Mother: Is it the verses of Raftery's talk into
the Bush you would wish me to give out, or the
three hundred and sixty-nine verses of the Contention
of the Bards—(Repeats verse of "The Talk
with the Bush" in Irish.)
"Céad agus míle roiámh am na h-Airce
Tús agus crothugadh m'aois agus mo dhata
Thá me o shoin im' shuidhe san áit so
Agus is iomdha sgéal a bhféadain trácht air."
Or I'll English it if that will please you:
"A hundred years and a thousand before the time of the Ark
Was the beginning and creation of my age and my date;
I am from that time sitting in this place,
And it's many a story I am able to give news of."