''The Song of Dermot and the Earl'' () is an anonymous Anglo-Norman verse

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

written in the early 13th century in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It tells of the arrival of Richard de Clare (Strongbow) in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1170 (the "earl" in the title), and of the subsequent arrival of

Henry II of England Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...

. The poem mentions one Morice Regan, secretary to

Diarmaid mac Murchadha Diarmait Mac Murchada (Irish language, Modern Irish: ''Diarmaid Mac Murchadha''; Anglicisation, anglicised as Dermot MacMurrough or Dermot MacMurphy; – c. 1 May 1171), was Kings of Leinster, King of Leinster in Ireland from 1127 to 1171. In ...

, king of Leinster, who was eyewitness to the events and may have provided an account to the author. The chronicle survives only in a single manuscript which was re-discovered in the 17th century in London. The work bears no title in the manuscript, but has been commonly referred to as ''The Song of Dermot and the Earl'' since

Goddard Henry Orpen Goddard Henry Orpen (8 May 1852 – 15 May 1932) was an Irish historian. He attended The Abbey School, Tipperary and graduated from Trinity College Dublin. Orpen was the son of Dr. John Herbert Orpen (1805–1888) and Ellen Susanna Gertude ...

in 1892 published a

diplomatic edition Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents, especially historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, pr ...

under this title. It has also been known as The Conquest of Ireland and The Conquest of Ireland by Henry II; in the most recent edition it was called La Geste des Engleis en Yrlande ("The Deeds of the English in Ireland").

Lines from The Song of (King) Dermot and the Earl (Strongbow)

This section of the poem has been translated from Anglo-Norman French by G.H.C. Orpen (Trinity College, Dublin) from the Carew 596 manuscript and covers lines 3129 - 3161 (see ''Skryne and the Early Normans'' (1994) by Elizabeth Hickey. p. 31).

Editions and translations

* * * Diplomatic edition
Edition at CELT

PDF scan at archive.org
*Anglo-Norman poem on the conquest of Ireland by Henry the Second (1837).Regan, M., Wright, T., Michel, F. (1837)
Anglo-Norman poem on the conquest of Ireland by Henry the Second
from a manuscript preserved in the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth palace. London: W. Pickering. Edited by Francisque Xaview Michel. With an introductory essay on the history of the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland, by Thomas Wright.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Song of Dermot and the Earl, The Anglo-Norman chronicles about England 13th-century poems 13th-century history books MacMorrough Kavanagh dynasty Cultural depictions of Henry II of England

Lines from The Song of (King) Dermot and the Earl (Strongbow)

See also

Editions and translations

Further reading

References