Glen Bolcain.
5. Frosty wind tearing me,
already snow has wounded me,
the storm bearing me to death
from the branches of each tree.
6. Grey branches have wounded me,
they have torn my hands;
the briars have not left
the making of a girdle for my feet.
7. There is a palsy on my hands,
everywhere there is cause of confusion,
from Sliabh Mis to Sliabh Cuillenn,
from Sliabh Cuillenn to Cuailgne.
8. Sad forever is my cry
on the summit of Cruachan Aighle,
from Gien Bolcain to Islay,
from Cenn Tire to Boirche.
9. Small is my portion when day comes,
it comes not as a new day's right (?),
a tuft of watercress of Cluain CiIle
with Cell Cua's cuckoo flower.
10. He who is at Ros Earcach,
neither trouble nor evil shall come to him;
that which makes me strengthless
is being in snow in nakedness.
22
So Suibhne fared forth until
he reached the church at Snamh dha En on
the Shannon, which is now
called Cluain Boirenn; he arrived there on a
Friday, to speak precisely.
The clerics of the church were then fulfilling
the office of nones; women
were beating flax, and one was giving birth to a
child. ‘It is not meet,
in sooth,’ said Suibhne, ‘for the women to violate
the Lord's fast-day; even
as the woman beats the flax,’ said he, ‘so were
my folk beaten in the battle
of Magh Rath.’ He heard then the vesper-bell
pealing, whereupon he said:‘Sweeter
indeed were it to me to hear the voices
of the cuckoos on the banks
of the Bann from every side than the grig-graig
of this bell which I hear
to- night’; and he uttered the lay:
23
Suibhne
1. Sweeter to me about the waves—
though my talons to-night are feeble—
than the grig-graig of the church-bell,
is the cooing of the cuckoo of the Bann.
2. O woman, do not bring forth thy son
on a Friday,
the day whereon Suibhne Geilt eats not
out of love for the King of righteousness.
2. As the women scutch the flax—
'tis true though 'tis I be heard—
even so were beaten my folk
in the battle of Magh Rath.
2. From Loch Diolair of the cliff
to Derry Coluim Cille
it was not strife that I heard
from splendid, melodious swans.
2. The belling of the stag of the desert above the cliffs
in Siodhmuine Glinne—
there is no music on earth
in my soul but its sweetness.
2. O Christ, O Christ, hear me!
O Christ, O Christ, without sin!
O Christ, O Christ, love me!
sever me not from thy sweetness!.
24
On the morrow Suibhne went
to Cell Derfile where he fared on watercress
of the well and the water
which was in the church; there came a great storm
in the night, and exceeding
sorrow and grief took hold of Suibhne because
of the wretchedness of his
life; and moreover it was a cause of grief and
sorrow to him to be absent
from Dal Araidhe, whereupon he uttered these
staves:
25
Suibhne
1. My night in Cell Derfile
'tis it has broken my heart;
sad for me, O Son of my God,
is parting from Dal Araidhe.
2. Ten hundred and ten warriors,
that was my host at Druim Fraoch,
though I am without strength, O Son of God,
'twas I who was their leader in counsel.
3. Gloomy is my night to-night
without serving-man, without camp;
not so was my night at Druim Damh,
I and Faolchu and Congal.
4. Alas! that I was detained for the tryst,
O my Prince of the glorious Kingdom!
though I should not get any harm therefrom
forever except this night.
26
For seven whole years Suibhne
wandered over Ireland from one point to
another until one night
he arrived at Glen Bolcain; for it is there stood
his fortress and his dwelling-place,
and more delightful was it to him to
tarry and abide there than
in any other place in Ireland; for thither would
he go from every part of
Ireland, nor would he leave it except through fear
and terror. Suibhne dwelt
there that night, and on the morrow morning
Loingseachan came seeking
him. Some say that Loingseachan was Suibhne's
mother's son, others that
he was a foster-brother, but, whichever he was,
his concern for Suibhne
was great, for he (Suibhne) went off three times in
madness and thrice he brought
him back. This time Longseachan was seeking
him in the glen, and he
found the track of his feet by the brink of the
stream of which he was wont
to eat the watercress. He found also the
branches that used to break
under his feet as he changed from the top of
onto another. That day,
however, he did not find the madman, so he went
into a deserted house in
the glen, and there he fell into deep sleep after
the great labour of thepursuit
of Suibhne whom he was seeking.
Then Suibhne came upon his
track so
that he reached the house,
and there he heard Loingseachan's snore;
whereupon he uttered this
lay:
27
Suibhne
1. The man by the wall snores,
slumber like that I dare not;
for seven years from the Tuesday at Magh Rath
I have not slept a wink.
2. O God of Heaven! would that I had not gone
to the fierce battle!
thereafter Suibhne Geilt was my name,
alone in the top of the ivy.
3. Watercress of the well of Druim Cirb
is my meal at terce;
on my face may be recognized its hue,
'tis true I am Suibhne Geilt.
4. For certain am I Suibhne Geilt,
one who sleeps under shelter of a rag,
about Sliabh Liag if ...
these men pursue me.
5. When I was Suibhne the sage,
I used to dwell in a lonely shieling,
on sedgy land, on a morass, on a mountain-side;
I have bartered my home for a far-off land.
6. I give thanks to the King above
with whom great harshness is not usual;
'tis the extent of my injustice
that has changed my guise.
7. Cold, cold for me is it
since my body lives not in the ivy-bushes,
much rain comes upon it
and much thunder.
8. Though I live from hill to hill
in the mountain above the yew glen;
in the place where Congal Claon was left
alas that I was not left there on my back!
9. Frequent is my groan,
far from my churchyard is my gaping house;
I am no champion but a needy madman,
God has thrust me in rags, without sense.
10. 'Tis great folly
for me to come out of Glen Bolcain,
there are many apple-trees in Glen Bolcain
for ... of my head.
11. Green watercress
and a draft of pure water,
I fare on them, I smile not,
not so the man by the wall.
12. In summer amid the herons of Cuailgne,
among packs of wolves when winter comes,
at other times under the crown of a wood;
not so the man by the wall.
13. Happy Glen Bolcain,
fronting the wind, around which madmen of the glen call,
woe is me! I sleep not there;
more wretched am I than the man by the wall.
14. Thereafter I sprang
up
into the air above;
in life I have never leaped
a single leap that was lighter.
15. Were it in the glorious morning,
on the Tuesday following the Monday,
none would be prouder than I am
by the side of a warrior of my folk.
16. A marvel to me is that which I see,
O Thou that hast shaped this day;
The woman's garment on the floor,
two piercing eyes of Loingseachan.
30
‘Sad is the disgrace you
would fain put upon me, Loingseachan,’ said he;
‘and do not continue annoying
me further, but go to your house and I will
go on to where Eorann is.’
31
Now, Eorann at the time
was dwelling with Guaire, son of Congal, son of
Scannlan, for it was Eorann
who was Suibhne's wife, for there were two
kinsmen in the country,
and they had equal title to the sovereignty which
Suibhne had abandoned, viz.:
Guaire, son of Congal, son of Scannlan, and
Eochaidh, son of Condlo,
son of Scannlan. Suibhne proceeded to the place in
which Eorann was. Guaire
had gone to the chase that day, and the route he
took was to the pass of
Sliabh Fuaid and by Sgirig Cinn Glinne and Ettan
Tairbh. His camp was beside
Glen Bolcain—which is called Glenn Chiach
to-day—in the plain of Cinel
Ainmirech. Then the madman sat down upon the
lintel of the hut in which
Eorann was, whereupon he said: ‘Do you remember,
lady, the great love we
gave to each other what time we were together? Easy
and pleasant it is for you
now,but not so for me;’ whereupon Suibhne said, and
Eorann answered him (asfollows):
32
Suibhne:
1. At ease art thou, bright Eorann,
at the bedside with thy lover;
not so with me here,
long have I been restless.
2. Once thou didst utter, O great Eorann,
a saying pleasing and light,
that thou wouldst not survive
parted one day from Suibhne.
3. To-day, it is readily manifest,
thou thinkest little of thy old friend;
warm for thee on the down of a pleasant bed,
cold for me abroad till morn.
Eorann:
4. Welcome to thee, thou guileless mad one!
thou art most welcome ofthe men of the earth;
though at ease am I, my body is wasted
since the day I heard of thy ruin.
Suibhne:
5. More welcome to thee is the king's son
who takes thee to feast without sorrow;
he is thy chosen wooer;
you seek not your old friend.
Eorann:
6. Though the king's son were to lead me
to blithe banqueting-halls,
I had liefer sleep in a tree's narrow hollow
beside thee, my husband, could I do so.
7. If my choice were given me
of the men of Erin and Alba,
I had liefer bide sinless with thee
on water and on watercress.
Suibhne:
8. No path for a beloved lady
is that of Suibhne here on the track of care;
cold are my beds at Ard Abhla,
my cold dwellings are not few.
9. More meet for thee to bestow love and affection
on the man with whom thou art alone
than on an uncouth and famished madman,
horrible, fearful, stark-naked.
Eorann:
10. O toiling madman, 'tis my grief
that thou art uncomely and dejected;
I sorrow that thy skin has lost its colour,
briars and thorns rending thee.
Suibhne:
11. I blame thee not for it,
thou gentle, radiant woman;
Christ, Son of Mary—great bondage—
He has caused my feebleness.
Eorann:
12. I would fain that we were together,
and that feathers might grow on our bodies;
in light and darkness I would wander
with thee each day and night.
Suibhne:
13. One night I was in pleasant Boirche,
I have reached lovely Tuath Inbhir,
I have wandered throughout Magh Fail,
I have happened on Celi Ui Suanaigh.
33
No sooner had he finished
than the army swarmed into the camp from every
quarter, whereupon he set
off in his headlong flight, as he had often done.
He halted not in his career
until before the fall of night he arrived at
Ros Bearaigh—the first church
at which he tarried after the battle of Magh
Rath—and he went into the
yew-tree which was in the church.
Muireadach mac Earca was
erenach of the church at the time, and his wife
happened to be going past
the yew when she saw the madman in it; she
recognized that it was Suibhne
was there and said to him: ‘Come out of the