Athraigh Gléas, A Ghiolla íosa : Dán Ar Dhroch-Chláirseoir

Abstract

This paper consists of an edition, with translation and notes, of a previously unpublished poem on an incompetent harper. The poem, which is in séadnadh, dán díreach , was added in a later hand to the copy of Féilire Óengusa preserved in the fifteenth-century vellum manuscript UCD A 7 (formerly held at the Franciscan library in Killiney, Co. Dublin). Although its date of composition is uncertain, it is suggested here that the poem is one of a handful of satires on harpers which were composed towards the end of the Classical Irish period and which bear witness to the marginalisation and decline of the harping profession. The poem contains some poorly attested vocabulary and, although many difficulties with the text remain unresolved, it is of particular value for enhancing our understanding of some music terms.