85 THE BA TTLE OF VENTRY. 



are said to roar whenever some important news gets abroad in Erinn, LL. p, 173^, 

 Cf. co ro gesetar tri tonna hErenn, LL. p. 1763. 



829. ndr theilg gaeth, &c. Compare with this the description of the Battle of 

 Ciontarf, in the Cog. G. p. 182. 



864. h e ceddiime tuc tiiagh leathan ar tus a n-Eirinn. There are many anecdotes 

 like this illustrating the general superiority of the weapons and annour of foreign 

 peoples over those of the ancient Irish. Thus the Dubgaill, or Danes, are said to have 

 introduced a particularly broad spear, or laigen (LL. p. 159 a), whence the province of 

 Laigin, or Leinster, is fabled to have received its name (./'. do na laignib lethanglassu 

 dobertsat leo na Dubgaill tar muir anall, LL. p. 377 a). Hence, in the description of 

 Finn's weapons quoted above, one of his spears is called manais lethanglas l\mtha 

 Lochlanyiach. The tuag, or battle-axe, is however, mentioned as one of Cuchulaind's 

 weapons in LL. p. 102 b: ^Oslaic go troit tuaga, a gillai^ And sain focheird Ciichulaind 

 moroscur de, col-lotar a thiiaga de go Mag Tuaga i Cotinactaib, &c. Therefore 0'Curry's 

 statement (Manners and Customs, IL p. 318) that the tuag is not mentioned in the 

 T.B.C. is wrong, 



868. tangadar caera teineadh fon faithce dcn billi sin. Professor Rhys suggests the 

 following translation : ' there came berries of fire over the plain from that tree' {bile), 

 But Begley's caor theinntighe, ' a thunderbolt,' justifies my translation. Cf. 1. 577 and 580. 



914. tiicadh a gairm righ os aird. The custom of hailing the new-elected king with 

 \.\\Q gairm rig is also mentioned in the Sergl. Concul. 27 (Ir. T, p. 214): ocus gongarar 

 garm rigi do. Hence such phrases as : bid lat ar rige cia chongarthar ainm rige, LL. p. 106 a, 

 and congairther rtge n-UIad do Chonchobur, ib. iss and sin tra ro gaired ardrige choicid 

 hErenn do Chonchobur, ib. p. io6b, i. Perhaps also in 1. 904 we ought to read : tucadh 

 gairm righ an domain do. 



961. an leg. afis^i 



973. do breith gacb ain budh inleighis, &c. Cf. agus ro chuir gach aon do bhi inleighis 

 go ha^it a leighiste, Tor. Dh. p. 162, i. 



992. Read : beac an t-ingnadh dam-sa. In the MS, there is a dash over the first n. 



1002. Instead oi dhali, Mr. Hennessy suggests do bhi. 



1036. ro claidheadh afeart, &c. This is the stereotype close of most of the tales called 

 Aideda. It is generally added that the name of the deceased or some sort of inscription 

 in Ogam characters was written on the stone. Cf. I. 500 and Aided Cl. L. p. 68 : agus 

 do hadhlacadh clanna Lir agus do tbgbhadh a lia 6s a leacht agus do scrtobhadh a n-anmanna 

 oghaim agus dofearadh a g-cluiche caointe. LL. p. 258 b : ro claided ucig do Feirb iar sin 

 7 do tocbad a lia 7 ro sc/tbad ainm oguim 7 dorigned duma immon licc. ' A grave was dug 

 for Ferb, and her stone was raised, and an inscription in Ogam was written, and a 

 mound was made around the stone.' Ainm in such connections does not necessarily 

 mean ' name,' but ' inscription ' generally. This is evident from such passages as 

 LL. p. 66 a : id machais e side 7 ainm n-oguim ^na menoc 7 is e ainm boi and : Gipe tised, &c. 

 ' And this is the inscription that was on it : Whoever shall come,' &c. The usual mode 

 of burial with thc ancient Irish seems to have consisted in a grave {fert or uag) being 

 dug, in which the corpse was put (if he had been slain in battle, with the face towards 



