She loved not vehement woman’s ear:
She was not a serpent violent, speckled:
She sold not God’s Son for gain.
We are told that it was in a “good hour MacCaille set the veil on Saint Brigit’s head.” The poet concludes his hymn of praise with the consolatory reflection:—
There are two nuns in heaven,
Whom I rely on for my protection,
Mary and Saint Brigit:
Under the protection of them both be we!
The life of Brigit printed by Dr Stokes from the Lebar Brecc, a manuscript of the fifteenth century, occupies about eighteen printed pages. Like Adamnan’s life of Columba it is largely taken up with legends and traditional memories of miracles. Here is a specimen of this standard Gaelic of the 15th century: