Transcript

Do dhein duine éigin gearán ar Liam na Buile go mbíodh bóín dhubh a bhí aige ag dul thar teorainn. Agus nuair a hinseadh dó é, seo mar a dúirt sé:

"Pé spiaire a dhein an gníomh
Go dian fé bhroid sa chill
Gur thriall an dubh
Ar riascaigh fhlich
A d'iarraidh suilt[1] ar mhoing
Iarraimse agus guím
Gan rian aige ina thaoibh
'Na dhiaidh a shliocht
Gan bia gan chuid
Gan chiall gan chion gan chrích."

Translation

Someone complained about Mad William that a little black cow of his used to go over the boundary (of his land). And when he was told about it, this is what he said:

"Whoever the spy who did it
In fast captivity in the churchyard (?)
That the Black Cow went
To the wet marsh
Seeking to enjoy the vegetation (?),
I ask and pray
That he have nothing on account of it
[And that] his descendents after him
[Be] without food or means
Without sense, without regard, without prospects."

Footnotes

Commentary

This is a shortened form of a legend and accompanying poem that can be found in Dómhnall Bán Ó Céileachair, Sgéal mo bheatha (Dublin, 1940), 146. In Ó Céileachair's version, the subject of the curse is a landlord, who chastised the poet Liam Ó Suibhne for allowing his cow to graze on deserted land, which by law became the property of the landlord when it was abandoned. It represents a common narrative in Irish tradition, which portrays poets as cursing those who treated them unfairly. The motif of poets cursing landlords is discussed in Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, An file (Dublin, 1982), 353-5. It can also be seen in the context of folklore surrounding landlords, who are rarely portrayed in a positive light in Irish tradition. See Séamas Mac Philib, 'Legends of Irish landlords in their international context', Béaloideas 62-3 (1994-5), 79-88.

A longer telling of this story by the same speaker appears in Seán and Donncha Ó Cróinín, Seanachas Amhlaoibh Í Luínse (Dublin, 1980), 201-2.