Reminding myself that not all the news of the past few weeks has been gloomy: e.g. the Book of Lismore returned to Cork! Of course, we have been fortunate enough to have had access to the digitised images of this MS for many years now thanks to Anne Marie O’Brien @DIAS_ISOS!

Were it not for ISOS, I would not have been able to become acquainted with the oldest surviving copy of the Early Modern Irish satirical tale Tromdhámh Ghúaire ‘The Grievous Host of Gúaire’ during my PhD.

(Image here from ISOS: Book of Lismore, f. 186r)

The kernel of the story is the Early Irish tale on the recovery of the Táin Bó Cúailnge but with much elaboration; the creator of TG draws on a great number of sources to create his masterpiece of social commentary.

Set in seventh-century Ireland, it begins by relating the death of Dallán Forgaill & the appointment of his successor Seanchán as chief poet (ollamh) of Ireland. Seanchán visits king Gúaire of Connacht with a huge retinue of 150 poets, 150 student poets, 150 dogs, 150 servants...

...150 women, etc., laying an excessive burden on the resources of Gúaire, who was well-known for his generosity. Taking advantage of his hospitality, the retinue begin making absurd demands such as blackberries in late February and bacon from a pig that has yet to be born!

Gúaire’s hermitic brother Marbhán steps in to satisfy the poets’ demands &, in doing so, saves his brother from a loss of honour. Eventually, Marbhán, tired of the excessive demands, decides to test the knowledge of all the artisans and, in the process, reveals their ignorance...

...& shows they are unworthy of their status. The poets, for example, are unable to recite the Táin Bó Cúailnge! And, so, Marbhán places a geis (an injunction) on them so that they are not allowed burden a host for more than two consecutive nights until they have found the Táin.

Seanchán and his retinue begin their search around Ireland, arriving first in Naas where they encounter a leper who offers to write them a poem, for them to curry favour with the king of Leinster, in exchange for a kiss from Seanchán.

Not for the first time in this tale, the narrator, at the intersection of humour and prejudice, is mocking the poetic class as an elite group of idiots. Seanchán and his retinue travel throughout Scotland only to return to Ireland empty-handed...

... where they meet St Caillín who reveals that he was the leper in disguise. They are then instructed to visit the resting place of the Ulster exile and companion to Meadhbh on the Táin, Fearghas mac Róigh.

They duly do so and the hero is resurrected (w/the help of the saints of Ireland), recites the Táin and returns to his grave. Having been forced to see the error of their ways, the poets agree to never again be a burden on society!

If you are interested in this story, check out Maud Joynt's edition on http://archive.org : https://archive.org/details/tromdhguaire02joyn/page/n3/mode/2up.

For a bibliography & info. about the MSS of Tromdhámh Ghúaire, check out @vhcodecs: https://www.vanhamel.nl/codecs/Tromd%C3%A1mh_Guaire.