The Three Most Common Bardic Metres

 

For poems to be considered properly within dán díreach, all the rules of versification for each particular metre had to be followed, otherwise it was lochtach (substandard/faulty, i.e. garbage in the eyes of the filidh).

 

A note on reading & pronunciation from Eleanor Knott, Irish Syllabic Poetry 1200-1600:

The Classical Dialect: In reading syllabic poetry, words are to be pronounced as spelt.  The literary language used by the poets is a literary dialect, adhering to a traditional pronunciation, and thus differing a good deal from the ordinary spoken tongue.  We may lose nothing by reading Keating’s [Classical Gaelic] prose with modern pronunciation; but if we read a piece of dán díreach in the same way, we shall find that syllabic regularity, rime, and other ornaments are very often wanting.  In the classical pronunciation the lenited consonants have in intervocalic [i.e. between vowels] and final position the same value as in initial position.  One result of this is that many words are longer than in ordinary speech, e.g.: aghaidh ‘face,’ croidhe ‘heart,’ nighe ‘washing,’ are each dissyllabic; fiodhbhaidhe ‘woods,’ fleadhughadh ‘feasting’ are trisyllabic.  Not only is the initial value of the consonant preserved, but the natural quality of the preceding vowel is consequently retained, so that the following pairs rime exactly, aghaidh & anaidh | croidhe & goile | cumha & dula | fiodhbhuidhe & ionmhuine | fleadhughadh & seanUladh | éinionadh | réidhioghadh.

 

In addition to the rules for each metre below, the ornament of dúnadh (literally “closing”) was also a requirement for good dán díreach.  This involved either ending the poem by repeating the very first line of the poem, or at the minimum ending the poem with the same word that it started with.  Ellision is also a required feature where syllable count requires it.

 

       I Deibhidhe

7x                      rinn

7x+1                  airdrinn

7y                     rinn

7y+1                  airdrinn

  • Last word of lines 1 & 3 must rhyme with unstressed final syllable of last word in lines 2 & 4 (a pattern called rinn & airdrinn, i.e. stressed word rhymes with unstressed word) (consonants must be in the same class in order to rhyme)
  • 2 internal rhymes are required between lines 3 & 4 (like in Séadna)
  • 2 words in each line must alliterate with each other (like in Rannaigheacht & Séadna)
  • Final word of line 4 must alliterate with preceding stressed word (like in Rannaigheacht & Séadna)

Example (poem 23):

Tugtha d’Albain na sreabh seang                71

a cóir féin d’inis Éirinn,                                   72

críoch aimhréidh na n-eas mbanna,                72

suil bheas aimhréidh eatarra.                      73

(Scotland of the shallow streams/should deliver her dues to the isle of Éire,/rolling land of sparkling cascades, lest there be discord between them.)

 

               II a) Rannaigheacht Mhór                              II b) Rannaigheacht Bheag

                               71                                                                          72

                                71                                                                         72

                                71                            aicill                                     72                            aicill

                                71            aicill                                                     72            aicill

  • Final words of lines 2 & 4 must rhyme with each other (like in Séadna)
  • Final words of lines 1 & 3 must be consonant with them (i.e. final consonant is in the same class, but the preceding vowel differs)
  • There must be at least 2 internal rhymes in each couplet
  • Final word of line 3 must rhyme with an interior word of line 4 (called aicill)
  • 2 words in each line must alliterate with each other (like in Deibhidhe & Séadna)
  • Final word of line 4 must alliterate with preceding stressed word (like in Deibhidhe & Séadna)

Example (poem 6):

Éistidh riomsa, a Mhuire mhór,                       71

do ghuidhe is liomsa badh lúdh,                 71

do dhruim réd bhráthair na bíodh,                  71

a Mháthair Ríogh duinn na ndúl.                 71

(O great Mary, listen to me,/praying to you should be my zeal;/on your brother turn not your back,/Mother of the great King of all.)

 

III Séadna

         82

         71

         82

         71

  • 2 internal rhymes are required between lines 3 & 4 (like in Deibhidhe)
  • Final words of lines 2 & 4 must rhyme with each other (like in Rannaigheacht)
  • Final word of line 3 must rhyme with the stressed word preceding final word in line 4 (similar to aicill but not quite the same)
  • Final word in line 1 must alliterate with following stressed word in line 2
  • 2 words in each line must alliterate with each other (like in Deibhidhe & Séadna)
  • Final word of line 4 must alliterate with preceding stressed word (like in Deibhidhe & Rannaigheacht)

Example (poem 16):

                        Ní fhuil a nÉirinn ná a nAlbain

                        Aonghas mar thusa, a thaobh seang:

                        Aonghais fháid bhraonghlais an Bhrogha,

                        láid, a Aonghais, comha ad cheann.

(There is no Aonghas in Ireland or Scotland/to compare with you, O slender form,/Aonghases of the sod of the Brugh, dew-dappled,/send goods, Aonghas, to you.)

 

There are 6 classes of consonants – a consonant rhymes only with another in its own class:

 

1. Class “b”: b, g, & d rhyme

For example: gad & lag | foda & coda| géag & séad | leanab & sealad

 

2. Class “c”: c, p, & t rhyme

For example: cnoc & sop | maca & slata

 

3. Class “ch”: ch, ph, & th rhyme

For example: sgeach & cleath | Life & ithe | eich & beith

 

4. Class “bh”: bh, gh, dh, l, mh, n, & r rhyme

For example: neamh & feadh | taraidh & adhaigh | ionadh & iodhan | teagh & treabh | eibhe & meile

 

5. Class “ll”: ll, m(m), ng, nn, & rr rhyme

For example: mall & barr & crann & am | long & fonn & corr | druim & tuill | cluineam & fuigheall

When consonants of this class come in between vowels (in the middle of a word), or are preceded by a long vowel, they may rhyme with the “bh” class (for example: cruinne & buille | cruinne & uile | ciall & iarr | ciall & rian | féin & céim).

 

6. Class “s”: s only rhymes with itself

 

Colour Key:

Ellision

Rhyme

Rinn

Airdrinn

Aicill

Consonant rhyme (see above)

Alliteration