Matheson Collection > Early Irish reader

ADDITIONAL NOTE ON MS. EDINBURGH XXXVI.
It has been mentioned in the Introduction (cf. pp. 2 ff. above) that mss.
LL., Harl. 5280, H. 3. 18 and Rawl. B. 512 offer substantially identical
versions of our saga. With the exception of a single passage in Rawl. B.
512, ch. 18, which indicates a variant tradition, the differences in narrative
between these MS. versions are merely verbal. Rawl. B. 512 however offers
some variation in the poems quoted, and in the order of the contests
(chs. 9 — 15). The Edinburgh text of the Saga, on the other hand (ms. Edin-
burgh xxxvi) shows much wider divergence from the other versions than
do any of these from one another. These differences may be briefly summed
up as (1) verbal, (2) differences in narrative, (3) differences in the poems
quoted.
As examples of (1) we may refer to the passage (ch. 15) in which the
description of Conchobar's joy on seeing'Conall Cernach entering is described
as follows: Is ansin do cuir Conqbar a chathbarra cuana clochorrdha
caomhbhuadhach da chen. Do chuir fiorchaon failte fria Conall Cerrnach.
The cepóc demanded by Ferloga in the Irish versions (ch. 19) is referred
to in Ed. xxxvi as a cepog and a duthchan.
The arrival of the rival cavalcades from Ulster and Connaught (ch. 5)
is pictured slightly differently. Do riachtadur an da choigeadh is /err bhadur
an Eirinn go rabatur an dorus bruighne Mic Da Shogh. Tuirling an
marctshluagh ar gach taobh don bruighin and ba furachur frigach a ccoimhed
ar a cheile etc.
The hero is generally called Mac Da Shogh. Bricriu's name (ch. 6) is
given as Breiein mac Cairbre Chinnleith, and in ch. 7, Senlaech Arad of
LL. appears as sen laoch anihra o Cruachan Conacht anoir; Cruachnni...
Conalad as Cruinne mac Cruaithlinn Connacht; In Loth mar as Iarloit (cf.
Rawl.) ; Mac Dathó's offer to the Ulster messengers is somewhat expanded
(ch. 4) and Conall's division of the pig is described (ch. 17) with slightly
variant details.
(2) More significant than verbal details are (2) the expansions and omis-
sions in the incidents of the narrative. Again to quote a few examples only :
After the offers of the Connaught and Ulster messengers have been
received by Mac Dathó (ch. 2), the former add a further speech in Ed.
xxxvi, summing up the situation as it appears to them. ' Dar ar briatribh,'
ar techta Conacht, i budorcha ce & cabhan é bá bronach tuaith & taoisigh &
treabhadh coigidh Laigen uile da dhdtadh Medb & Oillil fan ccoin.'
A prose dialogue is quoted between Conall Cernach and Cet Mac Matach
(ch. 15) before the dialogue poem. It no doubt takes the place of the brief
altercation between them which in LL. etc. occurs at the beginning of
ch. 16, but in the Edinburgh text it is fuller.