vi PREFA C E. 



fourth ending with a word exceeding in the number of its syllables the 



words respectively ending the first and third ; the first and second hnes 



rhyme together, as do the third and fourth. Alhteration is frequent, 



and a word in the middle of one hne often rhymes with a word in the 



beginning or middle of the following hne (e.g. ruinib, duilib^ Hnes 9, 10, 



sorcJia, dorcha, 17, i^)- Poem CLII is in a different metre, rannaigecht 



mSr, each hne ending in a monosyllable, and only the second and fourth 



lines rhyming. In CLIII-CLXII the first and third lines of each 



quatrain regularly end in rhyming trisyllables, the second and fourth 



in rhyming dissyllables. Internal rhymes are frequent, e. g. fogur, 



domnuch, 8021, 8023, luaichthi, cruaidi, 8037, 8039. The first, second 



and third words in the first line of a quatrain sometimes rhyme re- 



spectively with the first, second and last words of the third line ; see 



e.g. 8125-8127, 8137-8139. 



The text has been printed with the utmost care. It is right to say 



that in the MS. several of the marks of length are so faded that they 



can be discerned only by the keenest eyes and in the most favourable 



light. I may, therefore, have undesignedly omitted some of these marks. 



Contractions have been extended, and the extensions represented by 



italics. The text has also been punctuated, proper names spelt with 



initial capitals, apostrophes have been used where vowels have been 



omitted, and hyphens introduced to separate the transported / and n 



from words beginning with vowels. 



In conclusion, though several of the words are explained in the 



Index, it contains so many new vocables as to the meanings of which I 



am either doubtful or quite in the dark, that I have called it an Index 



Verborum rather than a Glossarial Index. It will, it is hoped, be useful 



to future Irish lexicographers. 



W. S. 



