Manuscript containing “Táin Bó Cuailnge” and other tales in Gaelic, written by Fear Feasa Ó Duibhgeannáin.
Scope and Contents
The manuscript was written by Fear Feasa Ó Duibhgeannáin, whose subscription, “Trocuire co bfagbha an tí do scriobh sin .i. Fer Fesa O Duibgennain / amen”, appears, with the name smudged, at folio 10 recto. The hand is the same as that of Royal Irish Academy 24.N.3, written by Fear Feasa Ó Duibhgeannáin in County Leitrim in 1666, and substantially the same as that of Trinity College Dublin 1394 (H.5.22), written by the same scribe in County Wexford in 1646.
Scribal marginalia are as follows. Folio 11 verso, “Fuicearlán, mac fice faice, ficoice fé faice faoi”. Folio 22 verso, ‘och uch ach, a Olivia is aoibhinn duit’, folio 24 recto, ‘oc ac och A Olivi is aoibhinn duit’. Folio 24 verso, ‘ofls⁊/ och ach oc a Olivia’ (‘Olivia’ smudged). Folio 29 recto, ‘och och A Olivia as aoibhinn duit’ (‘A Olivia’ smudged). Folio 33 recto “Misi Mag— Fulurán do scriobh so”, (smudged). At folio 14 verso, last line, the scribe writes “Sémus mac Endraigh scripsit” (slightly smudged), referring presumably to his exemplar. There is nothing to connect this Sémus with the writer of the words “Jacobus Cahan scripsit”, which appear in a late 17th-early 18th century Roman hand under the ornamental ‘FINIS’ at folio 13 verso. Ó Duibhgeannáin may have written these also; on the other hand minor embellishments in the scribal ink and style, following these words and appearing in addition at folio 19 recto, seem to form the letters ‘J.C’. Cahan may thus have been responsible for smudging the marginalia as detailed above as part of a feeble attempt to claim authorship of the manuscript for himself.
The Kintyre scribe Eoghan Mac Gilleoin (Hugh Maclean) copied the 3 tales from the manuscript into Trinity College Dublin 1362 (H.4.21) in 1691-1692, and "Táin Bó Cuailgne" and "Cath Rois na Riogh" into National Library of Scotland MS.14873 immediately after. He wrote his name at folio 14 recto, ‘o namhuid’ at folio 26 verso, and ‘comarle duit’ and ‘iaromh iaromh’ at folio 55. A further hand jotted down the poem on MacDonald of Largie in Kintyre at folio 54 verso, and additions of sums of money at folios 1 recto and 55. ‘John’ and a 3-digit number (?) are scrawled on folio 42 recto.
In 1809 the manuscript was described by John Campbell, Donald Mackintosh’s successor as Keeper of the Society’s manuscripts, as ‘A parcel of loose leaves written in the Hibernio Celtic character; wrapped in an old newspaper belonging to Mr Grant of Corimony’. (Adv.MS.73.2.14, number 88).
Eoghan Mac Gilleoin’s copies show that the loss to the text took place after 1691-1692. Traces of scribal foliation may be distinguished at folios 38 (‘35’), 39 (‘[37]’), 42 (‘67’), 43-48 (‘100-10[5]’), 51 (‘10[8]’). These allow us to deduce that the manuscript originally began with "Táin Bó Cuailgne", which ran to 111 folios and was followed, as in Mac Gilleoin’s copies, by “Cath Rois na Ríogh”.
The manuscript contains a ‘pot’ watermark.
The contents (text) are as follows.
(i) Cath Ros Na Riogh For Boinn, short recension. Beginning “Baoí Conchubar mac Fachtna Fhathach airdri[gh] Uladh i merten meanman ⁊ mhórchumhadh frie re chen”. (Folio 1 recto.)
(ii) Oidheadh Chon Culainn. Beginning ‘Feacd n-oen dia ttangatar [Ulaidh] co hEamhain Macha’. Ends (incomplete) ‘tug a lamh for a croide ⁊ do gab aga = Hamel, ‘Compert Con Culainn and other stories’, page 111, line 25. (Folio 14 recto.)
(iii) Táin Bó Cuailnge, stowe version. Fragmentary. Folio 38 = MS.14873, folios 2 verso, line 22-3 recto, line 23 = O’Rahilly, lines 1507-1547. Folio 39 = MS.14873, folios 3 verso, line 24-4 recto, line 24 = O’Rahilly, lines 1586-1629. Folio 40 = MS.14873, folios 7 recto, line 15-7 verso, line 11 = O’Rahilly, lines 1876-1915. Folio 41 = MS.14873, folios 14 verso, line 18-15 recto, line 12 = O’Rahilly, lines 2598-2634. Folio 41 verso, last line, ‘och och a mhacoemh mna’. Folio 42 = MS.14873, folios 17 verso, line 1-18 recto, line 1 = O’Rahilly, lines 2896-2950. Folios 43-54 = MS.14873, folios 42 recto, lines 1-52 recto = O’Rahilly, lines 4551-end. (Folio 38 recto.)
(iv) ‘It doeth surpass my mus and pen’, 4 stanzas (incomplete). ‘A ffew Lines upon The Death of the most accomplist Gentleman Archibald McDonald Laird of Leargie’ († circa 1689). (Folio 54 verso.)
(v) Calculations and other scribbles. (Folio 55.)
Dates
- Creation: Mid-17th century.
Creator
- Grant, James, of Corrimony, 1743-1835 (Former owner, Person)
- Mac Mhurchaidh, Uilleam , ca. 1700-1778 (schoolmaster, poet and scribe) (Former owner, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Normal access conditions apply.
Conditions Governing Use
Normal reproduction conditions apply, subject to any copyright restrictions.
Extent
55 Leaves ; 18 x 14 centimetres.
Language of Materials
Irish
Arrangement
55 folios.
Original 8-leaf gatherings maintained as far as extant. Artificial gatherings have been created from original folios [61], [67] and 100-10[5] (now folios 41-48) and original folios [146]-[150], [35], [37] and [44] (now folios 33-40) by grafting of certain leaves. Conjunct of folio 50 is missing; it is followed the Largie poem, which may thus have been longer. In brief: of the original manuscript, which probably contained 21 gatherings, there remain 4 complete gatherings and a total of 23 leaves from 7 other gatherings, all now formed into a manuscript of 7 gatherings wanting one leaf.
Modern pencilled foliation.
Custodial History
The manuscript passed to the Kintyre scribe Eoghan Mac Gilleoin. It then probably passed to the roving harper William MacMurchy (cf. Adv.MS.72.2.12), and thence into the collection of Mrs Margaret Fraser of Culbokie, daughter of John MacDonald of Ardnabie. (For another example of a northern manuscript deriving from MacMurchy cf. Adv.MS.73.1.14, number 2).
A slip of paper in Adv.MS.73.2.27, number 51, bears a note in Donald Mackintosh’s hand: ‘One of the MS.S. which belonged to the late Mrs Fraser of Kilbocky was put into my hands by Mr Grant of Corimony advocate some years ago very little can be made of it in its present mangled state’.
Mackintosh’s printed account of the manuscript, dated 1806, is: ‘James Grant, Esq. of Corymony, left a paper MS. with Mr. Mackintosh some years ago, in the old character. It belonged to his mother, an excellent Gaelic scholar, and is the history of the wars of Cuchullin, in prose and verse. It is much worn at the ends and edges, and quite loose”. (‘The poems of Ossian in the original Gaelic’, volume III, page 573). Mackintosh may have gradually confused the learned Mrs Fraser with Mrs Grant, who was an Ogilvie — in his manuscript version of the latter account (Ingliston MS. A.iv.2, p.13), he had stated that Corriemony’s mother ‘could read the old character’, without asserting that the manuscript had belonged to her. At all events the manuscript passed to the Highland Society of Scotland on Mackintosh’s death in 1808.
In 1814 it was sent for inspection to Ewen MacLachlan (cf. “ñ nach” in his hand at folio 47 recto), and it is listed in his receipt as “Corriemony’s MS – 55 leaves” (Ingliston. MS. A.iv.19). This is the reference which places beyond doubt the identification of the present manuscript as Corriemony’s.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred, 1925, by the Faculty of Advocates to the National Library of Scotland on its foundation.
Bibliography
‘Compert Con Culainn and other stories’, in ‘Mediaeval and Modern Irish Series 3 (Dublin, 1933), edited by A G van Hamel.
Sinclair, John, Sir. ‘The poems of Ossian in the original Gaelic’, 3 volumes (London, 1807).
“The Stowe version of Táin Bó Cuailnge” (Dublin, 1961), edited by Cecile O’Rahilly, pages xlix-liii.
Physical Description
Paper.
The manuscript is badly perished at edges with resultant loss of text.
Now laminated with silk, in layers, unbound.
Genre / Form
- Title
- National Library of Scotland Catalogue of Manuscripts
- Author
- National Library of Scotland Archives and Manuscripts Division
- Description rules
- International Standard for Archival Description - General
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the National Library of Scotland Archives and Manuscripts Division Repository
Archives and Manuscript Division
National Library of Scotland
George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1EJ
0131 623 3700
manuscripts@nls.uk