L. 149

1.
Tá ceó dubhach ar gach sliabh,
Ceó nach dtáinig roimhe riamh;
Tá ciúineas duairc i n-am nóin
Acht amháin trom-ghuth an bhróin.

2.
Tá cling na marbh leis an ngaoith,
Monuar! is teachta bróin dúinn í!
Tá an fiach dubh le glór garbh
Ag fógra uaire an duine mhairbh.

3.
An duit, a uasail óig mo chroidhe!
Do sgread go dubhach an bhean sidhe?
I meadhón chiúin uaigneach oidhche
Is cumhach do bhí sí ag éagcaoineadh.

4.
Do fhreagair í gach múr is balla
Go dubhach duairc le mac alla;
Níor ghlaoidh coileach mar ba ghnáth,
'S níor fhógair dúinn am ná tráth.

5.
Uch! a 'Liféir óig mo chroidhe!
Is é do bhás ata sí' chaoi,
Is é do-bheir an lá i n-oidhche,
Is é do-bheir an chumha ar dhaoinibh!

6.
Ní'l againn anois, mo bhrón!
I n-áit an tsaoi acht caoi is deóir;
Sileadh deór is guth is caoi
Feasda dhúinn, is briseadh croidhe.

7.
Uch, a bháis, do leag tú choidhche
Bláth is sgéimh ár ngéige is aoirde;
Monuar! níor shásamh ar do bhuaidh
Gan ceap ár ndaoine dhul san uaigh.

8.
I spéirling lann ba teann a lámh
Ag cosaint ceirt a ghaoil sa dhámh,
Faoi mheirge a athar uasail fein
Is Urmhumhan fuair clú i gcéin.

9.
Ní bhíodh Baile na Cúirte ar aon chor
Faoi cheó bhrón nár bh'fhéidir réiteach;
A shealbhthóir díleas 'sa chroidhe céasda
Tré bhás an óigh-fhir na mhór i dtréithibh.

10.
Oighre ceart 'ainme, a ghradaim, 's a
réime,
Is oighre a stáite in gach árd d'Éirinn;
Mar chrann na darach budh mhaiseach
'fhéachain,
Do gheall go leathfadh go leathan a
ghéaga.

11.
Ní mar so do bhí i ndán do'n tséimh-fhear,
Acht dul san uaigh go huaigneach i n'
aonar;
Uch! is creach fhada é le n-a ló!
Is brón croidhe d'a chéile go deóidh!

12.
Is máthair í is trom fá chumhaidh,
Ar ndul go luath d'á céile i n-úir,
Athair a cloinne 's a céad-ghrádh,
Uch! is í do fuair a crádh!

13.
Ní leanfaidh sé an fiach go deóidh
Faoi ghleanntaibh dubha na sléibhte ceóigh,
Ní chluinfear a adharc go binn ag
séideadh,
Ná guth a ghadhar ar bhinn an tsléibhe.

14.
Ní feicfear ar lauth-each óg
Tar claidhe is fál ag déanamh róid;
Tá claochlódh ar a mhaise go deóidh,
Ar a mhórdhacht do thuit trom-cheó.

15.
A lámh bhronntach go fann 'n-a luighe,
A chroidhe meanmnach marbh gan bhrígh,
Síol na gcuradh agus cara na mbárd,
Searc na gceolairí chanas go hárd.

16.
Solas an dáin ní práidhinn dod' chlú,
Acht coimhréilfidh go hárd mo chumha;
Ag sileadh dhúinn deór faoi dheireadh
gach laoi,
Ar thuamba an churaidh do chráidh mo
chroidhe.

2. Cling, knell. Teachta = teachtaire.

8. Spéirling, combat. Dámh, gen. pl. bands, com-
panies. Meirge = bratach, standard. Is Urmhumhan,
"and of Ormond (East Munster) that was famous of old."

9. Baile na Cúirte, Courtstown.

14. Claochlódh, change, disfigurement.

L. 151

(237). See N. and Q., 201, 209. The Arran phrase is
bhí a shliocht air, signs on it. But they also say, tá
éiliocht air, probably some corruption of the former. -
E. O'G.

(242).
"Osnadh agus éigeacht na hEireann tríd a dtreóir,
Orchra daor agus créim do'n Mhíl-'fhuil mhóir." - O.J.B.

(243). I "dTórramh an Bhairille" i n-Irisleabhar
na Samhna, sílim gur so an Béarla budh chóir do chur ar
an tríomhadh líne de'n dara ceathramhain: - The wretch,
if he comes without store in his purse, will get the cask
without reckoning. Spaig, a word in common use here
formerly = purse.

(244). Goradh = a warming. I have been informed by
a native of Glenties that the phrase dean do ghoradh =
warm yourself, was one that he had heard hundreds of
times. - Mac Tíre.

(245). Nóta 212. Ionann fód agus ball ins na solaoi-
dibh-sin. Cuir i gcoimhmeas leo: "Níor fhág an fód
'n-a raibh 'na sheasamh" (Seilg Shléibhe Fuaid, l. 70) =
he did not leave the spot on which he stood, do réir
Sheagháin Uí Dhálaigh. - Mac Tíre.

(246). Urradh, m., surety, security, Trí Bior-ghaoithe,
Vocab. Still a spoken word in Donegal = strength, e.g.,
ní'l urradh páiste ann, he hasn't the strength of a child.
For a like variation in sense, we may perhaps compare
the Anglo-Irish phrase "on the strength of." - Mac Tíre.

(247). Ionnsoir (No. 91, p. 121) is heard in Donegal
almost as often as annsoir, which represents merely
Ulster dialectical pronunciation as regards the a, cp.
anann (given by O'R.) for ionann, anad or eanad for
ionad, seannach for sionnach, agus c. The a for d' or do
disappears before the vowel, as in other cases of the kind,
but remains before the consonant in the similarly formed
phrase, a dhíth air = do thíth ar. I do not think either
d'ionnsuidhe ar or do dhíth ar are found in "classiscal"
Irish. Instead of them we find d'ionnsuidhe, governing
genitive, e.g., do chuaidh sé d'ionnsuidhe Phádraig =
Donegal dial., chuaidh sé 'ionns' air Phádraig; táinig
sé dom' ionnsuidhe = Don. dial, thainic sé 'ionns' orm,
agus c., and do dhíth governing gen., a locution very frequent
in the Ossianic poems, e.g., Do Bhámair an Fhiann fá
bhrón fá cheann ár slógh a bheith d'ár ndíth (= vernac.,
do dhíth orainn). Seilg Shléibhe gCuilinn; Is measa
linn a bheith d'ár ndíth ár ngadhair bhéilbhinn' is ár
gcoin, [Eachtra na mná móire thar lear.] From this

classical usage should be carefully distinguished the
present Ulster vernacular use of do dhíth governing gen.
= at the loss of, e.g., Ní'l duine dá bhfeicfeadh an
tseoid nach dtuitfeadh i mbrón dá díth, Peter Walsh's
Arranmore song. It also occurs in Eachtrá na mná
móire only a few lines above previous quotation. Do
thuit an Fhiann go mór i mbrón, is níor bh'iongnadh
dhóibh, do dhíth a gcon.

The antiquity of the Ulster construction seems proved
by ar following the verb ionnsuigh (ionnsaich) in Scotch-
Gaelic also, and the usual d'easbhaidh ar = do dhíth ar. -
Mac Tíre.