Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Metrical Dindshenchas (Author: [unknown])

poem/story 16

SLIAB BETHA

  1. I behold the grave of a stranger from afar, the monument of a leader, crowned with sad splendour, whose name, bright in lustre, was Bith son of Noah, vast of vigour.
  2. Forty days by tale before the doleful Deluge, to Erin came the shortlived swarm, a multitude, a numbered array.
  3. Hither came Bith, skilled in battle, marching before his noble wives: five and twenty wives, by firm bond, made up his family.
  4. As for Bith, the chieftain's time was short; shaking seized him and sore sickness: his own wives dug a grave on the mountain for his burial.
  5. From him, high above the planets' path, is named Sliab Betha, the wild bulls' home; the body of the corsair, who lived not long, lies yet under the cairn thou seest.
  6. O Christ, unshaken, above all coasts, that didst not abandon Bith eternally, be mine no sadness in thy dwelling yonder, when I have told of each thing I see!

    7. p.79