---
title: Books are recorded as having been in the hands of the Druids before… — The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of I… · tree and pragmatics
description: Books are recorded as having been in the hands of the Druids before St. Patrick’s time, or soon after, such as the ‘Cuilmenn,’ the ‘Sailtair of Tara,’ attributed to the third century, the ‘Book of St. Mochta,’ one of St. Patrick’s early disciples, the ‘Book of Cuana,’ &c. There is consequently nothi
---

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# The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age, Opening, part 1, sentence 52

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Books are recorded as having been in the hands of the Druids before St. Patrick’s time, or soon after, such as the ‘Cuilmenn,’ the ‘Sailtair of Tara,’ attributed to the third century, the ‘Book of St. Mochta,’ one of St. Patrick’s early disciples, the ‘Book of Cuana,’ &c. There is consequently nothing to surprise us in the circumstance that the ‘Tain bo Cuailgné’ belongs to a period so early.

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**Who acts:** Cuilmenn, nothing, Tain · **What happens:** record, have, be, attribute, surprise, belong · **To what, where:** Books, Sailtair, us, circumstance

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This is a sentence of «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Opening, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Cuilmenn, nothing, Tain), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg78491:1:56
# text = Books are recorded as having been in the hands of the Druids before St. Patrick’s time, or soon after, such as the ‘Cuilmenn,’ the ‘Sailtair of Tara,’ attributed to the third century, the ‘Book of St. Mochta,’ one of St. Patrick’s early disciples, the ‘Book of Cuana,’ &c. There is consequently nothing to surprise us in the circumstance that the ‘Tain bo Cuailgné’ belongs to a period so early.
1	Books	book	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	recorded	record	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	as	as	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	having	have	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	9	amod	_	_
6	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	9	cop	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	hands	hand	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	Druids	druid	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nmod	_	_
13	before	before	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
14	St.	St.	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	15	nmod:desc	_	_
15	Patrick	Patrick	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	’s	's	PART	POS	_	15	case	_	_
17	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	69	punct	_	_
19	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	69	cc	_	_
20	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	69	advmod	_	_
21	after	after	ADP	IN	_	20	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
23	such	such	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|ExtPos=ADP	27	case	_	_
24	as	as	ADP	IN	_	23	fixed	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
26	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	27	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	Cuilmenn	Cuilmenn	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	69	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
29	’	'	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
31	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	32	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	Sailtair	Sailtair	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	37	nsubj:pass	_	_
33	of	of	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
34	Tara	Tara	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	32	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	’	'	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
37	attributed	attribute	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	27	acl	_	_
38	to	to	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
40	third	third	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos|NumForm=Word|NumType=Ord	41	amod	_	_
41	century	century	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
43	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	45	det	_	_
44	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	45	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
45	Book	Book	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	27	appos	_	_
46	of	of	ADP	IN	_	48	case	_	_
47	St.	St.	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	48	nmod:desc	_	_
48	Mochta	Mochta	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	45	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	51	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	’	'	CCONJ	CC	_	51	cc	_	_
51	one	one	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	45	appos	_	_
52	of	of	ADP	IN	_	57	case	_	_
53	St.	St.	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	54	nmod:desc	_	_
54	Patrick	Patrick	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	57	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
55	’s	's	PART	POS	_	54	case	_	_
56	early	early	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	57	amod	_	_
57	disciples	disciple	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	51	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	61	punct	_	_
59	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	61	det	_	_
60	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	61	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	Book	Book	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	57	nmod	_	_
62	of	of	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
63	Cuana	Cuana	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	61	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
64	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
65	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	45	punct	_	_
66	&	&	CCONJ	CC	_	67	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	c.	c.	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	conj	_	_
68	There	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	69	expl	_	_
69	is	be	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
70	consequently	consequently	ADV	RB	_	71	advmod	_	_
71	nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	69	nsubj	_	_
72	to	to	PART	TO	_	73	mark	_	_
73	surprise	surprise	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	71	acl	_	_
74	us	we	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs	73	obj	_	_
75	in	in	ADP	IN	_	77	case	_	_
76	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	77	det	_	_
77	circumstance	circumstance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	73	obl	_	_
78	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	85	mark	_	_
79	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	81	det	_	_
80	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	81	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
81	Tain	Tain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	85	nsubj	_	_
82	bo	bo	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	81	flat	_	_
83	Cuailgné	Cuailgné	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	81	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
84	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	81	punct	_	_
85	belongs	belong	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	77	advcl	_	_
86	to	to	ADP	IN	_	88	case	_	_
87	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	88	det	_	_
88	period	period	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	85	obl	_	_
89	so	so	ADV	RB	_	90	advmod	_	_
90	early	early	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	85	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
91	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **record** | present · passive |  | Books |  |  | time |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **have** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **is** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | as the having hands; of the Druids | tree rules |
| 4 | **attribute** | participle · passive | the Cuilmenn & c. *not said here* | the Sailtair of Tara |  |  | century |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **be** | present | nothing |  |  | there |  | such the Cuilmenn & c.; soon *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **surprise** | to-infinitive | nothing *not said here* | us |  | the circumstance |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus we=Experiencer |
| 7 | **belong** | present | the Tain |  |  |  |  | to a period; early *property* | vn attend-107.4-2 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Project Gutenberg book 78491 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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