]> The Journey of Viscount Ramon de Perellós to Saint Patrick's Purgatory Viatge del Vescomte Ramón de Perellós y de Roda fet al Purgatori nomenat de Sant Patrici Voyage au Purgatoire de Saint Patrice An electronic edition Ramón de Perellós Alan Mac an Bhaird Translated by Alan Mac an Bhaird First draft. 16690 CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork
College Road, Cork, Ireland—http://www.ucc.ie/celt
2012 CELT online at University College, Cork, Ireland. T100079A

Available with prior consent of the CELT project for purposes of academic research and teaching only. This text is published on CELT with kind permission of Dr Alan Mac an Bhaird, Andorra, who owns the copyright.

 We are very grateful to Dr Alan Mac an Bhaird, Andorra, for donating this annotated translation based on the collated Catalan and Occitan texts, and for lending his expertise in resolving queries about the text and related matters. Supplementary material donated by him includes a document of safe-conduct issued by Richard II to Ramon de Perellós in September 1397, which is appended to this file; and Philip O'Sullivan Beare's incomplete Latin account of the story, available in .pdf format at http://www.ucc.ie/celt/L100079.pdf. The Catalan and Occitan versions are available in separate files, C100079A and O100079A. Manuscript source Catalan: Tour by Vescomte Ramón de Perellós: Manuscript of 1397 is lost; text is extant in a 1486 incunable printed at Toulouse by Henri Mayer, of Francesc Eiximenis, which incunable is now kept in Barcelona, Biblioteca de Catalunya. Occitan: the text is extant in a translation into Provençal, edited by Jeanroy & Vignaux (see below). The source is Bibliothèque Municipale de Toulouse, MS no. 894, "manuscrit de Castellane", f. 1r-40v. This has an early 16th century binding; the handwriting points to (early?) 15th century (Jeanroy & Vignaux p. x-ix). A selection of editions, translations, and literature Philip O'Sullivan Beare, Compendium Historiae Catholicae Iberniae (Lisbon 1621, reprinted Dublin 1850), vol. 1, book 2, p. 19–31 [Latin; translation (in part) of the tour, available in .pdf format at http://www.ucc.ie/celt/L100079.pdf.] "He used an oral (?) Castilian translation of the Catalan text. It was not printed in Perpignan, as O'Sullivan Beare claimed, but in Toulouse by Heinrich (Henri) Mayer from Bâle in 1487." AMB. Fynes Moryson, A History of Ireland from the year 1599 to 1603: with a short narration of the state of the kingdom from the year 1169; to which is added a description of Ireland. 2 vols. Dublin 1735. [A reprint of part 2 and 3, Book 3, chapter 5 of the Itinerary.] Thomas Rymer, Foedera, conventiones, literae, et cujuscunque generis acta publica [...]. Vol. III (Hagae Comitis: Neaulme 1740), p. 135. Charles Hughes, Shakespeare's Europe. Unpublished Chapters of Fynes Moryson's Itinerary: being a Survey of the Condition of Europe at the end of the Sixteenth Century. With an Introduction and an Account of Fynes Moryson's Career. London: Sherratt & Hughes 1903 [for chapters on Ireland see especially pp 185–260; 285–289; 481–486]. Fynes Moryson, An Itinerary, containing his ten Yeeres Travell through the twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohmerland, Sweitzerland, Netherland, Denmarke, Poland, Italy, Turky, France, England, Scotland & Ireland. 4 vols. Printed at the University Press by Robert Maclehose & Company Ltd. for James Maclehose and Sons, Publishers to the University of Glasgow, 1907–1908. [Reprint of 1617 edition.] Thomas Wright, St. Patrick's Purgatory: An Essay on the Legends of Purgatory, Hell and Paradise Current during the Middle Ages. (London: John Russell Smith 1844). [Contains a diplomatic edition of the most complete Latin version of St. Patrick's Purgatorium extant in BL, MS Royal 13B VIII, 12th century, 78–95.] Selmar Eckleben, Die älteste Schilderung vom Fegefeuer des heiligen Patricius (Halle 1885). Eduard Mall, 'Zur Geschichte der Legende vom Purgatorium des heiligen Patricius', Romanische Forschungen 6 (1891) 139–197. Thomas Atkinson Jenkins, The Espurgatoire Seint Patriz of Marie de France with a text of the Latin Original (Chicago 1903). Alfred Jeanroy & Alphonse Vignaux, Voyage au Purgatoire de St Patrice: visions de Tindal et de St Paul, Textes languedociens du quinzième siècle. Bibliothèque Mélridionale 1ère série, tome VIII (Toulouse 1903) 3–54. [available in .pdf format on www.archive.org]. Lucien Foulet, 'Marie de France et la légende du Purgatoire de Saint Patrice', Romanische Forschungen 22 (1908) 599–627. Ramón Miquel y Planas, Llegendes de l'Altra Vida (Barcelona 1914): Viatge del Vescomte Ramón de Perellós y de Roda fet al Purgatori nomenat de Sant Patrici, 133–174. [available in .pdf format on www.archive.org]. Karl Warnke, Das Buch vom Espurgatoire S. Patrice der Marie de France und seine Quelle (Halle 1938). [Contains critical edition of Purgatorium version extant in BL, MS Royal 13B VIII.] Robert Easting, 'The Date and Dedication of the Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii', Speculum 53:4, October 1978, 778–783. Jacques Le Goff, La Naissance du Purgatoire. Bibliothèque des histoires 39. (Paris: Gallimard 1981). Yolande de Pontfarcy, 'Le Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii de H. de Saltrey, sa date et ses sources', Peritia 3 (1984) 460–480. Carol G. Zaleski, 'St. Patrick's Purgatory: Pilgrimage Motifs in a Medieval Otherworld Vision', Journal of the History of Ideas 46:4, Oct to Dec 1985, 467–485. Dorothy Molloy Carpenter, "The Journey of Ramon de Perellós to Saint Patrick's purgatory: the Auch manuscript". [Unpublished doctoral thesis, UCD 1984, based on the Occitan version. -- CELT is grateful to Dr Alexandre Guilarte, Bibliographer at the DIAS, for this information.] Jean-Michel Picard and Yolande de Pontfarcy, Saint Patrick's Purgatory: A Twelfth Century Tale of a Journey to the Other World. Four Courts Press, Dublin 1985 (with introduction and English translation). Jordi Tiñena, Ramon de Perellós (Barcelona 1988). [Based on the 1486 incunable, with introduction, notes, appendix and glossary. -- CELT is grateful to Dr Alexandre Guilarte, Bibliographer at DIAS, for this information.] Michael Haren et Yolande de Pontfarcy (eds), The Medieval Pilgrimage to St Patrick's Purgatory. Lough Derg and the European Tradition (Enniskillen: Clogher Historical Society 1988). Eileen Gardiner, Visions of Heaven and Hell before Dante, New York 1989, 149–195. Yolande de Pontfarcy, 'The topography of the Other World and the influence of twelfth-century Irish visions on Dante', Dante and the Middle Ages: Literary and Historical Essays, ed. John C. Barnes et Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin (Dublin 1995) 93–115. See also Arlima.net: http://www.arlima.net/mp/purgatoire_de_saint_patrice.html for more detail about medieval versions in several languages, editions and translations. For a bibliography on St Patrick's Purgatory see also http://www.hell-on-line.org/BibPatrick.html The edition used in the digital edition The Journey of Viscount Ramon De Perellós to Saint Patrick's Purgatory Alan Mac an Bhaird First edition i + 23 pp CELT Cork 2012

CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts

The text covers the editor's and translator's introduction and the English translation. An document of safe conduct for de Perellós (in English translation) and an abridged version of the text in Latin published by O'Sullivan Bere, are appended in the back matter.

Text has been checked and proofread twice. All corrections are tagged. Text supplied by the editor to the original appears in brackets.

The electronic text represents the edited text.

Direct speech is rendered q.

Soft hyphens are silently removed. Words containing a hard or soft hyphen crossing a page-break or line-break have been placed on the line on which they start.

div0=the description; div1=the section; page-breaks are marked pb n=""/.

Dates are standardized in the ISO form yyyy-mm-dd. (There are no dates in the text.)

 June 2012 The text is in English. Some words are in Latin; the material in the appendix is in Latin. travel description prose St Patrick's Purgatory Lough Derg Ramon de Perellos (Perelhos) manners and customs O'Neills translation 2012-09-24 Beatrix Färber ed. Remaining changes integrated, new SGML and HTML files created. 2012-07-23 Beatrix Färber ed. Proof corrections integrated after consultation with Alan Mac an Bhaird. 2012-07-19 Janet Crawford ed. Online proofing. 2012-07-17 Beatrix Färber ed. Header modified; preliminary SGML and HTML files created. 2012-07-15 Beatrix Färber ed. File converted to XML, remaining structural encoding applied; header with bibliographical detail created; file parsed. 2012-06-20 Alan Mac an Bhaird, Andorra donation Donated an edited and annotated English translation of the Catalan/Occitan text.

This is the English translation of the Catalan text (hereinafter C) of 1486 collated with the Occitan text (hereinafter O) published in 1903 by A. Jeanroy and A. Vignaux.

C and O are mirror texts, the only difference being that O, being earlier, has suffered less corruption from its copyist (or copyists) than C.

Whether Ramon de Perellós wrote (or dictated) in Catalan or Occitan is a moot point. His estate of Perellós in the north of Roussillon is practically on the linguistic border between Central Occitan and Catalan and it is improbable that he was unable to use either with equal facility.

Ramon de Perellós is most clearly not a professional writer. His syntax lacks cohesion and his style, to put it mildly, lacks polish. I have tried to reproduce in English his Catalan text with all its disjointedness.

The notes cover (a) corrections to C on the basis of O, and (b) various rectifications of fact and notes on people and places figuring in the text.

Alan Mac an Bhaird
The Journey of Viscount Ramon de Perellós to Saint Patrick's Purgatory (Prolog)

In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity. Amen. In the year of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1398 recte 1397 on the eve of Our Lady of September September 8, having obtained the blessing of Pope Benedict the anti-pope Benedict XIII (1394-1423), I, Ramon by the grace of God viscount of Perellós and Rodas, lord of the barony of Ceret, left the city of Avignon to go to Saint Patrick's Purgatory. Since all men in this world wish to know strange and wonderful things, as these by nature are more pleasing than those which one can know by hearsay, for this reason I, who in my youth was fostered with king Charles, king of France, with whom my good father left me (he being his admiral and chamberlain) in that court with all the squires and knights of his realm and other Christian realms, indeed wish to be informed of the strange and wonderful things in all lands of Christians and Infidels, both of Saracens and others of various sects which are in the world; for here there came of them from many places and I had my heart well set to know by sight what I had heard said by various knights and other people. And indeed I set myself to follow adventures in the world in all lands of Christians and Infidels, both of Saracens and others of various sects which are in the world, where one may reasonably go, inasmuch as by God's grace I have seen and suffered on land and sea most of the strange and wonderful things of which I had heard tell and I can give true testimony of those which I have seen. And I have sustained great dangers, expense and labors, both on land and sea, and I have taken and suffered in the lands of Infidels and Christians things which I do not intend to recount as they have no bearing on the matter which I wish to pursue with regard to the journey to Saint Patrick['s Purgatory] which is in the regions of Ireland; which journey with God's help I have made and accomplished as much as any man has done since the death of Saint Patrick. And this I shall recount completely in four ways: firstly why Saint Patrick ordered the purgatory; secondly for what reason I set my heart on entering said purgatory; thirdly where it is; fourthly the things which I saw or found in said purgatory which may be revealed, for there are things which it is not pleasing to God that I should reveal and he does not wish it on account of the dangers which might accrue to me or to those to whom they might be revealed by me, which thing would be irreparable.

 (The Life of Saint Patrick)

At the time when Saint Patrick preached the holy gospel in Hibernia, which we call Ireland, and reinforced his preaching by wondrous miracles of Our Lord, Saint Patrick found the people of that land as hard and wild as if they were beasts and used enormous labor and pains to indoctrinate them and teach them to convert to the faith of Our Lord God Jesus Christ; and often he spoke to them of the pains of hell and the glory of paradise in order to turn them from their wretchedness and sins and confirm them in the good life; but all this did nothing for them for they said that they would believe nothing of it unless some of them saw it, that is to say the glory of the good and the pain of the wicked, and they did not wish to abstain on the orders of Saint Patrick who had his intent in God.

And for this reason the good man began to make fasts and vigils and prayers most devoutly to God and many other good works for the salvation of the people's souls. And Our Lord appeared to him as he had done on other occasions and gave him the book of gospels and a staff, which they call the Staff of Jesus, as he gave it to his servant, and in his own life he testifies that that staff and that book are a sign that he is the apostle of Ireland. And afterwards Our Lord led him to a deserted place and showed him a very dark pit and Our Lord told him that he who would enter into it, confessed and penitent and pure of heart, would be free on that very day of all his sins and would see the torments of the wicked and the joys and glory of the good. This Our Lord said to Saint Patrick and then Our Lord departed from him and the good man was most joyous on account of what Our Lord had told him when he showed him the pit so that he could convert the people.

And afterwards he had a church begun very near that place and established in it a chapter of canons regular and set good doors on the pit. And the whole island is surrounded by the waters of a large, very deep lake around the pit. And he had a cemetery made there and had the door made and shut with a key, so that no one could enter without permission, and to the east he had good walls made and entrusted the key to the guardianship of the prior of the church. And many people entered the pit in the time of Saint Patrick to do penance for their sins and said, when they returned, that they had seen hell and had passed through great and painful torments and also had seen many great glories and many joys.

And Saint Patrick had the reports set down in writing inside the church and afterwards he recommended to the people and recounted to them all the things which they had seen — by the testimony of those who had entered there, all these wondrous things; and that is why it is called the pit of Saint Patrick and purgatory since there one purges one's sins. And because it was first shown to Saint Patrick by Our Lord it is also called the Saint Patrick's purgatory. And in the aforesaid land of Ireland there are various monasteries of this order, great and solemn and larger than that of the purgatory.

 (The first successor of Saint Patrick)

And the first prior of the aforesaid church, who was a very good man and of good life, had himself made a room near the dormitory where the canons slept, because he was very old and had only one tooth and he did not want the young men to despise him for his age nor for them to molest him, because Saint Gregory says that even if an old man is not sick, he is always infirm because of his age; and some young men in there often visited him and said to him in fun: Father, how long would you wish to stay in this world? And he would answer them: My sons, if it so pleased God I would rather leave this world than dwell in it for long, because in it I never had but sorrow and wretchedness and in the other world I shall find nothing but glory.

And those that often asked him this had heard the angels singing in the good man's room and the songs were and said as follows: You are blessed and blessed be the tooth in your mouth for it does not touch delicate food. For the good man only ate dry bread, such as is made in that land, made of oats; and of this bread they only eat 10 or 12 times but not continuously nor do they eat bread or drink wine, but live only on beef and drink water. And great lords drink milk as I shall recount in more detail in its place. In this regard the good man drank cold water and in the end he passed away from this life and went to Our Lord as he had always wished.

In the time of Saint Patrick — and afterwards — he had set down in writing all that he had seen of those who had entered that pit because some went there and did not come back and were lost because they had not been firm in the faith.

(Conditions of entry to the Purgatory)

The custom is such that no one may enter unless it be to purge his sins and with the permission of the bishop or archbishop. And he is in the diocese in which the purgatory stands; and when the person who wishes to enter there goes there to one of them and speaks and tells them his wish, first of all they advise them that no way should they wish to enter there and tell them that many have gone in there and not come out; and if the man does not wish to renounce entering there, they give him his letters and send him to the prior of the church; and when the prior has read the letters and he tells him of his wish, he argues much against entering and advises him strongly not to enter but to choose some other penance because so many others have entered there who have never come out again but perished there. Thus the prior advises them and if he sees that he cannot dissuade them from their intention, he makes them enter the church and stay there for a certain time in penance and prayer; and after a certain time he gathers together all the clergy in that land who can be gathered together or found to sing a mass early in the morning in the aforesaid church; and the man who wishes to enter the pit receives the body of Our Lord Jesus Christ and holy water, as Saint Patrick has established and ordered. Afterwards the prior leads him with all the clergy to the gate of the purgatory with a great procession singing litanies; and then the prior opens the gate and tells him of the dangers which are in the place in which he wishes to enter and how the malign spirits will come out to him and fight him and how a great quantity of other people have been lost there; and if one pays no heed to this and does not shift from his intention, then he makes the sign of the cross over him and blesses him and all those who are there and he commends himself to their prayers and makes the sign of the cross over them and takes his leave and enters the pit. And the prior shuts the gate and afterwards he goes back in procession; and next morning all the clergy return to the gate of the pit and the prior opens it and, if the man is found there, they lead him in great procession to the church and he remains there for as long as he wishes; and if he is not found at the very same hour that he entered the day before, then they know for sure that he is lost body and soul. And the prior shuts the gates and goes back.

 (Autobiography)

After King Charles died, who was king of France, I had been in his service for a long time; and afterwards I was in the service of king Joan of Aragon, whose first knight I was and he was my natural lord; and for a long time I was his intimate and loved by him as much as a servant may be by his lord; and I was aware that the aforesaid lord showed me great love — this I found in him and loved him as much as a servant may love his lord, inasmuch as there would be nothing that I could possibly do in this world that I would not do for him. And I left the aforesaid lord with his permission in the kingdom of Valencia and came to the place called Millàs which is my patrimony of the viscountcy of Perellós. And then there occurred the death of pope Clement Vrecte anti-pope Clement VII (1378-1394) who was of the family of the Count of Guyennerecte Count of Geneva (he was the son of Amadeus III of Geneva).; and a few days later Cardinal de Luna was elected pope by the cardinals and took the name of Benedict XIII.

And as in some journey had found myself in Italian waters where I was with three armed galleys, and also on land, it happened that they were in the service of pope Clement and his college; and I was well acquainted with his cardinals who left Italy on my galleys and two belonging to the seneschal of Provence, whose name was Fouquet d'Agout. They came to me in the first year of the schism which has lasted so long. And the bishop of Bari, the pope who was called UrbanUrban VI (1378-1389)., stayed in Rome. And I was well acquainted with the cardinals, in particular with Cardinal de Luna who had been recently elected [pope] and the aforesaid pope Benedict sent me a message ordering me to go and serve with him. This I did and served him with the permission of my aforesaid lord the king.

It happened that I was with the aforesaid pope when my lord the king diedJoan I of Aragon died on May 19 1396. and for this death — despite the will of God — I was very sad and sorrowful, as much as any servant can be on account of the death of his lord, and I set my heart at that time to go to Saint Patrick's purgatory to find out if it was possible to find my lord in purgatory and the pains he was suffering. Thus I conceived the aforesaid things because of what I had heard about the purgatory.

And after some days of this desire which I had to go and enter the purgatory, by way of confession I spoke to the pope, telling him about all my intention. He rebuffed me very strongly and put great fear in me, advising me by no means to do this; and over and above what he said, he had me told by some cardinals who were close to him, in particular two: one was the dean of Tarazona who was of the family surnamed CalvielloFernando Pérez Calvillo (Calviello in Aragonese); the other cardinal was called Jofré de Santa ElenaJofré de Boïl, cardinal of Santa Maria in Aquiro. And a brother of mine called Sir Ponç of Perellós was present. And the pope strongly advised me not to go, so that they held me back so strongly that I was hard put to it to escape them.

And after some days I spoke to the pope, telling him that for nothing in the world would I abandon this journey; and having obtained his blessing, I departed from him on the feast of Our Lady in September in the aforesaid year and went my way through France to the king's court in Paris — I was a former servant of his and his father, whose name was Charles, had reared me from a very early age and had likewise made me his chamberlain; and from the king of France and from his uncles, the brothers dukes of Berry and Burgundy, I had letters of recommendation to the king of England (who was his son in law) and other lords of England (on beginning the marriage they had made a truce for 30 yearsIn 1396 — when Richard II was betrothed to Charles VI's daughter Isabella (then aged 6)). I left Paris and by daily stages came to Calais where I took ship for England.

 (Journey to Ireland)

I left there on All Saints Day, taking the London road and passing by St Thomas of Canterbury; and in London I had news that the king of England was in a great enclosed park — like the Bois de Vincennes near Paris — called WoodstockC and O have "Got" i.e. "Wood"; Richard II's father the Black Prince was born at Woodstock Palace and was known as Edward of Woodstock; it is indeed 8 miles from Oxford and the palace was set in an enclosed park., 8 miles from OxoniaC has Tersom; O has Ocsonia where there is a great Studium Generale (i.e. university), which the English call OxenfordC has Estanafort; O has Estancfort, both corruptions of Ocsenaford; said park is very fine and the king has a very fine dwelling there and the mansion is very fine with many stories and buildings. And on account of the letters of the King of France which I brought I was very well received and they did me much honor and had me guided and safe throughout his kingdom, all of which I crossed without stopping anywhere — it is true that I did stay ten days with the king.

I left the court and went by daily stages until I entered a region called ChestershireC has Esteper and O Sestrexter representing Chestershire, now Cheshire, which is in the Welsh March, as far as the city of Chester, where I embarked and following the coast of Wales I came to a place called Holyhead; and from there I departed and crossed the deep with a fine wind in the direction of Ireland. Despalaguí (DE ESPALEGE) in the isle of ManC has "la ylla de Armant", O "la yla d'Arman" which belonged to the king of a hundred knights in the time of King Arthur and is today well populated and belongs to the king of England; and from there I crossed, still with good weather, and arrived in Ireland and after a few days I disembarked in the city.O has "the city of Dublin" (ms Belvi sic!) which is a fairly large city.

And there I found the Earl of MarchRoger Mortimer, fourth Earl of March, born in 1374 and killed at Kells on 20 July 1398, lord-lieutenant of Ireland from 1382 to 1398, cousin to King Richard of England, who received me most nobly thanks to the letters of recommendation of the king and queen of England. I told him of the intention of the journey which I proposed to undertake. And the lord advised me strongly against it, saying that for two reasons I should not undertake this journey: one was that I would have to go through strange places inhabited by wild people who had no governance which anyone should trust; the other reason was that entering the purgatory was a very dangerous matter and many good knights had lost themselves there and not returned; so by no means should I wish to enter therein nor lead myself astray there. The earl did his best to oppose my going and, when he saw that I was so inclined, he gave me two of his horses and some jewels and gave me two squires, one called John of Ivry who guided me through the land which the king of England holds in Ireland and all the time we were riding did not allow us to spend anything but covered all our expenses to my sorrow; and another called John Talbot who knew the Irish language. He was my interpreter.

And these two had orders to take me to the archbishop of ArmaghC has Darmant, O has d'Armanhac (sic!) and this they did. The latter is the highest person of the Irish in the island and he is their pope. We found him in the town of DroghedaC has Drudan, O Diondan, which town is as large as Puigcerdà or Tarragona. And the aforesaid squires presented me to the archbishop to whom I gave the letters of the king and queen of England and of the Earl of March. And the said archbishop received me most graciously and did me great honor. When he knew my wishes, he strongly opposed my journey and strongly advised me not to go on it, saying that over and above the danger of entering the purgatory, neither he nor anyone could make it safe through the lands of king Ó Néill or other lords through whose lands I would have to pass before reaching the purgatory; if he did not wish to get lost in the land, no way should I try it. And afterwards he set me in the vestry of the great church where he strongly advised and begged me to by no means enter the purgatory, telling me much of the dangers and scandals which have happened to various people who were lost inside the purgatory; he told me even more of all the dangers which might ensue or are therein, to which I replied as God had ordained for me and confirmed that never would I leave or abandon making my journey; and when he saw that he could not shift me from my purpose, he gave me all the directions he could and gave me permission to go and heard my confession and I took Our Lord most secretly from his hand and he told me that in the week he would be in a town called DundalkC has Dondela, O Dandela. And so he did.

And I at once departed from him and went to the aforesaid town and from there sent to king Ó Néill who was in the city of Armagh.C has Armas, O Armach He indeed sent me a safe conduct and one of his knights and a messenger to lead me to where they were. And the aforesaid archbishop came on the day fixed and brought with him a hundred men at arms armed in their manner to accompany me and left me an interpreter who was first cousin to John Talbot; and with the hundred men at arms I entered Irish territory where king Ó Néill reigned. And when I had ridden some five miles ahead, the said riders dared not go further because they are all great enemies; but they stayed on a hill and I took leave of them and went ahead.

And after I had gone about half a league, I found king Ó Néill's marshal with a good hundred men on horseback, likewise armed in their fashion, with whom I spoke. And leaving him I went to the king who received me well in their fashion and sent me a gift of food, that is to say beef because they neither eat bread nor drink wine, because they have none; but they drink water and the great lords drink milk for their nobility and some drink meat broth. Since their customs and manners are very strange to us, I shall recount for you as briefly as I can something of their conditions and manners, of what I saw of them with the king, with whom on my return journey I spent the feast of Christmas, despite the fact that passing when I was first with him I had not seen enough of them.

 (Customs of the Irish)

It is true that the king becomes king by succession and there are various kings in that island which is as large as the island of England, but this Ó Néill is the greatest king and all the others come of his lineage. And he has a good 140 horsemen riding with no saddle but with a cushion and wearing a slashed cloak, which each man wears according to his rank, and they equip themselves with a coat of mail and have their breasts girded, with chain mail throat pieces and round iron helmets like Moors or Saracens; and there were some like foot soldiers with swords and knives and very long thin spears — like other old-fashioned spears they are two fathoms long; the swords are like those of the Saracens which we call Genoese swords; the pommel and the guard are different, almost like a hand stretched out; the knives are long and as narrow as the little finger and they are very sharp. This is their manner of arming themselves and some of them use bows which are as small as half the size of the English bow, yet they strike as hard as the English. And they are bold and have been at war with the English for a long time and the king of England cannot have his way. He has had to fight various battles with them. And their way of making war is like that of the Saracens and they shout in the same way. And the great lords wear a coat with no lining down to their knees, cut very low at the neckline like women, and they wear great hoods which go down to their waist, the point being as narrow as one's finger and they wear neither leggings nor shoes nor britches but wear their spurs on their bare heels.

The king was in that state on Christmas day and all his clergy and knights and bishops and abbots and other great lords. The common people go as they may, badly dressed — but most of them wear a cape of frieze; and both men and women shamelessly show all their privates. Poor people go naked but they all wear those capes, good or bad, including ladies. The queen and her daughter and her sister were clothed and bound in green but they were unshod; the queen's handmaids — there was a good score of them — were dressed as I told you above and showed their privy parts with as little shame as here they show their faces.

And with the king there were about three thousand horses and also many poor folk to whom I saw the king give great alms of beef.

And moreover they are the most handsome men and fairest women that I have seen in the whole world. And moreover they never sowed any corn nor do they have any wine but all their food is meat and the great lords drink milk for their nobility and the others meat broth and water; but they have enough butter for all their livestock is oxen and cows and fine horses.

On Christmas day, according to what my interpreter said and certain others who could speak Latin, when the king holds his great court, his table was merely a great quantity of rushes spread out on the ground and they placed near him the finest grass they could find to wipe his mouth with and they brought the food on two poles just as they transport grape buckets at the wine harvest: you can imagine that the squires were badly dressed. Animals ate only grass instead of oats and holly leaf which they roast a bit because of the prickles on it. And let that suffice for the customs because I wish to say no more of them.

The king received me well and sent me an ox. In all his court there was neither bread to eat nor wine to drink, but as a great present he sent me two small flat loaves as thin as neules (very thin Catalan waffles now eaten at Christmas) which bent like uncooked dough; they were made of oats and looked like earth, as black as charcoal but really tasty. And then the king gave me a safe conduct to pass through all his land and his people, on foot or on horseback, and spoke long and loud and most diligently he inquired of me about the Christian kings, particularly the kings of France, Aragon and Castile, and about their customs and manner of life; and according to what appeared from his words, they consider their own customs the best and most perfect in the world.

For the most part their dwellings are commonly near the cattle; and with the cattle they make their dwellings; and one day, when the pastures are consumed, they decamp like the bedouinsC has aurenetes (swallows) which does not make very good sense here; O has alams which I take to be a corruption of alarb i.e. bedouin, Arab of Barbary and the land of the sultan and move their town and all go off together.

 (Arrival and preparations)

I departed from that king's court and followed the road for several days — because the road is long — until I reached one of their towns called TearmannC and O have Processio which is clearly a garbled version of *Protessió (= Protecció), a translation of Irish Tearmann (refuge, sanctuary), which in this case is Tearmann Dábheog (now Tearmann Mhéig Raith). and they call it thus because there they will do no harm to anyone; it would seem they have great devotion to Saint Patrick and it is good through the realm; and the kings keep that town safe and the pilgrims who go there are obliged to leave their animals there for horses or other animals could not cross the mountains or the waters. So leaving there I went on foot to the town where the priory is found; the purgatory is in this priory and th