Note 15 — Chapter XXVII
Reading edition
This is the celebrated Laoi na gceann, or Lay of the Heads, which begins by Emer asking—
"A Chonaill cia h-iad na cinn? Is dearbh linn gar dheargais h-airm, Na cinn o thárla ar an ngad Slointear leat na fir d'ar baineadh."
It was popular in the Highlands also. There is a copy in the book of the Dean of Lismore, published by Cameron in his "Reliquiæ Celticæ," vol. i. p. 66. Also in the Edinburgh MSS. 36 and 38. See ibid. pp. 113 and 115. The piece consists of 116 lines. The oldest form of Emer's lament over Cuchulain, "Nuallguba Emire," is in the Book of Leinster, p. 123, a. 20. It is a kind of unrhymed chant. The lament I have given is from my own modern manuscript.