Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Book of Clanranald (Author: [unknown])

section 10

4

Cathal Mc Vurich composed this for Donald, son of Allan.

    1. Ye antiquaries of the learned men of the Hebrides,
      The best nobleman shall not be forgotten;
      We must record his death after all that was bestowed
      By him over the land of the fair Gaels.
    2. The son of Allan of the north Tiormfhonn,
      His prosperous career is no easy subject;
      He made his way to the house of the Three
      With a fairy spear wielded in his hand.
    3. Keen pursuings from strand to strand,
      On the days of the chase in the woods of the coast.
      As he had come from shooting birds,
      And accompanied with music on his departure.

      4. p.227

    4. The number of his forces on coming to land,
      All hands being hard at work,
      In making of golden garment for his people,
      The time he went out of sight of shore.
    5. Thousands find fault with a wife
      For the connections that arise about her;
      The cause of his not championing the girl was
      That he and she occasionally played together.
    6. The race of the Collas by whom the battle raged,
      The hilt of the sword was grasped by their hands;
      They were the seal of the regal law
      Until the coming of the race of Enna from the battle.
    7. Valiant heroes that an asseveration would not deceive,
      Ploughers of the sea on which they are,
      On the dark front of the wave they rise
      Through which an inferior ship could not pass.
    8. The Clanranald are ready to march into every country,
      For whom the sun produces every splendour,
      'They seek affection from afar off
      In their own plains without a guide.
    9. Heroes to be compared to the hosts of Troy
      Accompanied Donald to the battles in which he engaged;
      All that had been plundered from him
      He afterwards recovered the flocks.
    10. Be not erecting lime houses,
      Let grass huts be your dwelling at the shore,
      Let your spears be stacked on the cold field,
      These are your abodes of rest after the battle.
    11. Be like men in a proper order of quietness,
      Rising up together like a swarm on the field,
      With a furious wind on a ford,
      And the threads torn from the smooth standard.
    12. Let feather beds be given up by you.
      Prepared for your march, and not wishing for peace;
      Be like the huntsman, watching his opportunity
      At the proper banks of the calm streams.
    13. The salmon swims sometimes with a slow motion,
      He leaves the pools when he bends;
      Let the regal rule be followed by you,
      A net for trout of the fibres of branches.

      14. p.229

    14. A spark flew from thy sharp blue sword,
      O Donald, at the fort's gate;
      The moon is hidden above the banks of the coasts.
      The smoke of the plunder rose to it.
    15. The cheeks are usually red in their natural colour
      Not by danger for which they seek,
      That is not the cause which reddened thy cheeks.
      But all thy prowess in battle.
    16. A spoiling host from the poops of ships
      Into the country which they visit,
      The burning force which came to oppose thee
      Received their wounds from thy preying parties.
    17. A queen whose weaving harness cannot be arranged
      By the great numbers who attend her;
      The blood of her fingers on the web of silk,
      Which is set in proper order by the girls.
    18. The end of it is not a prospect of peace for those
      Of the territories heated by fire;
      Again shall be carried along the shore
      Your own preys with smouldering fires.
    19. The prosperity of the race of Allan has quickly increased,
      It is necessary to state that they have been ennobled;
      All those he left of them in his own country have been free,
      Not having been made hostages by any other forces.
    20. The branches of trees are bent by the fruit,
      Although it is upwards the source of it goeth;
      Man could not wish for better music from chords
      Than that of a narrow stream flowing through a shrubbery.
    21. The rain of honey of the northern country
      Has caused its grass to bend;
      Out of it, by flying, could not rise
      The birds by expanding their wings.
    22. In the form of boughs usually are
      All the branches of the wood which increases in density;
      Its united branches at the top are as jewels
      There are nuts on the natural hazel tree from the beginning.
    23. A very straight wand of sound body
      Was the son of Allan who repelled every onset;
      It is a proof of the usefulness of O'Erc of the cave,
      Tearing the plumes from the golden helm.

      24. p.231

    24. The knowledge of the disposition of a king's daughter
      Is contemplated by the sparkling of her eyes;
      Thou mayest select a woman accordingly without enquiring about her,
      The blush of her cheeks discloses her love.
    25. When a herd of cattle is secured, they are kept in confinement,
      Just as soldiers are who do not observe justice;
      That enables a king to rule;
      Take the chord out of the chain of gold.
    26. Women who were accustomed to livelihood
      From exploits on the sea,
      A woman who daily sets her house in order,
      The maiden appearance has left her.
    27. A host of brown heroes, to whom every science yielded,
      Accompanied Donald wherever he marched;
      Why should the flush of his countenance cause
      A rest from the shore, which he might do in the end?
    28. Until deeds-doing soldiers were satisfied with conflicts
      He did not withdraw from his large forces;
      The hostages of enemies did not salute them;
      Golden wares are a wonder to a woman.
    29. They were not balked in a nocturnal incursion,
      Although it were dark and pouring sleet or snow.
      The light equal that of the star is emitted by the horse-shoe;
      The horse-shoe requires not a better light.
    30. Is not Donald full equal to rings of gold
      Whose lips are generally ruby?
      The sword-blade is driven in at the pursuit,
      And the golden hilt following it.
    31. The enforcing of judgments under which they were;
      The dart of a person by which terror is disclosed;
      His finger goes into her side;
      It is a slender spear effective5 in the battle.
    32. That is a web of straw by Anna for John,
      Which is stitched near the sea-shore;
      A couple of charges while with an army.
      It is a house of repose, a pay in his hand.
    33. Brown shields by which the conflict is made close,
      Through the descent from Colla is proper;
      Having been called from the northern countries
      These descendants received their golden arms.

      34. p.233

    34. Invoke the mother of God to protect us
      That he may send a host to the battle-field;
      Sufficient is the greatness of his miracles to us,
      A new branch of the original parest seed.
    35. The daughter of Angus, whose eye is like an icicle,
      With slender hands that excelled all others in every coast;
      She put warmth along every strand,
      By which kindred and every house talked of her.
    36. Sufficient for her to have drunk enough
      From the beast, rather than milk from the udder;
      Youthful hair of very great beauty,
      A white firm set of teeth most evenly set.
    37. The blood of Conn flows in her cheeks,
      The waves are without storm like wine;
      It appertains to the clergy to relate stories,
      One tree is her origin in the regal line.
    38. She lives through the clergy without a particle of imperfection,
      Having a tendency to the earth from which she sprang;
      She acquired no blemish from it,
      A seal of the raspberry is on her fair cheek.