A cryptic probatio pennae in the Seifín Duanaire (TCD MS H 4. 22 (1363), part XII)

Abstract

This article provides an edition and translation of a probatio pennae of four short lines’ length, found on a slip inserted in the so-called Seifín Duanaire. This brief note is written in a deliberately obscure style. One line is written in reverse to conceal an attack on a prominent political figure, Máel Mórdha. We suggest identifications for Máel Mórdha and the scribe of the note, Fearghal Ó Gabhann, both of which have connections to the region of Bréifne, and we make proposals for the meaning of the last two lines that appear to add reflections by Fearghal about his note.