Thanks very much to Gerald Porter for the very interesting reference. In
the late medieval (or possibly even sixteenth-century) Irish Arthurian
story _Ceilidhe Iosgaide Leithe_ ("The Visit of Grey-Thigh") [excuse
absence of length-marks on Irish vowels during email transmission] Arthur
and his men are fed what appear to be aphrodisiac hazelnuts.
The Irish text is edited by Maire Mhac an tSaoi, _Dha Sgeal Arturaiochta_,
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946, reprinted 1984. To find an
English translation and discussion, it would be necessary to get hold of a
microfilm or printout (some were produced by University Microfilms, Ann
Arbor, Michigan) of Connor P. Hartnett's unpublished New York doctoral
thesis "Irish Arthurian Literature", 1973.
If anyone is interested - I have produced an online bibliography on Gaelic
Arthurian Literature (which includes poems and ballads), on:
http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/acpbibs/gowans.htm
Linda Gowans
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