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1. Kenney, Sources, §151 (iii) (p 362).
2. M. Esposito, `On the early Latin Lives of St Brigid of Kildare' in `Notes on Latin learning and literature in mediaeval Ireland, IV', Hermathena 24 (1935) 120-65: 124, 135, repr. Latin learning in mediaeval Ireland (London 1988).
3. K. McCone, `Brigit in the seventh century: a saint with three Lives?', Peritia 1 (1982) 107-45: 124, 125, 126, 130, 135.
4. `Vitae S Brigitae: the oldest texts', ibid. 81- 106: 90. I owe thanks to Dr Sharpe for the generous loan of his unpublished editions of Vita I and Vita II, which I have collated with the MSS.
5. Compare the play with 77 words in the Epilogue and §47 and n 13, 15 below.
6. Compare the play with 86 syllables in the Epilogue and n 9 below.
7. According to the Rhetorica ad Herennium IV xx 27- 8, a writer striving for conpar or isocolon may compose passages either actually equal or apparently equal. In the former case the numbers of syllables must be exactly equal. In the latter case an inequality of one or two syllables is allowable. See D. R. Howlett, The Celtic Latin tradition of biblical style (Dublin 1995) 22-26. Compare the play with 88 syllables in the Epilogue and n 11 below.
8. Compare the 203 letters in the chiastic passage of the Epilogue and the 203 words in §§47 and 67, below n 12, 15, 16.
9. Compare the 86 syllables from |nomine Dubthacus 1 to uxor Dubthaci | 5 inclusive in the Prologue, above n 6.
10. Compare the play on 32 below n 20.
11. Compare the 88 syllables from | contristata 5 to the end of the Prologue, above n 7.
12. Compare the 203 letters from | nomine Dubthacus 1 to uxor Dubthaci | 5 inclusive and the 203 letters from the beginning to genere | 1 and from | contristata 5 to the end of the Prologue, above n 8. Compare also the play with 203 words in §§47 and 67 and n 15, 16 below.
13. Compare the 77 words of the Prologue and play with the 77th word in §47, above n 5 and below n 15.
14. Compare the play with 9:8 and 1×9 and 8×9 below n 18, 22.
15. Compare the play with 203 above n 8, 12, and with 77 above n 5, 13. Compare the play on media, medium below n 17, 21, 25.
16. Compare the play with 203 above n 8, 12, 15.
17. Compare the play on media above n 15, below n 21, 25.
18. Compare the play with 9:8 and 1×9 and 8×9 above n 14, below n 22.
19. Compare play on dimidium below n 24.
20. Compare the play on 32 above n 10.
21. Compare the play on media, medium above n 15, 17, below n 25.
22. Compare the play with 9:8 and 1×9 and 8×9 above n 14, 18.
23. For play on calendrical numbers in other Hiberno-Latin works see D. R. Howlett, `Columbani carmen "Mundus iste transibit"' in `Two works of saint Columban', Mittellat Jahrb 28 (1993 [1994]) 27-46: 45; id. `Cú Chuimne's hymn Cantemus in omni die' in `Five experiments in textual reconstruction and analysis', Peritia 9 (1995) 1-50: 27; id. `Seven studies in seventh-century texts', ibid. 10 (1996) 1-70: 1-5, 32-50, 65, 68-69; id. Celtic Latin tradition, 393-94.
24. Compare play on dimidium above n 19.
25. Compare play on media, medium above n 15, 17, 21.
26. D. R. Howlett, Liber epistolarum sancti Patricii episcopi: The book of letters of Saint Patrick the bishop (Dublin 1994) ; id. Celtic Latin tradition (Dublin 1995); id. British books in biblical style (Dublin 1997); id. The English origins of Old French literature (Dublin 1996), and articles in Peritia 8-11 (1994-97).
29. Acta sanctorum ordinis sancti Benedicti, iv 2 (Paris 1680) 303-04; Esposito, 125-26; Sharpe, 96-101; McCone, 114-15.
30. D. N. Kissane (ed), `Uita metrica sanctae Brigidae: a critical edition with introduction, commentary and indices', Proc Roy Ir Acad (C) 77 (1977) 57-192: 78, 84; Howlett, Celtic Latin tradition, 253-58.
33. D. R. Howlett, `Two works by Aileranus sapiens' in `Seven studies in seventh-century texts', Peritia 10 (1996) 1-70: 6-20. One notes that orthographic conventions in the undoubted works of Ailerán and in Vita I sanctae Brigitae are identical in every respect except retention of the classical diphthong ae in the former and consistent use of e in the latter. In the Prologue of Interpretatio mystica in the account of the 42 generations in the genealogy of Jesus generationes is the 42nd word, a feature not unlike occurrence of obitus as the 32nd word of the Epilogue of Vita I Sanctae Brigitae and mense transacto following the 31st word of §107.
34. W. Stokes (ed. & tr.), The tripartite Life of Patrick, with other documents relating to that saint, RS (London 1887), i 60-61, 256-57.
35. L. Bieler (ed. & tr.), The Patrician texts in the Book of Armagh, SLH 10 (Dublin 1979) 122.
36. Tírechán may have misunderstood the purpose of the number or put it to another use than originally intended.
37. Removal of a single letter from §47 would make the story of the attempted theft of cattle contain 1111 letters. There are 1117 letters in §67.
38. Use of the numbers 11, 111, 1111 might be understood as a form of signature, similar to but distinct from use of the calendrical numbers 12, 30, and 365 in the works of Cummianus Longus, for which see `Seven Works by and for Cummianus Longus' in `Seven Studies', 32-49. The number attracts interest alike in arabic numerals 1111 and in roman numerals MCXI, notable for the descending value of its constituent figures, with omission of the intermediate figures D and L and V.
39. They were soon to be followed in this habit by Anglo- Latin hagiographers, who composed dossiers of varied Lives of national saints, notably Cuthbert, Edmund, Dunstan, Æthelwold, and Wulfstan.
40. Bieler, Patrician texts, 62; Howlett, Celtic Latin tradition, 250-53.
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