Matheson Collection > Feis Tighe Chonain

67
1335 The story of how F. acquired his " thumb of knowledge "
while cooking the salmon is told in the Macg. Finn ; c/. the
story of Sigurd in the Volsunga Saga. Another account
given in RC xiv 245 offers a parallel to the present tale.
1372 teaghais the reading of the MS. may = teaghdhais " house,
dwelling" ; but that sense is hardly satisfactory & I have
ventured on an emendation. Segais (f., gen. Segsa) was the
\ source of the Boyne on Carbery Hill, Co. Kildare ; see MDinds.
iii 26. 9, 286. 21, 288. 25, ZCP iii 242 §41. As the Boyne
was connected with inspiration, the word is here used of
wisdom or occult knowledge.
1382 headha may be pi. of eadh (O. Ir. ed, mod. feadh) = a space
or interval of time ; the pi. is unusual, but exx. occur in
early literature (see R.I. A. Irish Diet. s.v. 2 ed.). If so,
the meaning would be " the periods of age (life) in which
you are not afraid of death till they are spent " (though this
sense is hardly satisfactory in some of the " eadha " given
below). The readings hágha, hathadh[a\ of the other MSS. give
the same sense (see Dinneen s.v. aga & atha) ; but the scribes
evidently misunderstood the word & altered it to éag " death "
in all follg. instances.
1448 cochall (<Lat. cucullus) " hood, cowl," also " pod, husk " ;
the fig. use persists in the phrase " i gcochall mo chroidhe "
(see Dinneen s. v.). C/. the Eng. " cockles of the heart "
(where however the word cockle prob. means " shell " > Lat.
conchylium).
1483-97 These three " eadha " are omitted in MKFNL. For
Bláthnat cf. Bla inghen Déirc Dhianscothaig, Acall. 51
(the mother of Oisin, who dwelt in Sidh Ochta Cleitigh) ;
Derg D. is mentioned again ib. 1569.
1498 For the pig of Slángha cf. Acall. 2235-2305 (where O'Gradv
translates " prophylactic pig," Silva Gad. ii 158) & LU 3214,
where it is said to have been the cause of enmity between
Finn & Goll m. Mórna. Slanga may be a place-name ;
the V. I. Sláinge = Slane in ^Nleath.
1515 " Until the bl ackbi rd beats (outstrips) me or until I come
to my life's end " (reading rom sáruighe). Saegal " life,"
oft.=" term of life, death " ; cf. m'anacal on 15 tiucfus mo
s[h]aeghal ZCP vii 302. 29 ; Anecd. i 39 § 113.
1527 The name of the pig is not given in MKFNL, in which it
is called a tore " boar."
1536 There was a place called Midbolg in Co. Fermanagh, but
the locality here is evidently in southern Ireland. Coir
Comhraidh [cf. 97) is certainly a mistake ; leg. Corcomruadh
(Corcomroe, Co. Clare) ? The v. I. Corca Mór = Cork.
1640 For Finnbar see Acall. 51 17. Meadh Siuil was somewhere
on the western boundary of Co. Tipperary near Clare.
1704 " He himself would not by his prophecy put him (Finn)
through his vows" i.e. keep him from fulfilling them.
1 719 fé fia, also feth fiadha [fiad, fia), a spell which rendered
those under it invisible ; cf. dichealtar .i. fé fiadha no duaith-
niughadh, oir ceilidh an té ar a mbi, O'Clery ; for the dichel-