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Notes
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lear: the sea. The Celtic sea-god was Manannan mac
Lir. One,of the “three sorrowful tales” is that
of Clann Lir. Hence Lear of Shakespeare.
Page 83.
leigear fhaicinn: supply a, “ its ” ; “let its seeing be
allowed,” “ let it be seen ” ; 3 sing, imperat. pass.;
O.Ir. leicther.
'na ghlag-jjaiseanaidh : “ in a dead faint.”
Page 81/..
leig thu fhaicinn-. supply a, “its,” with prospective
reference to gu rohh, &c.
thomhais e leum: ‘ ‘ the feat described here is perhaps
the one still practised by Highland schoolboys in
climbing a tree: standing on tip-toe, they touch a
certain branch with the end of their caman, and
then spring up to get a grip of the place so marked
out. It is called a’ tomhas leuma.”...0.R., III.,
357.
Page 85.
seach gu’n iarradh iad i: “ seeing that they would look
for her ” ; seach iad ’g a h-iarraidh, “ rather than
that they should look for her.”
Page 86.
mar a bha: “to wit,” introduces the details of the
description.
cbtan caomh cotain: Ir. cotun means “a wadded or
quilted tunic worn under the hauberk, originally
made of cotton.” There appears to be some con¬
fusion here between cotun in this sense and cotan,
a little coat. The original may have been a chotan
caomh cotud; cotud, hard, strong.
barrachaol: ‘ ‘ thin-edged ” ? In the heroic tales the
rims of the shields are described as razor-sharp.
urra sgithinn-. “ well tempered knife ”; “ sgithinn ” is
used as dat. and sometimes as gen. in Eigg; urr is
probably air, intensive.