8. A certain day the mother of Ciaran was making blue dye, and she
had reached the point of putting the garments therein. Then said his
mother to him, "Get thee out, Ciaran." For they thought it unbecoming
that males should be in the house when garments were being dyed. "May
there be a dun stripe upon them!" said Ciaran. Of all the garments
that were put into the dye, there was not one that had not a dun
stripe upon it. The dye is prepared again, and his mother said, "Go
out, Ciaran, this time, and now, Ciaran, let there be no dun stripe."
Then he said--
Alleluia Domine!
White my mother's dye let be!
When in my hand it's gone,
Be it white as bone!
When boiling it is stirred,
Be it white as curd!
Accordingly every garment that was placed therein was of a uniform
whiteness. For the third time is the dye made. "Ciaran," said his
mother, "hurt me not the dye now, but let it receive a blessing from
thee." When Ciaran blessed the dye, never was dye made so good, before
or since; for though all the garments of Cenel Fiachrach (_sic_) were
placed in its _iarcain_, it would turn them blue; and at the last it
turned blue the dogs and the cats and the trees that came in contact
with it.