Laoiseach Mac an Bhaird
Courtier and Rebel
O man who follows English ways, who cut your thick-clustering hair .... you
are not Donnchadh's good son.
If you were, you would not give up your hair for an artificial English
mode--the fairest ornament in the land of Fódla!--and your head would not be
tonsured.
You think the yellow head of hair unfashionable--he detests both wearing
locks and going bald after the English style--your characters are different
indeed.
A man who never loved English ways is Eoghan Bán, beloved of noble ladies. To
English ways he never gave his heart: a savage life he chose.
Your mind is nothing to Eoghan Bán, a man who would give breeches for a
trifle, who asked no cloak but a rag, who had no wish for coat and leggings.
He would hate to carry at his ankle a jewelled spur on a boot, or stockings
in the English style; he will have no locks upon him.
A blunt rapier that would not kill a fly, the weight of an awl sticking out
behind as one goes to a hill of assembly--the son of Donnchadh sees no beauty in
that!
Little he cares for a mantle gold-embroidered, or a [high Dutch collar] or a
gold ring that would only be irksome, or a satin scarf down to the heels.
He has no longing for a feather bed, he had rather lie upon rushes.
Pleasanter to Donnchadh's good son is a hut of rough poles than the
[battlements] of a tower.
A troop of horse at the brink of a gap, a fierce fight, a struggle with
foot-soldiers, these are some of the desires of Donnchadh's son--and seeking
battle against the foreigners.
How unlike are you to Eoghan Bán--they laugh at your foot on the
stepping-stone.
Pity that you have not seen your fault, O man who follows English ways.
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