The Song of Dermot and the Earl

The Song of Dermot and the Earl
by Unknown
TranslatorG.H.C. Orpen
Writtenearly 13th century
First published in1892
CountryEngland
LanguageAnglo-Norman
Subject(s)Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland
Genre(s)chanson de geste[disputed – discuss]
FormHeroic couplet
MeterIambic tetrameter
Rhyme schemeaa bb cc ...
Lines3459

The Song of Dermot and the Earl (French: Chanson de Dermot et du comte) is an anonymous Anglo-Norman verse chronicle written in the early 13th century in England. It tells of the arrival of Richard de Clare (Strongbow) in Ireland in 1170 (the "earl" in the title), and of the subsequent arrival of Henry II of England. The poem mentions one Morice Regan,[1] secretary to Diarmaid mac Murchadha, king of Leinster, who was eyewitness to the events and may have provided an account to the author.[2]

The chronicle survives only in a single manuscript which was re-discovered in the 17th century in London.[3] The work bears no title in the manuscript, but has been commonly referred to as The Song of Dermot and the Earl since Goddard Henry Orpen in 1892[4] published a diplomatic edition under this title. It has also been known as The Conquest of Ireland and The Conquest of Ireland by Henry II; in the most recent edition it was called La Geste des Engleis en Yrlande ("The Deeds of the English in Ireland").

  1. ^ "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23311. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ Regan, M., Orpen, G. Henry. (1892). The song of Dermot and the Earl: an Old French poem from the Carew manuscript no. 596 in the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth palace. Oxford: Clarendon press. p. vi.
  3. ^ Lambeth Palace, MS Carew 596
  4. ^ "Review of The Song of Dermot and the Earl: an old French Poem edited, with translation and notes, by Goddard Henry Orpen". The Athenaeum (3383): 283–284. 27 August 1892.