Green Book Of Meditations Volume 6 The Books of Songs - Student ...

Down with it! Up with it!
Strike the hide.
Hogmanay of the sack,
Hogmanay of the sack,
Down with it! Up with it!
Beat the skin.
Hogmanay of the sack,
Hogmanay of the sack,
-Yule 1988 Druid Missal-any
From the Carmina Gadelica
Eolas an Deididh
The teeth of ancient human skeletons found in stone coffins
and other enclosures and without enclosures are usually good and
complete. This is in marked contrast tot the teeth of modern
human remains, which are generally much impaired if not wholly
absent. But there must have been toothache and even artificial
teeth in ancient times, as indicated by the mummies in Egypt and
the toothache charms and toothache wells in the Highlands. One
toothache well is in the island of North Uist. It is situated 195
feet above the sea, at the foot of a hill 757 feet high, and nearly
three miles in the moorland from the nearest townland. The place
is called “Cuidh-airidh,” shieling fold, while the well is variously
known as “tobar Chuidh-airidh,” well of the shieling fold.”
“Tobar and deididh,” well of the toothache, “tobar na cnoidh,”
well of the worm, and “tobar cnuimh fhiacail,” well of the tooth
worm, from a belief that toothache is caused by a worm in the
tooth.
The General name of the well is “tobar Chuidh-airidh,” well
of the shieling fold, to distinguish it from other healing wells
throughout the Isles. The pilgrim suffering from toothache must
not speak, nor eat, nor drink, after beginning the pilgrimage till
after three draughts of the well of Cuidh-airidh are drunk in the
name of God, and in name of Christ, and in name of Spirit.
Some persons profess to derive no relief, some profess to derive
partial relief, and some profess to derive complete relief from
toothache after drinking the water of the well of Cuidh-airidh.
Ob a chuir Bride bhoidheach
Romh ordag Mathar De,
Air mhir, air lion, air chorcraich,
Air chnoidh, air ghoimh, air dheud.
Achnoidh a rinn domh deistinn,
Air deudach mo chin,
Ifrinn teann da m’dheud,
Deud ifrinn da mo theinn.
Deud ifrinn da mo theann;
Am fad’s is maireann mi-fein
Gu mair mo dheud am cheann.
Doighean eile:
Air mhir, air chir, air chnodaich.
Air mhuir, air chuan, air chorsa.
Air li, air lionn, air liogradh.
363
TRANSLATION
The incantation put by lovely Bride
Before the thumb of the Mother of God,
On lint, on wort, on hemp,
For worm, for venom, for teeth.
The worm that tortured me,
In the teeth of my head,
Hell hard by my teeth,
The teeth of hell distressing me.
The teeth of hell close to me;
As long as my teeth last in my head.
Variants:
On lint, on comb, on agony.
On sea, on ocean, on coast.
On water, on lakes, on marshes.
-Spring Equinox 1989 Druid Missal-Any
From the Carmina Gadelica.
Swift Chariots
Swift Chariots
And horse that carried off the prize
Once I had plenty of them:
A blessing on the king who granted them.
My body seeks to make its way
To the house of judgement;
When the Son of God thinks it time,
Let him come to claim his loan.
My arms when they are seen
Are bony and thin
Dear was the craft they practiced,
They would be around glorious kings…
I envy nothing that is old
Except the Plain of Femhen;
Though I have donned the thatch of age,
Femhen’s crown is still yellow.
The Stone of the Kings in Femhen,
Ronan’s Fort in Breghon,
It is long since storms first reached them,
But their cheeks are not old and withered…
I have had my day with kings,
Drinking mead and wine;
Today I drink whey and water
Among shriveled old hags…
The flood-wave,
And the swift ebb;
What the flood brings you
The ebb carries from your hand.
Happy is the island of the great sea,
For the flood comes to it after the ebb;
As for me, I don not expect
Flood after ebb to come to me.
Beltane 1989 Druid Missal-Any