Bretha

The court · Bretha Comaithchesa, “Judgments of Neighbourhood”, the 7th and 8th centuries

The Pet Wolf

A tame wolf, deer or heron strays onto a neighbour’s land and does harm. Who answers?

The scene Our telling

Fíonán had reared the fox cub from a kit, and it came when he whistled. One morning it went over the hedge, and a neighbour’s hen did not come back.

A man in a green tunic holds out a hand to a tame wolf, a fox and a fawn that sit side by side beside a hedge. A dead hen lies on the grass, and a man and woman look on over the hedge.
The wolf, the fox and the hen. A reconstruction in the manner of early Irish manuscripts, not a surviving picture.

The law

From the lawBretha Comaithchesa deals mainly with trespass by cattle and pigs, but it also mentions trespass by various pet animals: a pet wolf, fox, deer, heron and crow. Kelly puts a question mark after the crow.

GlossA fore-pledge is something of value handed to a neighbour in advance, to be forfeit if the owner’s animals trespass.

From the lawIn each case the owner of the pet surrenders the fore-pledge to the landowner.

Gloss“Human trespass” means the law counted the harm as the owner’s own wrongdoing, not the animal’s.

From the lawFor animal trespass in general, Kelly says a farmer who acts through malice or neglect is guilty of “human trespass” and not merely “animal trespass”, and the penalty is greater. Trespass by night costs twice as much as by day. He does not say whether these rules reach pets.

Weigh it

Fíonán’s fox has killed a neighbour’s hen. What does Fíonán do?

The commentary

Scholars sayThe pet rule rests on one short passage (CIH 73.19–20), and Kelly gives no reason for it. His only hedge is the question mark after the crow.

Where we are not sure

Scholars sayIn Early Irish Farming Kelly says that the old text itself names only the fox, wolf and deer, and that a later commentator gives a fuller list. So parts of the list of pets may rest on later commentary. Kelly does not say what the fore-pledge consists of.

Where this comes from

  • Fergus Kelly, A Guide to Early Irish Law (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1988), the section on animal trespass, citing Bretha Comaithchesa at CIH 73.19–20 (the pets).
  • Fergus Kelly, Early Irish Farming (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1997), on the list of pets.
  • We have read Kelly’s account, not the Old Irish text.

Last checked against these books: 2026-10-04. How we read our sources · Corrections