'Nine,' LU. and YBL. 2061, H. 2. 17 and Eg. 93.

Fergus macRoig heard this and he deemed it an outrage that Dubthach should
counsel how to betray Cuchulain to the hosts. And he reached him a strong,
sharp kick with his foot away from him, so that Dubthach struck with his
mouth against the group outside. And Fergus reproached him for all the
wrongs and iniquities and treachery and shameful deeds he had ever done to
the Ulstermen of old and anew. And then he spake these words:--

"If this 'Black-tongue' Dubthach be,
Let him skulk behind the hosts;
No good hath he ever wrought,
Since he slew the princesses![a]

"Base and foul, the deed he wrought:
Fiachu, Conchobar's son, he slew.
No more fair was heard of him:
Carbre's death, Fedilmid's son!

"Ne'er for Ulster's weal doth aim
Lugaid's son, Casruba's scion;[b]
Such is how he acts to men:
Whom he stabs not he incites!

"Ulster's exiles it would grieve
If their beardless boy[c] should fall.
If on you come Ulster's troops
They will make your herds their spoil!

"Strewn afar your herds will be
By the rising Ulstermen.
Tales there'll be of mighty deeds
That will tell of far-famed queens!

[W.2800.] [1]"Corpses will be under foot,[1]
[2]Food there'll be at ravens' rests;[2]
Bucklers lying on the slopes;
Wild and furious deeds increase!

[3]"I behold just now your wives
Raise their heads above the ranks.
I behold your puissant queen
Moves not to engage in war![3]

[LL.fo.79b.] "Valour none nor generous deed
Comes from Lugaid's craven son;
Nor will kings see lances red,
If this 'Black-tongue' Dubthach be!"

[a] The reference is to the maidens of Emain Macha slain by Dubthach in
punishment for the death of the sons of Usnech.

[b] That is, Dubthach.

[c] That is, Cuchulain.

[1-1] LU. and YBL. 2077.

[2-2] Reading: _Betit buind fri brannfossaib_.

[3-3] This quatrain is almost identical with the one translated on page
199.

Thus far 'The Scythed Chariot.'[a]

[a] A very obscure and fragmentary passage in LU. and YBL. (lines
2083-2106, edition of Strachan and O'Keeffe, lacking in Eg. 93, _Revue
Celtique_, tome xv, page 204), consisting of a series of short strains
in _rosc_ spoken in turn by Ailill, Medb, Gabran the poet, and Fergus,
is omitted in the translation.