TY Jim,

This is a translation of an "Old Irish Verse" found in "Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus : a collection of Old-Irish glosses, Scholia prose and verse". Does anyone know the date? Circa 900?

It can be viewed here:
http://www.archive.org/stream/thesauruspalaeoh02stokuoft#page/345/mode/1up

Translation: The king of Leinster bestowed a silver brooch on his poet as the reward of his art. He took it home to his house with him and gave it into the hand of the bondmaid to take care of. The poet's wife took it from her (and cast it) into the sea for evil to the bondmaid. The poet asked the brooch of the bondmaid The poet came to kill the bondmaid because the brooch was not found with her. Then Brigit came to the poet's house, and she was grieved at the maltreatment of the bondmaid.

So she prayed to God that the brooch might be manifested to her. Then an angel of God came to her and told her to cast the nets into the water, that is into the sea, and a salmon would be caught in them with the brooch in its inside.

* * * *

Barry references this and calls her a handmaid, wouldn't bondsmaid be a slave or servant without pay. Are they the same?

Aren't bondsmaids also a form of currency; Bondmaids were worth at least three séuti, so a chariot worth thrice seven bondmaids would be worth 63 milk cows or between 63 and 126 oz of silver?

Richie