MacNeilx, — Ancient Irish Law : Lcm of Status or Franchise. 309 



20 [A] chorus co fesser 

 setaib selb[aib] 

 slaii cech comaithchius 

 curthar gellaib 

 gelltar smachtaib 



25 niiach molauga 

 log diri 

 dire n-aurboi 

 6 dartaid co dairfc 

 dochumm colpdaige 



30 CO coic seotu cingifc 

 Cia annsom fidbeimme 



fiachib bdeth 



mrugid caille 



coll eidnecli 

 35 esnill bes di'thernam 



dire fidnemith nair 



ni bie fidnenietli 



fiachaib secht n-airecli 



ar it teora bui 

 40 ina buubeimmimm bis 



biit alaili 



secht setaib lossa 



launiur ar dochonnaib 



dilse caille 

 45 cairi fiilooht benair 



bos chnao fuisce 



frisna laim hi saith sui 



[Its] regulation that thou mayest know, 

 ■with chattels, with lands, 

 every community of husbandry is secure 

 that is settled with pledges 

 that are pledged for fines 

 of sacks, greater, less, 

 the payment of lihe ; 

 the dire of breaching (fences), 

 from dartitid to d,i{rt, 

 as far as to a ci>lpthiich, 

 up to five chattels they mount. 

 Which is hardest (among cases) of wood- 

 cutting 

 in liabilities of the unwise ? 

 The farmer of the f orests 

 the ivy-clad hazel ; 

 a risk that shall be hard to escape, 

 the dire of the noble sacred grove ; 

 the sacred grove shall not have 

 the dues of the seven nobles, 

 for it is three cows 



that are (allowed' for its stem-cutting. 

 There are others 

 of seven chattels, herbs. 

 There is conceded (?) for unfree persons 

 the irrecoverable things of the forest, 

 a cauldron's cooking that is cut, 

 the handful of nuts carried away 



23 = IV 78. The particular kind of pledge referred to is named talrgiUne, tuirgiile, 

 with a corresponding verb io-airgella, IV 128, 9. The technical names of varieties of 

 gell, " pledge," are usually formed with -ffil/ite, -yille, instead of jeK, e.g. hinyilhte, leljiyi/lne, 

 ingillne, coingillne. Tairriillne was the kind of pledge given in advance by one joint 

 husbandman (comaithech) to another as security against prospective damage by trespass 

 of cattle, etc -* For molam/a read 7uau laugu. The fines stated at IV 78 are of three sacks, 

 one sack and half a sack (of corn). -'-^^ =IV 152, aurbe . . . durlaid . . . dtiirt . . . c6ic 

 seoil. The successive stages, supplying measures of value in the Lajvs, of the 

 growth of a cow are lueg (1 to 6 months ?), dailaid (6 to 12 months ?), dairt (12 to 18 

 months ?), colpthaeli (18 to 24 months ?), samaisc (bearing the first calf), So (after 

 calving). The set or standard "chattel" of the Laws was the samaisc. "Five 

 chattels" equal in value three milch-cows. -^ cumait/wes MS. The prefixing of com- 

 causes a secondary syncope in this word < aitheehus (Meyer, Contribb.) < aithech 

 < aithe < * ale-vion. Cp. aitheclutib, aithechde. So ace. pi. comailhchm. ^ What 

 follows on the subject of trees is in relation to IV 146 seqq. ^= esnill, later esliim, < ess 

 and indell, I 242, 8, a lieslinn co innill, "from an insecure place to a place of security." 

 Cp. comindell tuaitlie, II 12, a description of the proper place of custody [forus) for chattels seized 

 in o^/!(7a6n7— glossed : " That it be not the border, i.e. that it be indell within the Uiath, the 

 middle of the «hi!(7(, that there be not thieves or purchasers." ^^ fidneimid ■i\s. =* The rfiVe for 

 cutting the stem of any one of the "seven nobles," oak, hazel, etc., was one cow, 

 IV 146. The sacred grove was an exception, V 474. *" ara teora hk ina hun beim bis us. 

 " dockundaib ms., meaning persons not sui juris. I am not sure what to make of laumur, but 

 propose to read laiimair, lit. "it is dared." ■'^"'^ Among the things that can be freely appropriated 

 axefulacht cecha caille and cnuas cech fedo, V 4S2. Fuisce< fo-scuich-(/oscugud, by analogy 

 Ylith. cumscugud, etc.). Perhaps we should read fuiscthe. Tairsce < to-air-scuich-. 



