The Triads of Ireland-

Kuno Meyer's Complete Set

Our Favorites

Three worst smiles-the smile of a wave, the smile of a loose woman, the grin of a dog ready to leap.

The Three wealths of fortunate people-a ready conveyance,  ale without a habitation,  a safeguard upon the road

Three sons whom chastity bears to wisdom-valour, generosity laughter.

Three entertainers of a gathering-a jester , a juggler,  a lap-dog.

Three things best for a chief-justice peace and an army.

Three worst things for a chief-sloth treachery,  evil counsel.

The three things that ruin wisdom-ignornace, inaccurate knowledge, forgetfulness.

Three nurses of dignity-a fine figure a good memory, piety.

Three nurses of high spirits-pride, wooing, drunkenness.

Three dark things of the world-giving a thing into keeping, guaranteeing, fostering.

Three that are most difficult to talk to-a king about his booty, a Viking in his hauberk, a boor who's under patronage.

Three whose spirits are highest-a young scholar after having read his psalms, a youngster who has put on mans attire,  a maiden who has been made a woman.

Three wealths in barren places-a well in a mountain, fire out of a stone,  wealth in the possession of a hard man.

Three renovators of the world-the woman of a woman, a cows udder, a smiths moulding block.

Three concealments upon which forfeiture does not close-a wifes dowry, the food of a married couple a boys foster fee.

Three contracts that are reversed by the decision of a judge-the contracts of a woman, of a son, of a cotter.

Three that are incapable of special contracts-a son whose father is alive, a betrothed woman, the serf of a chief.

Three sons that do not share inheritance-a son begotten in a brake, the son of a slave, the son of a girl still wearing tresses.

Three chains by which evil propensity is bound-a covenant, a monastic rule, law.

The rocks to which lawful behavior is tied: A monastery, a chieftain, the family.

Three candles that illumine every darkness-truth, nature, knowledge.

Three things that constitute a king-A contract with other kings, the feast of Tara, abundance during his reign.

Three locks that lock up secrets-shame silence, closeness/

Three keys that unlock thoughts: drunkenness, trustfulness, love.

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

Three youthful sisters-desire, beauty, generosity.

Three aged sisters-Groaning, chastity, ugliness

Three well-bred sisters-constancy, well-spokenness, kindliness

Three Ill-bred sisters-fierceness, lustfulness, obduracy

Three sisters of good fortune-good breeding, liberality, mirth

Three sisters of good repute-dilligence, prudence, bountifulness

Three sisters of ill-repute-intertness, grudging, closefistedness

Three angry sisters-blasphemy, strife, foulmouthedness

Three irreverent sisters-usefulness, an easy bearing , firmness

Three reverent sisters-usefulness, an easy bearing, firmness.

Three causes that do not die with neglect-the causes of an imbecile, and of oppression,  and of ignorance

Three bloodsheds that need not be impunged-the bloodshed of battle, of jealousy, of mediating

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

Three that are not entitled to exemption-restoring a son,  the tools of an artificer, hostageship

Three deposits that need not be returned-the deposits of an imbecile, and of a high dignitary, and a fixed deposit

Three dead ones that are paid for with living things-an apple-tree, a hazel bush, a sacred grove.

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

Three that are not entitled to u\renunciation of authority-a son and his father,  a wife and her husband,  a serf and his lord.

Thre 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

Three on whom acknowledgement does not fall in its time-death, ignorance, carelessnes.

Three maidens that bring hatred upon misfortune-talking, laziness, insincerity

Three maidens that bring love to good fortune-silence, diligence, sincerity.

Three hateful things in speech-stiffness, obscurity, a bad delivery.

Three Steadinesses of good womanhood-keeping a steady tongue, a steady chastity and a steady housewifery.

Three strayings of bad womanhood -letting her tongue and her housewifery go astray.

Three excellences of dress-elegance, comfort,  lastingness

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

To return to the top click here

Kuno Meyer's Triads of Ireland

Kuno Meyer, The Triads of Ireland: [introduction, text and translation, glossary and notes,. Hodges, Figgis, & co., ltd., 1906.

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 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.s

10. The Purity of Ireland—Scattery Island.

11. The Abbey-church of Ireland—Glendalough.

12. The Jurisprudence of Ireland—Cloyne.

13. The House of Wagess of 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 of Ireland—Roscommon.

25. The Welcome of Ireland—Raphoe or Druinlane.

26. The Charity of Ireland— Downpatrick.

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).i

31. The Chastity of Ireland—Lynally.

32. The three places of Ireland to alight at: Deny, Taghmon,

Kilmainham.

33. The three rent-paying places of Ireland: Clonard, Glenda-

lough, Louth.

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, Cathir

Conree.

37. The three mountains of Ireland: Slieve Qua,s Slieve Mis,

Slieve Cualann.

38. The three heights of Ireland: Croagh Patrick, Ae Chualann,e

Benn Boirche.e

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.

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 Mor (Great Wood)

in Coolney, Fid Deicsen (Spy-wood) in Tuirtri, the Wood of Moher in Connaught.

44. The three unlucky places of Ireland: the abbotship of

Bangor, the abbotship of Lynally, the kingship of Mug- dorn Maigen.

45. The three evil ones of Ireland : the Crecraige,i the Glasraige,

the Benntraige.

46. The three comfortable places of Ireland : the abbotship of

Lusk, the kingship of the three Cualu,s the vice-abbotship of Armagh.

47. The three strands of Ireland: the strand of Boss Airgit,4 the

strand of Boss Teiti, the strand of Baile.

48. The three fords of Ireland : Ath Cliath (Hurdle-ford), Athlone

(the Ford of Luan), Ath Caille (Wood-ford).e

49. The three highroads of Ireland: Slige Dala,' Sligo Asail,

Slige Luachra.

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.9

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,ie

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,ii the Well of TJaran Garaid.

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

Beare.

59. The three estuaries of Ireland : InvernamBarc, Inver Feile,is

Inver Tuaige.

60. The three conspicuous places of Ireland : Cuchulinn's Leap,ie

Dunquinn, Sruve Brain.

61. The three familiar places' of Ireland : Tralee, Logher, the

Fews.

62. Three wonders concerning the Tain B6 Cuailnge: that the

cuilmen came to Ireland in its stead; the dead relating it to the living, viz. Fergus mac Roig reciting it to Ninnine the poet in the time of Cormac mac Faelain; 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, 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.

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.

74. Three holidays of a landless man: visiting in the house of a

blacksmith, visiting in the house of a carpenter, huying 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,

visiting.

80. Three things for which an enemy is loved: wealth, beauty,

worth.4

81. Three things for which a friend is hated : trespassing, keeping

aloof, 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,

mocking7 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, tune on

the harp, shaving a face.

90. Three ungentlemanly things: interrupting stories, a mis

chievous 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 wifei on you after another man has been with her,2 the grin of a hound ready to leap at you.*

92. Three deaths that are better than life : the death of a salmon,

the death of a fat pig, the death of a robber.

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.

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.

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'

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 of you.

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 dark

ness of mist, the darkness of night, the darkness of a wood.

101. Three props of obstinacy9 : pledging oneself, contending,

wrangling.

102. Three characteristics of obstinacy : long visits, staring,

constant questioning.

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 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.

106. Three places of Ireland to make you start: Tulach na n-Escop,s

Achad Deo, Duma mBuirig.

107. Three wonders of Ireland: the grave of the dwarf, the grave

of Trawohelly, an echo near.'

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 (?), praise after reward.

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.

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.i

121. Three things that constitute an artificer: weaving chains, a

mosaic ball, 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.

123. Three things that constitute a poet: 'knowledge that

illumines,' ' teinm laeda,' 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 run

ning (?), the caldron goriath? the caldron of guests.

128. Three tokens of a blessed site: a bell, psulm-singing, a

synod (of elders).

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

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

131. Three qualities2 that bespeak good fortune : self-importance,

. . . , self-will.

1 32. Three qualities2 that bespeak misfortune : weariness, (premature) old age, reproachfulness.

133. Two sisters : weariness and wretchedness.

134. Two brothers : prosperity and husbandry.

135. Three unlucky . . . : guaranteeing, mediating, witness

ing. The witness has to swear to his evidence, the guarantor has to pay for his security, the mediator gets a blow on his head.

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

140. Three black husbandries: thatching with stolen things,

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, . . . ,

mockery (?).

143. Three sons whom generosity bears to patience : . . . , blush

ing, shame.

144. Three sons whom churlishness bears to impatience: tremb

ling, 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.

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 docs 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: 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, 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 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, and of a high dignitary, and a fixed deposit.

158. Three dead ones that are paid for with living things: an

apple-tree, a hazle-bush, a sacred grove.

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.

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

asportation.

164. Three wages that labourers share: the wages of a caldron,i

the wages of a mill, the wages of a house.

165. Three oaths that do not require fulfilment2: 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 . . .s

170. Three things that .... salt-meat, butter, iron

171. Three signs that . . . 4 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 . . .4

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.

179. Three hateful things in speech : stiffness, obscurity, a bad

delivery.

180. Three steadinesses of good womanhood: keeping a steady

tongue, a stcady chastity, and a steady housewifery.

181. Three strayings of bad womanhood : letting her tongue, 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 : . . .,s 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.

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.

195. Three things that make a wise man foolish: quarrelling,

anger, drunkenness.

196. Three things that show every good man : a special gift,e

valour, piety.

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

cowardice.

198. Three tllings that set waifs a-wandering: persecution, loss,

poverty.

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,i

a chieftain, the family.

201. Three candles that illumine every darkness: truth, nature,

knowledge.

202. Three things that constitute a king: a contract with (other)

kings, the feast of Tara, abundance during his reign.

203. 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, bountif ulness.

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.

i

219. Three pottages of guarantorship: wer-geld or a debtor's . . .

or non-possession (?)'

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 be given with (?) his fellow.

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.

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

228. Three that are worst in a house: boys, women, lewdness.e

229. Three signs of boorishness: strife, and contention, and mistaking

a person for another (?)e

230. Various kinds of mercenaries : . . .'

231. Various kinds of dispensers : . . .'

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, 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: 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 s 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  by a peasant
who was kiln-drying. Whence Finn said:
" 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 Dile 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.

237. Three wonders of Connaught: the grave of Eothailei 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 he 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.

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 know

ledge, 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. 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.

249. Three darke things of the world: giving a thing into keeping,

guaranteeing, fostering.

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' 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 elementsi 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.

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,s of a privileged poet.

256. Three debts which must not be neglected :4 debts of land,

payment of a field, instruction (?) of poetry.

To return to the top click here