424 



Nemon a ben, ut est Be Neid ;" i.e. " man- wounding ; valour; god of 

 battle. Nemon [was] his wife ; ut est Be Neid." A poem in the Book 

 of Leinster, fol. 6 T a 2, couples Badb and Nemann as the wives of Neid 

 or Neit. 



Rett mac Indui set di mnai, 

 Badb ocus Nemaind cen goi, 

 Ro marbtha in Ailiuch cen ail, 

 La Neptuir d 1 Fhomorchaibh. 



"Neit son of Indu, and his two wives, 

 Badb and Nemann, truly, 

 Were slain in Ailech, without blemish, 

 By Neptur of the Fomorians." 



At folio 5, a 2, of the same MS., Fea and Nemann are said to have 

 been Neitfs two wives ; and if Fea represents Badb, we have a good 

 notion of the idea entertained of her character, for Cormac states that 

 Fea meant " everything most hateful." 



But in the poem on Ailech printed from the Dinnsenchus, in the 

 ' 1 Ordnance Memoir of Templemore " (p. 226), Nemand only is men- 

 tioned as the wife of Neit, from whom Ailech was called Ailech-Neit ; 

 and it is added that she was brought from Bregia, or Meath ; in other 

 words, probably, was one of the fairies of the Brugh. 



In other authorities, however, Morrigu is said to have been Neitfs 

 wife. For instance, in the very ancient tale called Tochmarc Emhire, 

 or Courtship of Emir, fragments of which are preserved in Lebar na 

 hUidhre, and the Book of Fermoy, Morrigu is described as u an badb 

 catha, ocus is fria idberiur Bee Neid, i. e. bandea in cathae, uair is inan 

 Neid ocus dia catha Le. "the badb of battle; and of her is said 

 Be Neid, i. e. goddess of battle, for Neid is the same as god of battle." 

 A gloss in the Lebar Buidhe Lecain explains Macha as " badb, no asi 

 an tres Iforrigan; mesrad maclm, .i. cendce doine iar na nairlech ;" i. e. 

 " a scald-crow; or she is the third Mor-rigan (great queen) ; Macha's 

 mast-feeding, i. e. the heads of men that have been slaughtered." The 

 same explanation, a little amplified, is also given in the MS. H. 3, 18, 

 Trin. Coll., Dublin (p, 82, col. 2), where the name Badb is written 

 Bodb, and it is added that Bodb, Macha and Morrigan were the three 

 Morrigna. In the same glossary, under the word beneit, we have the 

 further explanation: — (i Neit nom&n viri, Nemhonaben; ba neimnech 

 in lanomium; be ben i.e. inbadhbh, ocus net cath ; ocus olca diblinuib ; inde 

 dicitur beneit fort ;" i. e. "Neit nomen viri; Nemhon was his woman 

 (wife) ; venomous were the pair; be was the woman, i. e. the badhbh, 

 and net is battle; and both were evil; inde dicitur beneit fort (' evil 

 upon thee')." Another gloss in the same collection, on the word 

 gudomain, bears on the subject ander consideration. It is as follows : — 

 Gudomain, .i. fennoga no bansigaidhe ; ut est glaidhomuin gda, .i. na 

 demuin goacha, na morrigna ; no go conach demain iat na bansigaide, go 

 connach demain iffrinn iat acht demain aeoir na fendoga ; no eamnait 



