Matheson Collection > Gleanings from Irish manuscripts

WHO WILL BUY MY POEM f
Fer nach umhal do nós Gall
Aodh mhac Seaáin^ is ard gnaoi
OS air do chuirios mo chrann
lé hadhmat ocht rann no naoi
Saorlennán scoile chláir Cuinn
Aodh mhac Seaáin^ nár thuill? béim
mo naoi roinn chuige da ttriall
lentar lé coin a fiadh séin
Acht ua Remuinn t^uillios bladh
ni haithnidh dam thoir na thiar^
neach lé cennach mo naoi rann
ma ta ann9 ni fhedar cia.
C.I.A.
[Translation,']
SEAAN* SON OF RUAIDHRI O HUIGINN CECINIT
Who buyeth a piece of nine verses,
Even though he get the purchase thereof?
To the men of Leinster, though high their repute,
I know that is a difficult question.
The answer the O Byrnes make us is :
** Let not verses, eight or nine, be heard ;
Until the Sasanachs have retired oversea
We shall pay for neither poem nor lay."
16. Seuin. 7, thuil. 8. thiair. 9. ni ann.
*In the literary language this word for "John" is always
dissyllabic, but the scribes frequently shorten it to suit the
current pronunciation of their time and ours. See, for example,
stanzas 7 and 8 in the poem, where in each case the writing
makes the lines one syllable short. The earliest spelling is
Seoan. The name, of course, was derived from Norman-French.