The ancient literature of Ireland is as yet but little known to the
world, or even to ourselves. Existing for the most part only in its
original Celtic form, and in manuscripts accessible only to the Irish
scholar resident in our metropolis, but few even of those capable of
understanding it have the opportunity to become acquainted with it,
and from all others it is necessarily hidden. We therefore propose to
ourselves, as a pleasing task, to make our literature more familiar,
not only to the Irish scholar, but to our readers generally who do not
possess this species of knowledge, by presenting them from time to time
with such short poems or prose articles, accompanied with translations,
as from their brevity, or the nature of their subjects, will render them
suitable to our limited and necessarily varied pages--our selections
being made without regard to chronological order as to the ages of their
composition, but rather with a view to give a general idea of the several
kinds of literature in which our ancestors of various classes found
entertainment.
The specimen which we have chosen to commence with is of a homely cast,
and was intended as a rebuke to the saucy pride of a woman in humble
life, who assumed airs of consequence from being the possessor of three
cows. Its author’s name is unknown, but its age may be determined, from
its language, as belonging to the early part of the seventeenth century;
and that it was formerly very popular in Munster, may be concluded from
the fact, that the phrase, Easy, oh, woman of the three cows! [Go réiḋ a
bhean na ttrí mbó] has become a saying in that province, on any occasion
upon which it is desirable to lower the pretensions of proud or boastful
persons.