unknown

English translation

Edited by Kuno Meyer

The Triads of Ireland

[1] The Head of Ireland—Armagh.

[2] The Dignity of Ireland—Clonmacnois.

[3] The Wealth of Ireland—Clonard.

[4] The Heart of Ireland—Kildare.

[5] The Seniority of Ireland—Bangor.

[6] The Comfort ¹⁹ of Ireland—Lusk.

[7] The Sport of Ireland—Kells.

[8] The Two Eyes of Ireland—Tallaght and Finglas.

[9] The Sanctuary of Ireland—the House of Cairnech upon the Road of Asal ²⁰.

[10] The Purity of Ireland—Scattery Island.

[11] The Abbey-church of Ireland—Glendalough.

[12] The Jurisprudence of Ireland—Cloyne.

[13] The House of Wages  ²¹of Ireland—Ferns.

[14] The Singing the Litany of Ireland—Lismore.

[15] The Lore of Ireland—Emly.

[16] The Legal Speech of Ireland—Cork.

[17] The Learning of Ireland—Roscarbery.

[18] The Wantonness of Ireland—Terryglas.

[19] The Spiritual Guidance of Ireland—Clonfert.

[20] The Curse of Ireland—Lorrha.

[21] The Judgment of Ireland—Slane.

[22] The Severity of Piety of Ireland—Fore.

[23] The Delight of Ireland—Ardbrackan.

[24] The Simplicity  ²²of Ireland—Roscommon.

[25] The Welcome of Ireland—Raphoe or Drumlane.

[26] The Charity of Ireland—Downpatrick.

 p.5

[27] The {⬌} of Ireland—Dairchaill.

[28] The Stability of Ireland—Moville.

[29] The Martyrdom of Ireland—Dulane.

[30] The Reproach of Ireland—Cell Ruaid Ruad's Church. ²³

[31] The Chastity of Ireland—Lynally.

[32] The three places of Ireland to alight at: Derry, Taghmon, Kilmainham.

[34] The three stone-buildings of Ireland: Armagh, Clonmacnois, Kildare.

[35] The three fairs of Ireland: the fair of Teltown, the fair of Croghan, the fair of Colman Elo.

[36] The three forts of Ireland: Dunseverick, Dun Cermna, ²⁴ Cathir Conree.

[37] The three mountains of Ireland: Slieve Gua, ²⁵ Slieve Mis, Slieve Cualann. ²⁶

[38] The three heights of Ireland: Croagh Patrick, Ae Chualann, ²⁷ Benn Boirche. ²⁸

[39] The three lakes of Ireland: Lough Neagh, Lough Ree, Lough Erne.

[40] The three rivers of Ireland: the Shannon, the Boyne, the Bann.

[41] The three plains of Ireland: the plain of Meath, Moylinny, Moy-Liffey. ²⁹

[42] The three dark places of Ireland: the cave of Knowth, the cave of Slaney, the cave of Ferns.

[43] The three desert places of Ireland: Fid Mór Great Wood in Coolney, Fid Déicsen Spy-wood) in Tuirtri, ³⁰ the Wood of Moher in Connaught.

[44] The three unlucky places of Ireland: the abbotship of Bangor, the abbotship of Lynally, the kingship of Mugdorn Maigen. ³¹

 p.7

[45] The three evil ones of Ireland: the Crecraige, ³² the Glasraige, the Benntraige. ³³

[46] The three comfortable places of Ireland: the abbotship of Lusk, the kingship of the three Cualu, ³⁴ the vice-abbotship of Armagh.

[47] The three strands of Ireland: the strand of Ross Airgit, ³⁵ the strand of Ross Teiti, the strand of Baile. ³⁶

[48] The three fords of Ireland: Ath Cliath Hurdle-ford, Athlone the Ford of Luan, Ath Caille Wood-ford ³⁷.

[49] The three highroads of Ireland: Slige Dala, ³⁸ Slige Asail, Slige Luachra. ³⁹

[50] The three mountain-passes of Ireland: Baltinglass, the Pass of Limerick, the Pass of Dublin.

[51] The three ridges of Ireland: Druim Fingin, Druim nDrobeoil, Druim Leithe. ⁴⁰

[52] The three plains of Ireland: Moy Bray, Moy Croghan, Moy Liffey.

[53] The three meadows of Ireland: Clonmacnois, Clones, Clonard.

[54] The three households of Ireland: the household of Tara, the household of Cashel, the household of Croghan.

[55] The three waterfalls of Ireland: Assaroe, Eas Danainne, ⁴¹ Eas Maige.

[56] The three fields (?) of Ireland: the land of Rathlynan, Slieve Comman, Slieve Manchain.

[57] The three wells of Ireland: the Well of the Desi, the Well of Uarbel, ⁴² the Well of Uaran Garaid.

[58] The three uneven places of Ireland: Breffny, the Burren, Beare.

[59] The three estuaries of Ireland: Inver na mBarc, ⁴³ Inver Feile, ⁴⁴ Inver Tuaige. ⁴⁵

[60] The three conspicuous places of Ireland: Cuchulinn's Leap, ⁴⁶ Dunquinn, Sruve Brain.  ⁴⁷

 p.9

[61] The three familiar places ⁴⁸ of Ireland: Tralee, Logher, the Fews.

[62] Three wonders concerning the Táin Bó Cuailnge: that the cuilmen came to Ireland in its stead; the dead relating it to the living, viz. Fergus mac Róig reciting it to Ninníne the poet in the time of Cormac mac Fáeláin; one year's protection to him to whom it is recited.

[63] The three halidoms of the men of Ireland: breast, cheek, knee.

[64] Three unfortunate things for a man: a scant drink of water, thirst in an ale-house, a narrow seat upon a field.

[65] Three unfortunate things of husbandry: a dirty field, leavings of the hurdle, a house full of sparks.

[66] Three forbidden things of a church: a nun as bellringer, a veteran in the abbotship, a drop upon the altar.

[67] Three rejoicings followed by sorrow: a wooer's, a thief's, a tale-bearer's.

[68] Three sorrows that are better than joy: the heaviness of a herd feeding on mast, the heaviness of a ripe field, ⁴⁹ the heaviness of a wood under mast.

[69] Three rejoicings that are worse than sorrow: the joy of a man who has defrauded another, the joy of a man who has perjured himself, the joy of a man who has committed parricide. ⁵⁰

[70] The three worst welcomes: a handicraft in the same house with the inmates, scalding water upon the feet, salt food without a drink.

[71] Three unfortunate things for the son of a peasant: marrying into the family of a franklin, attaching himself to the retinue of a king, consorting with thieves.

[72] Three unfortunate things for a householder: proposing to a bad woman, serving a bad chief, exchanging for bad land.

[73] Three excellent things for a householder: proposing to a good woman, serving a good chief, exchanging for good land.

 p.11

[74] Three holidays ⁵¹ of a landless man ⁵²: visiting in the house of a blacksmith, visiting in the house of a carpenter, buying without bonds.

[75] Three slender things that best support the world: the slender stream of milk from the cow's dug into the pail, the slender blade of green corn upon the ground, the slender thread over the hand of a skilled woman.

[76] Three hands that are best in the world: the hand of a good carpenter, the hand of a skilled woman, the hand of a good smith.

[77] Three things which justice demands: judgment, measure, conscience.

[78] Three things which judgment demands: wisdom, penetration, knowledge.

[79] Three characteristics of concupiscence: sighing, playfulness, ⁵³ visiting.

[80] Three things for which an enemy is loved: wealth, beauty, worth. ⁵⁴

[81] Three things for which a friend is hated: trespassing, ⁵⁵ keeping aloof, ⁵⁶ fecklessness.

[82] Three rude ones of the world: a youngster mocking an old man, a healthy person mocking an invalid, a wise man mocking a fool.

[83] Three deaf ones of the world: warning to a doomed man, mocking ⁵⁷ a beggar, keeping a loose woman from lust.

[84] Three fair things that hide ugliness: good manners in the ill-favoured, skill in a serf, wisdom in the misshapen.

[85] Three ugly things that hide fairness: a sweet-lowing cow without milk, a fine horse without speed, a fine person without substance.

[86] Three sparks that kindle love: a face, demeanour, speech.

[87] Three deposits with usufruct: depositing a woman, a horse, salt.

[88] Three glories of a gathering: a beautiful wife, a good horse, a swift hound.

[89] Three accomplishments of Ireland: a witty stave, a tune on the harp, ⁵⁸ shaving a face.

 p.13

[90] Three ungentlemanly things: interrupting stories, a mischievous game, jesting so as to raise a blush.

[91] Three smiles that are worse than sorrow: the smile of the snow as it melts, the smile of your wife ⁵⁹ on you after another man has been with her, ⁶⁰ the grin of a hound ready to leap at you. ⁶¹

[92] Three deaths that are better than life: the death of a salmon, the death of a fat pig, the death of a robber. ⁶²

[93] Three fewnesses that are better than plenty: a fewness of fine words, a fewness of cows in grass, a fewness of friends around ale. ⁶³

[94] Three sorrowful ones of an alehouse: the man who gives the feast, the man to whom it is given, the man who drinks without being satiated. ⁶⁴

[95] Three laughing-stocks of the world: an angry man, a jealous man, a niggard.

[96] Three ruins of a tribe: a lying chief, a false judge, a lustful ⁶⁵ priest.

[97] Three preparations of a good man's house: ale, a bath, a large fire.

[98] Three preparations of a bad man's house: strife before you, complaining to you, his hound taking hold if you. ⁶⁶

[99] Three shouts of a good warrior's house: the shout of distribution, the shout of sitting down, the shout of rising up.

[100] Three darknesses into which women should not go: the darkness of mist, the darkness of night, the darkness of a wood.

[101] Three props of obstinacy: ⁶⁷ pledging oneself, contending, wrangling.

[102] Three characteristics of obstinacy: ⁶⁸ long visits, staring, constant questioning.

 p.15

[103] Three signs of a fop: the track of his comb in his hair, the track of his teeth in his food, the track of his stick  ⁶⁹ behind him.

[104] Three ungentlemanly boasts: I am on your track, I have trampled on you, I have wet you with my dress.

[105] Three live ones that put away dead things: a deer shedding its horn, a wood shedding its leaves, cattle shedding their coat. ⁷⁰

[106] Three places of Ireland to make you start: Tulach na n-Epscop, ⁷¹ Achad Deo, ⁷² Duma mBuirig.

[107] Three wonders of Ireland: the grave of the dwarf, ⁷³ the grave of Trawohelly, ⁷⁴ an echo near. ⁷⁵

[108] Three oratories of Ireland: the oratory of Birr, the oratory of Clonenagh, the oratory of Leighlin.

[109] Three maidens that bring hatred upon misfortune: talking, laziness, insincerity.

[110] Three maidens that bring love to good fortune: silence, diligence, sincerity.

[111] Three silences that are better than speech: silence during instruction, silence during music, silence during preaching.

[112] Three speeches that are better than silence: inciting a king to battle, spreading knowledge (?), ⁷⁶ praise after reward. ⁷⁷

[113] Three impossible demands: go! though you cannot go, bring what you have not got, do what you cannot do.

[114] Three idiots that are in a bad guest-house: the chronic cough of an old hag, a brainless tartar of a girl, a hobgoblin of a gillie.

[115] The three chief sins: avarice, gluttony, lust.

 p.17

[116] Three things that constitute a buffoon: blowing out his cheek, blowing out his satchel, blowing out his belly.

[117] Three things that constitute a comb-maker: racing a hound in contending for a bone; straightening a ram's horn by his breath, without fire; chanting upon a dunghill so that all antlers and bones and horns that are below come to the top.

[118] Three things that constitute a carpenter: joining together without calculating (?), without warping (?); agility with the compass; a well-measured stroke.

[119] Three things that constitute a physician: a complete cure, leaving no blemish behind, a painless examination.

[120] Three things that constitute a blacksmith: Nethin's spit, the cooking-hearth of the Morrigan, the Dagda's anvil.For a description and pictures of these appliances, see YBL., p. 419a, and Egerton, 1782, fo. 46a. ⁷⁸.

[121] Three things that constitute an artificer: weaving chains, a mosaic ball, ⁷⁹ an edge upon a blade.

[122] Three things that constitute a harper: a tune to make you cry, a tune to make you laugh, a tune to put you to sleep. ⁸⁰

[123] Three things that constitute a poet: 'knowledge that illumines,' 'teinm laeda,' ⁸¹ improvisation.

[124] Two ominous cries of ill-luck: boasting of your first slaughter, and of your wife being with another man.

[125] Three things betokening trouble: holding a plough-land in common, performing feats together, alliance in marriage.

[126] Three drops of a wedded woman: a drop of blood, a tear-drop, a drop of sweat.

[127] Three caldrons that are in every fort: the caldron of running (?), the caldron goriath, ⁸² the caldron of guests.

 p.19

[128] Three tokens of a blessed site: a bell, psalm-singing, a synod of elders.

[129] Three tokens of a cursed site: elder, a corncrake, nettles. ⁸³

[130] Three nurses of theft: a wood, a cloak, night.

[131] Three qualities ⁸⁴ that bespeak good fortune: self-importance, {⬌}, self-will.

[132] Three qualities ⁸⁵ that bespeak misfortune: weariness, premature old age, reproachfulness.

[133] Two sisters: weariness and wretchedness.

[134] Two brothers: prosperity and husbandry.

[135] Three unlucky {⬌}: ⁸⁶ guaranteeing, mediating, witnessing. The witness has to swear to his evidence, the guarantor has to pay for his security, the mediator gets a blow on his head. ⁸⁷

[136] Three false sisters: 'perhaps,' 'may be,' 'I dare say.'

[137] Three timid brothers: 'hush!' 'stop!' 'listen!'

[138] Three dead things that give evidence on live things: a pair of scales, a bushel, a measuring-rod.

[139] Three pottages of guaranteeing {⬌}  ⁸⁸

[140] Three black husbandries: thatching with stolen things, ⁸⁹ putting up a fence with a proclamation of trespass, kiln-drying with scorching.

[141] Three after-sorrows: a wooer's, a thief's, a tale-bearer's.

[142] Three sons whom folly bears to anger: frowning, {⬌} , ⁹⁰ mockery (?).

[143] Three sons whom generosity bears to patience: {⬌} , blushing, shame.

[144] Three sons whom churlishness bears to impatience: trembling, niggardliness, vociferation.

[145] Three cold things that seethe: a well, the sea, new ale.

[146] Three sounds of increase: the lowing of a cow in milk, the din of a smithy, the swish of a plough.

 p.21

[147] Three wealths in barren places: a well in a mountain, fire out of a stone, wealth in the possession of a hard man.

[148] Three renovators of the world: the womb of woman, a cow's udder, a smith's moulding-block.

[149] Three concealments upon which forfeiture does not close: a wife's dowry, the food of a married couple, a boy's foster-fee.

[150] Three contracts that are reversed by the decision of a judge: the contracts of a woman, of a son, of a cottar.

[151] Three that are incapable of special contracts ⁹¹: a son whose father is alive, a betrothed woman, the serf of a chief.

[152] Three sons that do not share inheritance: a son begotten in a brake, ⁹² the son of a slave, the son of a girl still wearing tresses.

[153] Three causes that do not die with neglect: the causes of an imbecile, and of oppression, and of ignorance.

[154] Three bloodsheds that need not be impugned: the bloodshed of battle, of jealousy, of mediating.

[155] Three cohabitations ⁹³ that do not pay a marriage-portion: taking her by force, outraging her without her knowledge through drunkenness, her being violated by a king.

[156] Three that are not entitled to exemption: restoring a son, the tools of an artificer, hostageship.

[157] Three deposits that need not be returned: the deposits of an imbecile, ⁹⁴ and of a high dignitary, and a fixed deposit. ⁹⁵.

[158] Three dead ones that are paid for with living things: an apple-tree, a hazle-bush, a sacred grove. ⁹⁶.

[159] Three that neither swear nor are sworn: a woman, a son who does not support his father, a dumb person.

[160] Three that are not entitled to renunciation of authority: a son and his father, a wife and her husband, a serf and his lord.

[161] Three who do not adjudicate though they are possessed of wisdom: a man who sues, a man who is being sued, a man who is bribed to give judgment.

[162] Three on whom acknowledgment does not fall in its time: death, ignorance, carelessness.

 p.23

[163] Three usucaptions that are not entitled to a fine: fear, warning, asportation.

[164] Three wages that labourers share: the wages of a caldron, ⁹⁷ the wages of a mill, the wages of a house.

[165] Three oaths that do not require fulfilment ⁹⁸: the oath of a woman in birth-pangs, the oath of a dead man, the oath of a landless man.

[166] Three ranks that ruin tribes in their falsehood: the falsehood of a king, of a historian, of a judge.

[167] Three free ones that make slaves of themselves: a lord who sells his land, a queen who goes to a boor, a poet's son who abandons his father's craft.

[168] Three brutes whose trespasses count as human crimes: a chained hound, a ferocious ram, a biting horse.

[169] Three brutish things that atone for crimes: a leashed hound, a spike in a wood, a lath {⬌} ⁹⁹

[170] Three things that {⬌} salt-meat, butter, iron {⬌}  ¹⁰⁰

[171] Three signs that {⬌} ¹⁰¹ in a judge's house: wisdom, information, intellect.

[172] Three things that should be proclaimed: the flesh-fork of a caldron, a bill-hook without a rivet, a sledge-hammer without {⬌} ¹⁰²

[173] Three doors of falsehood: an angry pleading, a shifting foundation of knowledge, giving information without memory.

[174] Three doors through which truth is recognised: a patient answer, a firm pleading, appealing to witnesses.

[175] Three glories of a gathering: a judge without perturbation, a decision without reviling, terms agreed upon without fraud.

[176] Three waves without wisdom: hard pleading, judgment without knowledge, a talkative gathering.

[177] Three glories of speech: steadiness, wisdom, brevity.

[178] Three ornaments of wisdom: abundance of knowledge, a number of precedents, to employ a good counsel.

 p.25

[179] Three hateful things in speech: stiffness, ¹⁰³ obscurity, a bad delivery.

[180] Three steadinesses of good womanhood: keeping a steady tongue, a steady chastity, and a steady housewifery.

[181] Three strayings of bad womanhood: letting her tongue, ¹⁰⁴ and {⬌} and her housewifery go astray.

[182] Three excellences of dress: elegance, comfort, lastingness.

[183] Three that are not entitled to sick-maintenance: a man who absconds from his chief, from his family, from a poet.

[184] Three sauces that spoil a sick-bed: {⬌}, ¹⁰⁵ honey, salt food.

[185] Three women that are not entitled to a fine: a woman who does not care with whom she sleeps, a thievish woman, a sorceress.

[186] Three things that ruin every chief: falsehood, overreaching, parricide. ¹⁰⁶

[187] Three things that characterise every chaste person: steadiness, modesty, sobriety.

[188] Three things by which every angry person is known: an outburst of passion, trembling, growing pale.

[189] Three things that characterise every patient person: repose, silence, blushing.

[190] Three things that characterise every haughty person: pompousness, elegance, display of wealth.

[191] Three things that tell every humble person: poverty, homeliness, servility.

[192] Three signs of wisdom: patience, closeness, the gift of prophecy.

[193] Three signs 'of folly': contention, wrangling, attachment to everybody.

[194] Three things that make a fool wise: learning, steadiness, docility.  ¹⁰⁷

[195] Three things that make a wise man foolish: quarrelling, anger, drunkenness.

[196] Three things that show every good man: a special gift,' ¹⁰⁸ valour, piety.

[197] Three things that show a bad man: bitterness, hatred, cowardice.

[198] Three things that set waifs a-wandering: persecution, loss, poverty.

 p.27

[199] Three chains by which evil propensity is bound: a covenant, a monastic rule, law.

[200] Three rocks to which lawful behaviour is tied: a monastery, ¹⁰⁹ a chieftain, the family.

[210] Three candles that illumine every darkness: truth, nature, knowledge.

[220] Three things that constitute a king: a contract with other kings, the feast of Tara, abundance during his reign.

[230] Three locks that lock up secrets: shame, silence, closeness.

[204] Three keys that unlock thoughts: drunkenness, trustfulness, love.

[205] Three inheritances that are divided in the presence of heirs: the inheritance of a jester, of a madman, and of an old man.

[206] Three youthful sisters: desire, beauty, generosity.

[207] Three aged sisters: groaning, chastity, ugliness.

[208] Three well-bred sisters: constancy, well-spokenness,kindliness.

[209] Three ill-bred sisters: fierceness, lustfulness, obduracy.

[210] Three sisters of good fortune: good breeding, liberality, mirth.

[211] Three sisters of good repute: diligence, prudence, bountifulness.

[212] Three sisters of ill repute: inertness, grudging, closefistedness.

[213] Three angry sisters: blasphemy, strife, foulmouthedness.

[214] Three irreverent sisters: importunity, frivolity, flightiness.

[215] Three reverent sisters: usefulness, an easy bearing, firmness.

[216] Three woman-days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. If women go to men on those days, the men will love them better than they the men, and the women will survive the men.

[217] Three man-days: Thursday, Friday, Sunday. If women go to men on those days, they will not be loved, and their husbands will survive them. Saturday, however, is a common day. It is equally lucky to them. Monday is a free day to undertake any business.

[218] Three duties of guarantorship: staying at home, honesty, suffering (?); staying in one's residence, honesty lest he utter falsehood, suffering (?) payment, viz. letting oneself be stripped for an illegal action instead of the debtor.

 p.29

[219] Three pottages of guarantorship: wer-geld or a debtor's {⬌} or non-possession (?) ¹¹⁰.

[220] Three things hard to guarantee and to become a hostage and to make a contract for: to go security for constructing the fort of a king, an oratory, and a caldron. For it is hard for a man of a family to he given with (?) his fellow. ¹¹¹

[221] Three things that are undignified for everyone: driving one's horse before one's lord so as to soil his dress, going to speak to him without being summoned, staring in his face as he is eating his food.

[222] Three lawful handbreadths: a handbreadth between shoes and hose, a handbreadth between ear and hair, a hand-breadth between the fringe of the tunic and the knee.

[223] What is worst in a household? Sons of a bawd, frequent feasts, numerous alliances in marriages, abundance of mead and wine. They waste you and do not profit.

[224] Three illnesses that are better than health: the lying-in of a woman with a male child, the fever of an abdominal disease that clears the bowels, a feverish passion to check evil by its good (?).

[225] Three welcomes of an ale-house: plenty and kindliness and art.

[226] Three services the worst that a man can serve: serving a bad woman, a bad lord, and a bad smith. ¹¹²

[227] Three things that are best in a house: oxen, ¹¹³ men, axes.

[228] Three that are worst in a house: boys, women, lewdness. ¹¹⁴

[229] Three signs of boorishness: strife, and contention, and mistaking a person for another (?) ¹¹⁵

[230] Various kinds of mercenaries: {⬌}  ¹¹⁶

[231] Various kinds of dispensers: {⬌}  ¹¹⁷

 p.31

[232] Three that are most difficult to talk to: a king about his booty, a viking in his hauberk, a boor who is under patronage.

[233] Three whose spirits are highest: a young scholar after having read his psalms, a youngster who has put on man's attire, ¹¹⁸ a maiden who has been made a woman.

[234] Four on whom there is neither restraint nor rule: the servant of a priest, a miller's hound, a widow's son, and a stripper's calf.

[235] Three hard things ¹¹⁹: to go security on behalf of a king or highly privileged person, for a king's honour is wider than any claim; to go security for battle, for no one is capable of any security for a battle save a king under whose yoke are seven tribes; to go security for captivity, except one who owns a serf. Seven prohibitions: to go security for an outlaw, for a jester and for a madman, for a person without bonds, for an unfilial person, for an imbecile, for one excommunicated. Troublesome moreover is every security, for it is necessary for it to give sudden notice as regards every pledge which he gives, now beforehand, now afterwards.

[236] Three wonders of Glenn Dallan  ¹²⁰ in Tirowen: the boar of Druim Leithe. It was born there, and Finn was unable to do aught against it, until it fell in Mag Li  ¹²¹ by a peasant who was kiln-drying. Whence Finn said:

1. Not well have we fed our hounds,
   Not well have we driven our horses,
   Since a little boor from a kiln
   Has killed the boar of Druim Leithe.

The Beast of Lettir Dallan. It has a human head and otherwise the shape of a smith's bellows. The water-horse which lived in the lake by the side of the church cohabited with the daughter of the priest and begot the beast upon her.

The Ox of Dil  ¹²² is the third wonder. Its father came out of the same lake, and went upon one of the cows of the landholder who lived near the church, and begot the ox upon her.

 p.33

[237] Three wonders of Connaught: the grave of Eothaile ¹²³ on its strand. It is as high as the strand. When the sea rises, it is as high as the tide. The stone of the Dagda. Though it be thrown into the sea, though it be put into a house under lock, {⬌} out of the well at which it is. The two herons in Scattery Island. They let no other herons to them into the island, and the she-heron goes on the ocean westwards to hatch and returns thence with her young ones. And coracles have not discovered the place of hatching.

[238] Three worst smiles: the smile of a wave, the smile of a lewd woman, the grin of a dog ready to leap. ¹²⁴

[239] What are the three wealths of fortunate people? Not hard to tell. A ready conveyance (?), ale without a habitation (?), a safeguard upon the road.

[240] Three sons whom chastity bears to wisdom: valour, generosity, laughter filial piety?.

[241] Three entertainers of a gathering: a jester, a juggler, a lap-dog.

[242] Three things that are best for a chief: justice, peace, an army.

[243] Three things that are worst for a chief: sloth, treachery, evil counsel.

[244] The four deaths of judgment: to give it in falsehood, to give it without forfeiture, to give it without precedent, to give it without knowledge.

[245] Three things that ruin wisdom: ignorance, inaccurate knowledge, forgetfulness.

[246] Three nurses of dignity: a fine figure, a good memory, piety.

[247] Three nurses of high spirits: pride, wooing, drunkenness.

[248] Four hatreds of a chief: a silly flighty man, a slavish useless man, a lying dishonourable man, a talkative man who has no story to tell. ¹²⁵ For a chief does not grant speech save to four: a poet for satire and praise, a chronicler of good memory for narration and story-telling, a judge for giving judgments, an historian for ancient lore. ¹²⁶

[249] Three dark ¹²⁷ things of the world: giving a thing into keeping, guaranteeing, fostering.

 p.35

[250] Three prohibitions of food: to eat it without giving thanks, to eat it before its proper time, to eat it after a guest.

[251] Four elements ¹²⁸ of wisdom: patience, docility, sobriety, well-spokenness; for every patient person is wise, and every docile person is a sage, every sober person is generous, every well-spoken person is tractable.

[252] Four elements ¹²⁹ of folly: silliness, bias, wrangling, foul-mouthedness.

[253] Three tabus of a chief: an ale-house without story-telling, a troop without a herald, a great company without wolfhounds.  ¹³⁰

[254] Three indications of dignity in a person: a fine figure, a free bearing, eloquence.

[255] Three coffers whose depth is not known: the coffer of a chieftain, of the Church,  ¹³¹ of a privileged poet.

[256] Three debts which must not be neglected:  ¹³² debts of land, payment of a field, instruction (?) of poetry.

Document details

The TEI Header

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File description

Title statement

Title (uniform): The Triads of Ireland

Title (supplementary): English translation

Author: unknown

Editor: Kuno Meyer

Responsibility statement

translated by: Kuno Meyer

Electronic edition compiled by: Emer Purcell

Proof corrections by: Emer Purcell and Benjamin Hazard

Third draft revised and enlarged by: Beatrix Färber

Funded by: University College, CorkThe HEA via the LDT Project and The IRCHSS via the Digital Dinneen Project

Edition statement

3. Third draft, revised and enlarged.

Extent: 11000 words

Publication statement

Publisher: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork

Address: College Road, Cork, Ireland—http://www.ucc.ie/celt

Date: 2007

Date: 2008

Date: 2011

Distributor: CELT online at University College, Cork, Ireland.

CELT document ID: T103006

Availability: Available with prior consent of the CELT programme for purposes of academic research and teaching only.

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Source description

Manuscript sources for the Irish text

1. Trinity College Dublin, MS TCD 1318 (H 2.16), The Yellow Book of Lecan, a vellum of the end of the fourteenth century, pp. 414b–418a, a complete copy.
2. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 12, the Book of Ballymote, a vellum of the end of the fourteenth century, pp. 65b–66b (ends imperfectly).
3. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS Stowe, D II 1, the Book of Húi Maine, a vellum of the fourteenth century, fo. 190a–fo. 191a. A complete copy.
4. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 P 2, the Book of Lecan, a vellum of the fifhteenth century. The leaves on which the Triads are found are now bound up with the Codex H 2 17 belonging to Trinity College. It is a complete copy begining on p. 183b and ending on p. 184b. The editor remarks that, 'by an oversight' he has 'referred to the MS sometimes by Lec and sometimes by H. In some cases both Lec and H will be found quoted in the variants. The same MS is always meant.' This practice has been left stand.
5. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, MS 23 N 10, a paper ms written in the year 1575, pp. 98–101. A complete copy, the gap between p. 100 and 106 being made up by pp. 7a–10b of the vellum portion of the manuscript.
6. Trinity College Dublin, MS H 1 15, pp. 946–957. This is a paper ms written by Tadhg Tiorthach Ó Neachtain in 1745. It is a complete copy with copious glosses in Modern Irish.
7. Dublin, RIA, Stowe Collection, a paper quarto now marked 23 N 27, containing on fo. 1a–7b a copy of the Triads. It was written in 1714 by Domnall (or Daniel) o Duind mac Eimuinn. Its readings closely agree with those of N.
8. Manchester, Rylands Library, a copy written in 1836 by Peter O'Longan, formerly in the possession of the Earls of Crawford.
9. Edinburgh, Advocates Library, MS Kilbride III, vellum, begins on fo. 9b2.

Digital images of Meyer's edition

• Available at http://www.archive.org.

Literature (incl. references given by Meyer)

1. James Henthorn Todd (ed. & trans.), The Irish version of the Historia Britonum of Nennius (Dublin: Irish Archaeological Society 1848).
2. Eugene O'Curry, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish. Vol. 1–3 (London 1873).
3. Kuno Meyer, Cath Finntrága or Battle of Ventry (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1885). [From Bodleian Library MS Rawlinson B 487).
4. Charles Plummer, Irish Miscellanies: the Conversion of Loegaire, and his death, Revue Celtique 6 (1884) 162–172.
5. Whitley Stokes, The prose tales in the Rennes Dindshenchas, Revue Celtique 15 (1896) 418–484 (no. 44 and 111).
6. W. Neilson Hancock, Thaddeus O'Mahony, Alexander George Richey & Robert Atkinson, Ancient Laws of Ireland, 6 vols. (Dublin, 1865–1901).
7. Kuno Meyer, 'Das Apgitir Crábaid des Colmán maccu Béognae ', Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie 3 (1901) 447–455.
8. Whitley Stokes, Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee, Henry Bradshaw Society 29. (London 1905) 112.
9. Siegmand Hellmann, 'Sedulius Scottus', p. 135, in: Ludwig Traube, 'Quellen und Untersuchungen zur lateinischen Philologie des Mittelalters', vol. 1 (München 1906).
10. Whitley Stokes & John Strachan (ed. & tr.), Thesaurus palaeo-hibernicus (2 vols, Cambridge 1901–03, supplement by Whitley Stokes, Halle/Salle (1910), reprinted in two volumes, Dublin 1985).
11. Patrick Weston Joyce, A Social History of Ancient Ireland, 2 vols (New York, London, and Bombay: Longmans, Green, & Company, 1903).
12. Kuno Meyer (ed. & trans.), Cáin Adamnáin: an Old-Irish treatise on the Law of Adamnan, Anecdota Oxoniensia, Mediaeval & Modern Series 12 (Oxford 1905).
13. Rudolf Thurneysen, Die Bürgschaft im irischen Recht, Abhandlungen der Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. Klasse, no. 2 (1928).
14. Rudolf Thurneysen, Irisches Recht, Abhandlungen der Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. Klasse, no. 2 (1931).
15. Éamonn de hÓir, 'The anglicisation of Irish place-names', Onoma 17 (1972) 192–204.
16. For modern Irish proverbs in triadic form, compare for instance Enrí Ó Muirgheasa (ed.), Seanfhocail Uladh, Eagrán Nua (Baile Átha Cliath: Oifig an tSoláthair, 1976) 3–8.
17. Patrick Sims-Williams, 'Thought, word, and deed: an Irish triad', Ériu 29 (1978) 78–111.
18. Fergus Kelly, A Guide to Early Irish Law (Dublin: DIAS 1988).
19. Michael A. Monk & John Sheehan, Early medieval Munster: archaeology, history and society (Cork 1998) [p. 83 on condiments and relishes mentions echmuir].
20. Fergus Kelly, Irish Wisdom: Classic Irish Triads (Belfast: Appletree Press 1993).
21. P. W. Joyce, The origin and history of Irish names of places. [Facs. of the original edition in 3 volumes published 1869–1913.] With a new introductory essay on P.W. Joyce by Mainchín Seoighe (Dublin: Éamonn de Búrca for Edmund Burke 1995).
22. Kevin Murray, 'Fr Edmund Hogan's 'Onomasticon Goedelicum', ninety years on: reviewers and users', Ainm 8 (1998–2000) 65–75.
23. Historical Dictionary of Gaelic Placenames (London: Irish Texts Society 2003). [Volume 1 of Hogan's revised Onomasticon.]
24. Pádraig Ó Riain, Diarmuid Ó Murchadha and Kevin Murray, Historical Dictionary of Gaelic Placenames, Fascicle 1 [Names in A-] (London: Irish Texts Society 2003); repr. with addenda and corrigenda April 2007.
25. Pádraig Ó Riain, Diarmuid Ó Murchadha and Kevin Murray, Historical Dictionary of Gaelic Placenames, Fascicle 3 [C-Ceall Fhursa] (London: Irish Texts Society 2008).
26. Fergus Kelly, Thinking in Trees: The Triad in Early Irish Literature (Sir John Rhys Memorial Lecture), Proceedings of the British Academy 125 (December 2004) 1–18.
27. Diarmuid Ó Murchadha, 'Dún Cermna: a reconsideration', Éigse 34 (2004) 71–89.
28. Bernhard Maier, Die Weisheit der Kelten. Sprichwörter aus Irland, Schottland, Wales und der Bretagne. (Munich: C. H. Beck 2011) [An anthology of proverbs from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany in the original languages, with German translation. Includes introduction and bibliographic references].

The edition used in the digital edition

Meyer, Kuno, ed. (1906). The Triads of Ireland‍. 1st ed. xv + 35 pp., v–xv Introduction, 1–35 Text and Translation, 36–43 Glosses and Notes, 45–46 Index Locorum, 46 Index Nominum, 47–54 Glossary. London: Hodges Figgis & Co.

You can add this reference to your bibliographic database by copying or downloading the following:

@book{T103006,
  title 	 = {The Triads of Ireland},
  editor 	 = {Kuno Meyer},
  edition 	 = {1},
  note 	 = {xv + 35 pp., v–xv Introduction, 1–35 Text and Translation, 36–43 Glosses and Notes, 45–46 Index Locorum, 46 Index Nominum, 47–54 Glossary.},
  publisher 	 = {Hodges Figgis \& Co.},
  address 	 = {London},
  date 	 = {1906},
  UNKNOWN 	 = {seriesStmt}
}
 T103006.bib

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Encoding description

Project description: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts

Sampling declarations

The present text represents Meyer's Introduction and pages 3–35 of the edited text; corrigenda are integrated.

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Correction: Text has been checked and proofread twice. All corrections, including some by Kuno Meyer and supplied text, are tagged.

Normalization: The electronic text represents the printed text. The editor's corrigenda have been integrated. Expansions shown in italics in the hardcopy have been marked. The editor gives variants from Stowe Collection 23 N 7 MS in his preface. These are integrated into the apparatus.

Hyphenation: When a hyphenated word (hard or soft) crosses a line break, the break is marked after the completion of the hyphenated word. There are no instances of hyphenated words crossing a page break.

Interpretation: Names of persons (given names), places and group names are not tagged. Direct speech is rendered q; except where it cannot be nested within or outside the apparatus; then it is rendered '.

Reference declaration

A canonical reference to a location in this text should be made using “Section”, eg Section .

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Profile description

Creation: Translation by Kuno Meyer.

Date: 1906

Language usage

• The text and Introduction are in English. (en)
• Some words are in Irish. (ga)
• Some abbreviations and citations are in Latin. (la)
• One term is in Greek. (gk)
• One sentence is in German. (de)

Keywords: gnomic; prose; medieval; translation

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Revision description

(Most recent first)

1. 2011-02-26: More bibliographic references added. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
2. 2011-02-05: Bibliographical details added; new wordcount made. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
3. 2011-01-27: Meyer's Introduction converted to XML; proofed; structural and content markup applied; integrated into file for third draft of CELT edition; file re-parsed. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
4. 2011-01-21: More proofing; footnotes renumbered; header modified. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
5. 2008-10-22: Keywords added, file validated. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
6. 2008-07-23: Minor editorial changes to file header made; XML file reparsed. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
7. 2007-09-06: File parsed, header modified; SGML and HTML versions created. (ed. Beatrix Färber)
8. 2007-07-18: Header created. (ed. Emer Purcell)
9. 2007-07-01: File proofed (2); structural markup added. (ed. Emer Purcell)
10. 2007-05-18: File proofed (1); some structural markup added. (ed. Benjamin Hazard)
11. 2007-05-18: Text scanned. (data capture Benjamin Hazard)