worse.  Was true that, a board of silver and men of gold, and shining in every

hairidi for sin clar di liic logmair, ocus fer-bolg di figi rond credumae.

direction on that board of costly stones, and a men-bag of woven chains of brass.

Ecraid Mider in fidchill iarsin.  Imbir ol Mider.  Ni immer acht

Set out Mider the chessboard thereupon.  Play! said Mider.  Not will I play, except

di giull ol Eochaid.  Cid gell bias and? ol Mider.  Cumma lim ol

for a stake, said Eochaid.  What stake shall be here? said Mider.  Equal to me, said

Eochaid.  Rot-bia lim-sa ol Mider mad tu beras mo thochell,

Eochaid.  Thou shalt have from me, said Mider, if thou carry off my stake,

L. gabur n-dub-glas ite cend-brecca, croderga, biruich,

50 horses of dark-gray, and they with dappled heads, blood-red, with ears pricked high,

bruin-lethain, bolg(s)roin, coss choela, comrassa, faeborda,[FN#133] femendae,[FN#133]

chests broad, nostrils distended, feet thin, strong, keen, ? vehement,

aurarda, aignecha, so-(a)staidi,[FN#133] so

very high, spirited, easily stopped,

[FN#133] See Bruidne da Derga (Stokes), 50, 51, faeborda, lit. with an edge on them; femendae? = Lat. vehemens; soaistidi is the form adopted by Stokes in his edition of the Bruidne; Egerton Ms. gives soastaide.

There is a gap here, a complete column being torn from the manuscript.  The lost part obviously describes the issue of the chess game or games, and the penalties demanded by Bochaid:  what these penalties were is plain from the succeeding story.  The work of Mider and his folk in paying these penalties must also have been described:  the next column (Leabhar na h- Uidhri, 131 b. of the facsimile) opens thus: 

iarsin doberar uir ocus grian ocus clocha for sin monai.  Fri etna

thereupon is, placed earth and gravel and stones on the bog.  Over foreheads

dam dano-batar fedmand la firu h-Erind cosind n-aidchi sin, co

of oxen then were yokes among men of Ireland till that very night, when

n-aicces la lucht in t-side for a formnaib.  Dognith

it was seen (tbLat they were) among people of the Mounds on their shoulders.  It was done

samlaid la Eochaid, conid de ata do som.  Echaid Airem, ar

so by Eochaid, so that hence is to himself (the name of) Echaid Airem, for

is aice toisech tucad cuing for muinelaib dam do ferand h-Erind.  Is

it is by him first was put yoke on necks of oxen for land of Ireland.  This

ed dino and food ro boi im belaib in t-sluaig oc denam in tocuir: 

is then there word which was on lips of the host at making of the causeway: 

Rhetoric—­