Matheson Collection > Gaelic songs of Mary MacLeod

140 NOTES
" Mu mhàthair fhuasglaidh nan ceistean "; and Pol Crubach's
lorram na Truaighe:
" Ceann reite gach facail
Gus an uair an deach stad air do chainnt."
1 130. These lines are difficult, especially in view of the
tense of bheir. " Many a stranger, many a guest and man of
song, will for a space be ready to part with wealth (lit. crowns),
for his guidance and his acquaintance." — BGh.
1 148. Olghar: see note to 1. 791.
1 155. SÌ0I Cholla: the Clan Donald. " Is follus fos gurab
re linn Mhuireadhaigh Tirigh do chuadar na tri Cholla go n-a
mbraithribh 6 Chonnachtaibh do dheanamh gabhaltais ar
Ulltaibh, gur bheanadar roinn mhor do Chuigeadh Uladh
dhiobh ar eigin, mar ata Modhairn Ui mac Uais is Ui
Chriomhthainn go bhfuilid drong mhor dhiobh da haitiugh-
adh aniu, mar ata Raghnall mac Samhairle larla Antruim
no nAondroma 6 Cholla Uais; &c:" "It is also well known
that it was in the time of Muireadhach Tireach {d. a.d. 335)
that the three CoUas with their kinsmen left Connaught to
win conquests from the Ultonians, and wrested by force
from them a large portion of the province of Ulster, namely
Modhairn, Ui Mac Uais and Ui Chriomhthainn; and many
of their descendants hold possession of these to-day, as Raghnall
son of Samhairle, Earl of Antrim, or Aondrom, descended from
CollaUais; &c." (Keating, ed. Dinneen, Vol. II, p. 100). CoUa
Uais, the most famous of the three, was the alleged progenitor
of the Clan Donald (see note on 1. 955); and the reference
here is to Sir Norman's mother, Isabel daughter of Donald
MacDonald of Glen Garry. Mary MacLeod's knowledge of
tradition is notable. Further information about the three
CoUas is given in the Book of Clan Ranald (RC. II, 151 ff., given
also in Celt. Scot. Ill, appendix i, in translation); for the clans
supposed to be descended from Colla Uais, see Celt. Scot, index.
1 167. Inghean Sheumais nan crùn: Catherine, eldest
daughter of Sir James MacDonald IX of Sleat (Seumas Mor),
married Sir Norman as his second wife in 1666. Her sister
Florence was wife of Iain Breac of Harris and Dunvegan.
" Nan crùn " holds the same idea as is more fully expressed
in 1. 1209.