Book excerpt: This book gives a text, an English translation, and a commentary on a medieval verse history of the kings of Ireland and Scotland from the ninth to the 11th centuries. This study examines the Prophecy of Berchán as a historical record with much to offer students of kingship among the Irish and Scots. Biographies of individual monarchs provided therein present the important events of each ones career, the length of his reign, and the circumstances of his death. This study suggests new interpretations of British and Irish history during the early middle ages.