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The Exile of Conall Corc

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Vernam Hull
Vernam Hull*
Affiliation:
New York University
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Extract

The account of Conall Corc's exile from Ireland to Scotland and of his adventures in that country until his return home to become, eventually, king of Munster about 400 a.d. is here edited for the first time from the Book of Leinster. Unfortunately, the loss of one or more folios of the MS at this point renders the text acephalous so that the surviving portion commences abruptly in the middle of a sentence with his departure by sea from Dublin. As the title has also not been preserved, this fragment is arbitrarily called Longes Chonaill Chuirc, “The Exile of Conall Corc” for purposes of convenient reference. But what the actual heading in the MS was, will never be ascertainable, unless a happy chance leads to the discovery of the missing leaf or leaves.

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , December 1941 , pp. 937 - 950
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1941

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References

1 For his pedigree, see J. Mac Neill, “Early Irish Population-Groups: Their Nomenclature, Classification, and Chronology,” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (1911), p. 84.

2 Punctuation and the use of capitals are made to accord with modern practice, and contractions in the MS are, in general, resolved without being italicized, unless doubt exists regarding the right expansion. Whenever the reading of the facsimile edition differs from that of the MS, the former is also given in the critical apparatus and is indicated by the abbreviation “Facs.”; cf. V. Hull, “A Collation of Two Tales in the Book of Leinster,” Zeitschr. f. Celt. Philol., xix, 162. In the notes to the translation, emendations of many of the scribal errors are proposed, but certain passages in the rhetoric, the rendering of which should incidentally be regarded as purely tentative, are so corrupt that no correction has been attempted. To Professors R. Thurneysen, Fred N. Robinson, and John R. Reinhard the author gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness for numerous valuable suggestions in preparing the present edition.

3 The text begins on folio 206 recto, col. a, l. 1 and continues to l. 15, col. a of the verso. In the facsimile of the Book of Leinster, ed. R. Atkinson, Dublin, 1880, pages 287 and 288 correspond to folio 206 of the MS. In his Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History (Dublin, 1861), p. 469, Eugene O'Curry gives a brief summary of an incident in the Longes Chonaill Chuirc.

4 Apparently no reference is made to him in the annalistic literature, because as he was only king of Munster, he probably was not considered important enough to be classed with the monarchs of Ireland.

5 Ed. K. Meyer, Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts, iii, 57 f.

6 Ed. D. Comyn and P. S. Dinneen, i, 122, 124, 208; ii, 230, 368–386; iii, 30, 32.

7 Ed. W. Stokes, Irische Texte, iii, 310, § 54.

8 Ed. V. Hull, Zeitschr. f. Celt. Philol., xviii, 420 f.

9 Ed. J. O'Donovan, p. 28 f.

10 Cf. T. K. Abbott and E. J. Gwynn, Catalogue of the Irish Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, pp. 134, 358. In his Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History, p. 485, n. 40, Eugene O'Curry briefly summarizes this account.

11 Ed. L. McKenna, Iomarbhágh Na Bhfileadh: The Contention of the Bards, i, 2–10.

12 Ed. E. O'Curry, Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History, p. 491. In A Primer of Irish Metrics, p. 37, Kuno Meyer, however, calls him Dubthach Moccu Lugair which is probably the older form of his name.

13 Cf. the Book of Leinster, p. 145, col. a. l. 32 f.

14 Conall Corc is also apparently mentioned in the genealogies of the Book of Leinster which begin on p. 311.

15 For Bolc, the spelling Bolce likewise occurs.

16 The versions vary whether it is Lugaid or Crimthan who became envious at him.

17 Ed. K. Meyer, Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts, iv, 56 § 688.

18 In the Milan Glosses, which were written about the middle of the ninth century, the future 2nd sg. folnaibe occurs; cf. W. Stokes and J. Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, i, 22. But in the rhetoric, folnaibthir still has the old deponential ending.

19 The scribes, however, often misunderstood the infixed pronouns and, therefore, in part corrupted them.

1 In the margin of the MS there is an r which indicates that what follows is intended to be a rhetoric.

2 Frit, Facs.

3 Tati, Facs.

4 Over the g there is an unresolved stroke of suspension. The five minims after this letter are also ambiguous, except that the last one seems definitely to be an i.

5 The second d is written above an r which has been crossed out.

6 Dé, Facs. The MS, however, clearly has a second d which is suprascript.

7 Approximately six letters are here illegible in the MS.

8 Cen, Facs.

9 Corc, Facs.

10 Æd, Facs.

11 Hat, Facs. The u is uncertain, but the d is perfectly legible at the end of the line in the MS.

12 About five letters can no longer be decyphered in the codex.

13 The context suggests that “he came to” or something similar be supplied before “Dublin.”

14 Literally: “over it,” namely, the sea which separates Ireland from Scotland. For other instances of this idiom, see E. Windisch, Irische Texte, I, 73; K. Meyer, “Conall Corc and the Corco Luigde,” Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts, iii, 58, 59; V. Hull, “Conall Corc and the Kingdom of Cashel,” Zeitschr. f. Celt. Philol., xviii, 420.

15 Literally: “They let [him] from them.”

16 Literally: “It poured great snow on him.”

17 Literally: “six canonical hours to him”; hence, “the time required for the recurrence of the same canonical hour six times, that is to say, five days.” Later, however, this expression could also mean “six days”; cf. H. Pedersen, “Ciped dosnecmad,” Revue Celtique, XLVI, 115 f.

18 Literally: “and he dying.” For marb in the sense of “dying,” see K. Meyer, “Der irische Totengott und die Toteninsel,” Sitzungsb. d. Preuss. Akad. d. Wissensch. (1919), p. 545, n. 3.

19 Literally: “the.”

20 For this construction, compare M. Dillon, “Nominal Predicates in Irish,” Zeitschr. f. Celt. Philol., xvii, 309 f.

21 Literally: “It has done frost.”

22 Literally: “will not be unable.” For remset, read r[f]emsel, the ro- fut. 3rd pl. of foémid, “is unable.”

23 Literally: “is done.”

24 Probably coromberb should be emended to coramberb, “so that it cooked him.”

25 Literally: “He arises.”

26 Literally: “that which he said.” But a n- might also be construed as the conjunction a meaning “while.” For the same idiom see M. E. Byrne and M. Dillon, Táin Bó Fraích, p. 16, § 6.

27 For thuic, read thuc, which contrary to the normal word order in prose is preceded by the object cach tîr.

28 The exact interpretation of this sentence remains uncertain. In poetry, sál often signifies “sea,” though the primary sense seems to be “salt” or “brine.” In this rhetoric it may, however, be employed as a kenning for the snow.

29 Note the affixed pron. 2nd sg. -ot (rectius -ut) in medarsot, the pret. 3rd sg. of medraid, “intoxicates, perturbs.”

30 Balb, which usually is rendered by “dumb” or “stammering,” may also modify sluaged, but the meaning of the whole sentence is not clear. If some form of incantation is not intended, perhaps allusion is made to a snowstorm lasting for nine hours, the violence of which prevented Corc from speaking. In that case, the “silent troops” may be the snow-flakes. That, however, is a mere conjecture.

31 If gal is here sound, it must be construed as gen. pl.

32 The aspiration of the initial consonant of thromm can hardly be correct, unless gair is made the subject of gabsait, the final t of which would then be the affixed pron. 2nd sg.

33 Literally: “a threeness of three hours,” where thri-uair is gen. sg., preceding trede which governs it.

34 Literally: “so that you did not find a word.” For fofuair, read fofuar.

35 In ordinary prose, one expects diandomrothcaither, “to which I may have been destined.” Tucthar, at all events, should be tocthar, the pres. subj. pass. sg. of tocid; cf. H. Lewis and H. Pedersen, A Concise Comparative Celtic Grammar, p. 401. If in this collocation, however, dia is intended to be the word meaning “God,” then rodom dia tucthar might possibly signify “which may have been destined to me by God,” but that is very uncertain.

36 Tarrassais is apparently a mistake for tarrassar.

37 The literal meaning of tí seems to be “mantle” or “cloak”; cf. E. Windisch, Irische Texte, i, 820 s.v. 3. tí.

38 The translation assumes that the text originally read lathar cuil combtar colc-cend frit brath ˘etha, where bretha has the conjunct form, because it is placed at the end of the clause; cf. O. Bergin, “On the Syntax of the Verb in Old Irish,” Êriu, xii, 197 f. The uncertainty of these emendations, however, renders the interpretation of the foregoing words very questionable.

39 Cannoe is perhaps intended for cen noí, “without a ship,” though noe might also be gen. sg. so that clâr cen noe could signify “without a ship's plank.” Nad léit is, however, completely obscure, unless léit[h] is the gen. sg. of líath, “gray” modifying Lugthiach. But that still leaves nad unexplained, which may possibly here be the negative of the copula.

40 He was Conall Corc's father; cf. W. Stokes, “Cóir Anmann,” Irische Texte, iii, 310, §54.

41 Airmet is apparently the pret. pass. sg. of armuinethar followed by the simple dative miad.

42 The meanings of several words in this untranslated passage, such as sceo, “and,” án, “splendid,” and dag-, “good” are well established, but others, as, for example, dítdiech and táti dé, for which perhaps read Túatha Dé (Danann), are too corrupt to make even a tentative rendering feasible.

43 Naill is the voc. sg. of noll, nall which is usually glossed by mór, adbal, or úasal, but the precise sense has not been definitely determined; cf. Hessens Irisches Lexikon, ii, 154.

44 Immalluritar carnd gáir is badly miswritten for immacuritar guirnd gáir, as is seen by the occurrence of the same phrase in the Sanas Cormaic, ed. K. Meyer, p. 56, §688, where it is also attributed to Gruibne: immicuirithar (imocuirter, U.M.) gurna (guirnn, U. M.) gair. In O'Davoren‘s Glossary, ed. W. Stokes, Archiv für Celtische Lexikographie, ii, 377, §1036, this passage is likewise quoted, but the MS tradition is somewhat different: imangeiniter guirn, “about whom firebrands come into existence.” O'Davoren‘s source may have been “An Old-Irish Tract on the Privileges and Responsibilities of Poets,” ed. E. J. Gwynn, Ériu, XIII, 21: Ar niįdhnaig nach codhnach a chrobh i ngrís imangenither (rectius imangeniter) guirn, which might be rendered: “For no sane person delivers up his hand into embers about which firebrands come into existence.” In both O'Davoren and the Sanas Cormaic, gorn (guirn) is glossed by aithinde (aithinne), “firebrand,” but O'Davoren adds teine, “fire” as another meaning, which suggests that this word may be cognate with Latin furnus; cf. R. Thurneysen, “Keltisches,” Indogermanische Forschungen, xlii, 147. In his Irish Glossary, ed. A. W. K. Miller, Revue Celtique, vi, 5, O'Clery apparently then combined both interpretations, for he explains gorn by aithinne teneadh, “a torch of fire.” Whether, therefore, gorn originally signified “firebrand” or “fire” is not certain, but, at all events, the allusion here is to the crackling sound made by the burning wood around Corc's frozen body.

45 Umdiaig is corrupt for imdiig from imb-di-fich-.

46 Comb is an obvious error for comba.

47 Folnaibthir should be corrected to folnaibther.

48 Dedais is the fut. 2nd sg. of dingid; cf. H. Pedersen, Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen, ii, 505.

49 This sentence, as Professor Fred N. Robinson suggests, may allude to the often expressed belief that a successful reign is accompanied by clement weather and bountiful crops.

50 Giallo should be emended to gialla. In ordinary prose, the object would normally follow the verb, but in Irish rhetorics such inversions are not unusual.

51 Read comba.

52 Locha Lein is the gen. sg. of Loch Léin, which is the Irish name for the lakes of Killarney.

53 Ol is a bad spelling for oll.

54 Note the use of the gen. tuathe after the conj. sceo; cf. R. Thurneysen, “Zur Keltischen Literatur und Grammatik,” Zeitschr. f. Celt. Philol. xii, 284 f.

55 By “the race of Oengus” the Irish inhabitants of Scotland are meant, for Oengus was the brother and successor of Fergus Mór who first conquered that country. In “Mittelirische Verslehren,” ed. R. Thurneysen, Irische Texte, iii, 33, §7, Oengus is mentioned as king of Scotland in a quatrain which is also ascribed to Gruibne. To him another phrase which he used to Corc is likewise attributed in the Sanas Cormaic, ed. K. Meyer, p. 49, §598, but it is at present impossible to determine whether this phrase once formed part of the rhetoric or not.

56 See n. 37.

57 Since rhetorics often end with a prophecy regarding the conversion of Ireland to Christianity, the allusion here must be to St. Patrick and to his followers who are called “adze-heads” because of the peculiar shape of their tonsure. A comparison of this prophecy with the unabbreviated version in Bethu Phátraic, ed. K. Mulchrone, p. 22, shows that muirthrían is a scribal error either for muir trelhan or perhaps for muir-thríath, and that trolmaib crád needs to be emended to drolmaib crand, where drolmaib is the dat. pl of drolam. Usually, the singular ticfa tál-cend, “an adze-head will come,” referring to St. Patrick, is employed, but the plural also occurs in the Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore, ed. W. Stokes, p. 9.

58 Literally: “It happened.” But ecmaing is often used adverbially in the sense of “truly, indeed.”

59 In “Conall Corc and the Corco Luigde,” ed. K. Meyer, Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts, iii, 57, Corc by the payment of a certain number of cows redeemed Gruibne from the Leinstermen, whereupon Gruibne went to Scotland.

60 Literally: “Then he puts two hands around him.” Probably the scribe carelessly omitted a, “his” before da láim.

61 Gruibne's question is intended to be ironical. In “Conall Corc and the Corco Luigde,” ed. K. Meyer, Anecdota from Irish Manuscripts, iii, 58, instructions to kill Corc were conveyed to the king of the Picts by means of secret Ogham characters written on his shield, but when Gruibne found Corc, he altered these instructions so that instead of putting him to death, Feradach received Corc in a hospitable manner and even gave him his daughter in marriage. As Professor J. R. Reinhard has indicated to me, a somewhat analogous situation occurs in Saxo Grammaticus' account of the adventures of Amleth in the Gesta Danorum, ed. A. Holder, pp. 92, 102, but in both instances it is the instructions in a letter and not on a shield which are changed. For the motif of the substituted message with the frequent intent of destroying the victim, see Stith Thompson, Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, iv, 484, K 2117.

62 Nip is Middle Irish for Old Irish nipo.

63 Literally: “that it has instructed.”

64 Read notiasta.

65 Do chend dít means literally “your head from you.” The same idiom recurs in the ensuing sentence.

66 Both here and in the next line siu seems to be the later form of the conjunction re-síu and not the emphasizing pronoun of the 2nd sg. In Old Irish, however, re-síu is followed by the ro- subjunctive, whereas in this example the ro is missing. If, on the other hand, siu is construed as the emphasizing pronoun, then bad represents a bad spelling of the preposition fo which among other meanings also signifies “before.”

67 Literally: “It will not be thus that it will be.”

68 Read nambeir, “he bears him,” where a is the objective infixed pronoun.

69 The hurdle borne on the shoulders of eight men served as a stretcher for carrying Corc.

70 Literally: “(on) a month's day.”

71 In Old Irish one expects dia in place of da.

72 Fon-accaib should be fan-accaib. The a in fa means “him” and anticipates the object of the verb, namely, Corc.

73 Literally: “and he.”

74 Literally: “namely going to the seeking of his pigs.”

75 The exact translation of this figura etymologica is: “He said that it is a slaying that he has slain the man.”

76 For an n-ogum, the prototext probably had a n-ogum, since ogum was originally neuter.

77 Literally: “His slaying was repentant with him.”

78 Read dotriacht-so. The scribe has carelessly omitted the infixed pronoun of the 2nd sg. which is obviously required by the sense.

79 Literally: “your daughter to giving to him.”

80 If the translation is correct, one expects nech. As, however, Professor Fred N. Robinson suggests, nach may be the negative of the copula so that this sentence might be literally rendered: “It were indeed sad that it is not alive that you have brought him.” But that seems out of keeping with Feradach's previous statement and also with what follows, for Feradach is unwilling to give his daughter to Corc. Ba dirsan may, therefore, possibly be a scribal misunderstanding of ba dīr sōn, in which case the passage should be translated: “It were indeed fitting, namely, that it is not alive that you have brought him.”

81 Dorucais seems to represent an earlier dondn-ucais which in Middle Irish acquired its unhistorical r through confusion with rucais, the ro-pret. 2nd sg. of beirid.

82 Literally: “Gruibne binds his equal weight,” where “his” presumably refers to Feradach. Corc could not have had a better guarantee for his safety than the king's own pledge, for the nonfulfillment of which Feradach was in duty bound to pay a stipulated sum of silver.

83 Read dambert. The copyist continuously eliminates the infixes.

84 Fa is the beginning of another word, but the ensuing five or six letters are illegible in the MS.

85 Literally: “This was not a profit to him.”

86 Instead of a personal reciprocal construction, an impersonal one with the prep, do is more often employed; cf. M. A. O'Brien, “Varia,” Ériu, xii, 242 f.

87 Chóich is a mistake for Choirc or Chuirc, the predicate gen. of Corc.

88 Read rotríallsat.

89 Literally: “in the beginning.” Tossaig should be tossug.

90 Búis is a bad spelling for baís.

91 W. M. Hennessy, “The Battle of Cnucha,” Revue Celtique, ii, 92, n. 16, renders this phrase by “in violation of her compact,” but dar cenn usually signifies “on behalf of, for the sake of” and is also followed by the genitive so that aurnaidm ought to be aurnadma. Hence, dar cenn aurnaidm. may be a scribal misunderstanding of dia robo cen aurnaidm, “when it was without betrothal,” where dia robo represents the earlier uncontracted form of dar[b].

92 Both no˘eotha and dogníd are actually in the imperfect tense, but the reiterated action is already expressed by bés, “custom.” Under the title of “Burning at the Stake in Mediaeval Law and Literature,” Professor J. R. Reinhard has studied in Speculum, xvi, 186 f. the practice or alleged practice of burning women for adultery or fornication.

93 Brí seems a mistake for brig. The meaning of the whole sentence, however, remains obscure, since Breoa may be intended for Breotha, the gen. sg. of breoad, so that Mag mBreo[th]a might denote “the plain of burning.” But the supposed connection between Mag $mMBreo[th]a and Mag $mMBreg is not clear.

94 Literally: “until her son had been borne into.”

95 Fini-tés is a mistake for fini-bés which in collocation with fini-chruth and fine-guth is also found in the Ancient Laws of Ireland, v, 454, 458 in the commentary discussing the manner of determining the legitimacy of children.

96 Read dambéra, where the first a is the infixed objective pronoun.

97 Literally: “one was being to her burning.” Bath should be either roboth or bothe; cf. J. H. Lloyd, “The Impersonal Passive Forms of the Irish Substantive Verb,” Ériu, i, 49 f.

98 Read dambert-si.

99 Literally: “Is the boy with Corc?”

100 Read mac muini, the literal signification of which is “son of the brake.” For other instances of this idiom, see M. Joynt, Contributions to a Dictionary of the Irish Language, col. 189.

101 Namely Feradach.

102 Literally: “may have given him.” Condardda should be emended to condidtardda.

103 Literally: “Luck shall not be to you.” For nibo, read niba.

104 Maicc should be macc. For this legal maxim, see R. M. Smith, “The Cach Formulas in the Irish Laws,” Zeitschr. f. Celt. Philol., xx, 262.

105 Literally: “Let the son, therefore, be brought outside.”

106 Literally: “for.”

107 Literally: “Not is on men that youth.” Note that fil is followed by the accusative.

108 The c of chinaid should not be aspirated.

109 Dosressart should obviously be emended to dosressairt.

110 Ba may, however, be intended here to be the preterite of the copula used in a modal sense, namely, “it were (indeed).”

111 Literally: “if we should have been at its choosing.”

112 Presumably Feradach is meant, though Corc might also be the speaker of this sentence.

113 Both dognither and anaid in the next sentence are in the historical present tense.

114 Literally: “their being.”

115 Read tiagat.

116 The historical present tense is here again employed.

117 A plain situated apparently between Cashel and Clonmel; cf. E. Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 408 f.

118 The meaning is not certain, but compare K. Meyer, “The Laud Genealogies and Tribal Histories,” Zeitschr. f. Celt. Philol., viii, 313: “Tofuirmi trá ind áune for firu Heirenn.

119 Literally: “so that it brought them on wandering.”

120 For this place-name, see Hogan, op. cit., p. 275.

121 Bása is to be emended to baí a so that baí a athair-seom i llobrai would mean literally “his father was in weakness”; cf. W. Stokes and J. Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, i, 204, l. 26.

122 Literally: “It put them.”

123 Literally: “was at his pigs.”

124 Literally: “the ministering of angels up and down.” In Irish, verbal nouns are frequently employed instead of the corresponding finite forms of the verb in simple narration.

125 Literally: “from him will be.”

126 The illegible part of this sentence in the MS probably contained some such word. For is didiu, one expects is ed didiu, but the codex has no visible stroke of suspension over the s of is.

127 Literally: “it put.”

128 Literally: “on his wandering.” For do⇛lai-seom fora merugud, compare B. O'Looney, Tochmarc Bec-Fola, p. 176: dos⇛la for merugadh.

129 The verb is again in the historical present tense.

130 Literally: “against his hand.” The precise meaning of this idiom, however, requires further investigation. For other examples, see B. O'Looney, Tochmarc Bec-Fola, p. 174; K. Mulchrone, Betu Phátraic, I, 18; R. I. Best and O. Bergin, Lebor Na Huidre, p. 102.

131 Literally: “one was being at contending”; cf. J. H. Lloyd, “The Impersonal Passive Forms of the Irish Substantive Verb,” Êriu, I, 54.

132 If a particular place were mentioned, tánic would normally be employed in place of ranic.

133 Literally: “was made.”

134 Literally: “the full king.”

135 Literally: “first.”

136 Literally: “It was freed to them,” where “them” refers to the Muscraige.

137 Literally: “from them.”

138 Read fofuair, the literal translation of which would be “(whom) one found.”

139 Probably influenced by the preceding soerthi, the scribe carelessly wrote saírthi instead of saírsi.

140 Literally: “who calls.”

141 Literally: “and the garment of the king to him straightway.” This he obtains, of course, as a reward for his services.

142 Among other meanings, casel in Irish also signifies “a stone fort.”

143 Literally: “his progeny and his seed.” For femen, read semen.

144 Literally: “that is.”