X THE BA TTLE OF VENTRY. 



ascribed to Gilla iii Chomded lia Cormaic (a poet of the twelfth century), 

 and beginning A ri richid, reidig dain, in which, among other motley 

 contents, the whole of the Macgnimrada Finn are told with every par- 

 ticular and detail, even to the quotation of some verses that actually 

 occur in the prose story of the fifteenth century. The passage here 

 referred to runs thus in LL. pp. 144 b and 145 a : 



Ra dith Ftnd Jma Fidga ic feiss 

 i n-digail Orcbeil eicis 

 tiar oc Cichib [comal n-grind) 

 di sleig Fiaclach ;aic Conchind. 



Da senrand ra chuala Find 

 i fi-dunitt Chich uas a chind : 

 ' Ra gdet hua Fidga fossad, 

 dun rand dib ba dergthossach. 



' Is neini in gae ' tossach tren 

 don rund aile ni aithgen, 



Compare with this 25 of the Macgnimartha Finn as published by me 

 in the ' Revue Celtique,' vol. v. p. 303. 



Another of the most striking instances of a story originally belonging 

 to the heroic cycle being simply transferred to a favourite hero of the 

 Ossianic cycle is the account of the birth of Cailte, the nephew of Finn 

 mac Cumaill, given in the same poem by Gilla in Chomded ua Cormaic, 

 and again in the Book of Leinster, p. 379 a. This story, as will be seen, 

 is identical with that of the birth of the eimdn Machcc, or twins of Macha, 

 in the Noinden Ulad. This is what Gilla in Chomded says, LL. p. 145 a : 



Cailti tacrait lind laidi 

 mac sethar Find findchaemi. 

 Ar bi bruth di echaib rig Ruis 

 do mnai ra comlund a chuiss. 

 And sin rucad Cailti cdid 

 i n-oenuch corcra Colmain. 



In LL. p. 379 a, this sister of Finn's is called Side, and the same 

 adventure is thus told : Ociis is i in t-Sidhe sin ingen Cumaill ro choimh- 

 rith fri dha gabhar in righ Eoghain Mhoir i n-einech Colmain. Ro bo 

 torrach tra Sidhe in i?ibaidh sin ro coimrith fri hechaibh in righ. Ro 

 tnsimJi Sidhe a toirrchns iar sin for chenn na blai iar forgbhail na 

 n-gabur 7 rng mac .i. Cailti. Is de isberar la cach : is luathidJiir SidJie 

 7 moran arcJiena. Here, then, we have another tale borrowed with all 



