‘O grandson of Conn, Cormac,’ said Carpre, ‘who are the worst for whom you have a comparison?’ ‘Not hard to tell,’ said Cormac.
‘and he wise, lying, grey-haired, violent, swearing, garrulous when he says ‘the matter is settled, I swear, I shall swear.’’
- A man with the impudence of a satirist,
5] with the pugnacity of a slave-woman,
with the carelessness of a ... dog,
with the conscience of a hound,
with a robber's hand,
with a bull's strength,
10] with the dignity of a judge,
with keen ingenious wisdom,
with the speech of a stately man,
with the memory of an historian,
with the behaviour of an abbot,
15] with the swearing of a horse-thief,