These manuscripts have, on the whole, an identical text, though they all occasionally omit a triad or two; and the order of the single triads varies in all of them. They have all been used in constructing a critical text, the most important variants being given in the foot-notes. The order followed is in the main that of the Yellow Book of Lecan.
There are at least three other manuscripts containing copies of the Triads. One of them I discovered in the Stowe collection after the text had been printed off. It is a paper quarto now marked 23. N. 27, containing on fo. 1a-7b a copy of the Triads, followed on fo. 7b-19a by a glossed copy of the Tecosca Cormaic. It was written in 1714 by Domnall (or Daniel) O Duind mac Eimuinn. Its readings agree closely with those of N. In § 237, it alone, of all manuscripts, gives an intelligible reading of a corrupt passage. For cia fochertar im-muir, cia berthair hi tech fo glass dodeime a tiprait oca mbí, it reads: cia focearta im-muir, cia beirthear hi tech fo glass no do theine, dogeibther occan tiprait, 'though it be thrown into the sea, though it be put into a house under lock, or into fire, it will be found at the well.' In § 121 for cerdai it reads cerd; in § 139 it has rotioc and rotocht; in § 143 for grúss its reading is grís; in §153 it has aibeuloit for eplet; in § 217 tar a n-éisi for dia n-éisi; in § 218 lomradh(twice) for lobra and indlighidh for i n-indligud; in § 219 it has the correct reading éiric, and for dithechte it reads ditheacht; in § 220 it reads fri aroile for fria céile; in § 223 after ile it adds imchiana; in § 224 it reads grís brond .i. galar; in § 229 for meraichne it has mearaigheacht; in § 235 it has mhamus for mám; in § 236 Maig Hi for Maig Lii; and for co ndeirgenai in dam de it reads co nderna in dam fria.
Another copy, written in 1836 by Peter O'Longan, formerly in the possession of the Earls of Crawford, now belongs to the Rylands Library, Manchester, where it was found by Professor Strachan, who kindly copied a page or two for me. It is evidently a very corrupt copy which I have not thought worth the trouble of collating.
Lastly, there is in the Advocates' Library a copy in a vellum manuscript marked Kilbride III. It begins on fo. 9b2 as follows:—'Treching breath annso. Ceann Eirind Ardmacha.' I hope to collate it before long, and give some account of it in the next number of this series.
In all these manuscripts the Triads either follow upon, or precede, or are incorporated in the collections of maxims and proverbial sayings known as Tecosca Cormaic, Auraicept Morainn, and Senbríathra Fíthil, the whole forming a body of early Irish gnomic literature which deserves editing in its entirety. It is clear, however, that the Triads do not originally belong to any of these texts. They had a separate origin, and form a collection by themselves. This is also shown by the fact that the Book of Leinster, the oldest manuscript containing the Tecosca Cormaic (pp. 343a-345b), the Senbríathra Fíthail (pp. 345b-346a), and the Bríathra Moraind (pp. 346a-b), does not include them.
It is but a small portion of the large number of triads scattered throughout early Irish literature that has been brought together in our collection under the title of Trecheng breth Féne, i.e., literally 'a triadic arrangement of the sayings of Irishmen.' I first drew attention to the existence of Irish triads in a note on Irish proverbs in my addition of the Battle of Ventry, p. 85, where a few will be found quoted. A complete collection of them would fill a small volume, especially if it were to include those still current among the people of Ireland, both among Gaelic and English speakers. I must content myself here with giving a few specimens taken at random from my own collections:—
Three kinds of martyrdom that are counted as a cross to man, i.e. white martyrdom, green martyrdom, and red martyrdom.—The Cambray Homily (Thesaurus Palæohibernicus, II., p. 246).
Three enemies of the soul: the world, the devil, and an impious teacher.—Colman maccu Beognae's Alphabet of Piety (Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, III., p. 452).
Three things whereby the devil shows himself in man: by his face, by his gait, by his speech.—Ib., p. 453.
Three profitable labours in the day: praying, working, reading.—Regula Choluimb Cille (Zeitschr., III., p. 29).