The Ancient Hymn-Charms of Ireland. 443
spell,^^ rendering Patrick and his companions invisible. It was only a later reflection on the matter that suggested that they were turned into deer.^^ Here is the Charm called fatk-fidhe, as given by Dr. Alexander Macbain in vol. xvii. of the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, (April, 1891), and later, in March, 1892, by Mr. William Mackenzie in the same journal.
Fa fithe cuiream art, I put on theeTtf fithe,
Bho chu, blio chat. From dog, from cat,
Bho bho, bho each From cow, from steed,
Bho dhuine, bho bhean From man, from woman,
Bho ghille, bho nighean From lad, from maid,
'S bho leanabh beag, And from little child,
Gus an tig mise rithisd. Till I come again.
An ainm an Athar, a Mhic, In the name of the Father and 'S ar Spioraid Naoimh. of the Son and Holy Ghost.
In a spell in Carniina Gadelica,^^ we find the same word
used : —
" Fath fith Will I make on thee, By Mary of the augury, By Bride of the corslet, From sheep, from ram, From goat," etc., etc.
At p. 158, vol ii., we find a FritJi Mhoire or augury of Mary made to discover where Jesus was when he stayed behind in the Temple. In making the Frith the recitation of the following formula is enjoined in Benbecula — " I go out in thy path, O God ; God be before me, God be behind me,
^Y{.&nct.ferba-fath, ' words of magic,' A'eviie Celtique, vol. xx., p. 146.
- "" Thus the Holy Man composed that Hymn in his native speech, which is
commonly called /eih fiadhe and by others the breast-plate or Lorica of Patrick, and it is held among the Irish in the highest regard because it is believed — and proved by much experience — to preserve those who piously recite it from dangers which threaten them in soul and body." Colgan's Tr. Thaum., p. 126, quoted in Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, Ed. Stokes, p. 48.
■•"Vol. ii., p. 25.
